The Montmirail workshops were created in 1947 by the general manager at the time, Mr. Zens. The establishment in this geographical location was the result, on the one hand, of the abandonment of the railway service of the Ferté-sous-Jouarre line in Montmirail, whose main depot was located in this locality of the Marne and whose installations served as a starting point for the current workshops, on the other hand, the personal proximity of Mr. Zens, located in Marolles-en-Brie, was not foreign to the choice of this establishment.
The birth of the Montmirail Workshops
As early as 1947, sensing that the Company's rail networks would sooner or later be closed, and under the impetus of the General Manager at the time, Mr. Pierre Zens, the C.F.D. planned to market the locotractors for the benefit of customers outside the Company.
Looking for a site large enough for the establishment of these workshops, Mr. Zens had the choice between Neuillé-Pont-Pierre, where the first machines had been designed, Périgueux-les-Jalots, with its recently refurbished facilities, and Montmirail, on the vast land owned by the Company. It was towards this place that the C.F.D. moved, with, it seems, without the slightest hesitation, Mr. Zens having his residence nearby in Marolles-en-Brie.
It was there that the Ateliers de Montmirail were born on February 20, 1947, in the former depot-workshop of the line from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to Montmirail. Forty-three machines were built in this mini-plant from 1947 to 1965, as well as a dozen standard gauge railcars for the leased lines. It was a feat: the limited space did not allow more than two tractors to be used at the same time and it was soon necessary to expand. An annex building was constructed, then a new hangar was built, which had to be extended further to finally reach such a size that the land is now entirely occupied by new buildings.
A favourable workshop for the Company
The design of the equipment has also evolved by leaps and bounds since after the Asynchro transmission (fruit of the studies of Mr. Zens) and its free wheel, the coupling of the wheels by connecting rods, the workshop now produces machines with hydraulic transmission and with cross-bridges, transmissions of the "Power-Shift" type, allowing a towing in rolling goods at normal speed without any preliminary preparation.
C.F.D. productions in the 80s
Started in 1975 with the creation of new and sophisticated machines, C.F.D.'s production is now oriented towards models of 200 HP, 350 HP and 500 HP tractors with crossbridges and hydraulic transmission. BB units of up to 1,500 HP are also offered to customers , and already equip a majority of railway companies such as T.S.O., Desquenne and Giral (with the famous CC 80001 prototype which ran for a long time on the S.N.C.F.'s Cherbourg and Granville lines), Drouard, Matix, Speno, etc. Locomotives are in service at branch lines (Shell, E.D.F., Carrière de Villenoy, etc.).
A railcar for the catenary maintenance service of the T.G.V. has been delivered to the S.N.C.F. and other copies are to follow. Track inspection railcars have also been supplied.
For the metric track, let us mention the railcars equipping Corsica and Provence. For the Corsica network, a new-generation railcar has been tested on the Blanc à Argent line and is currently on its assignment network for commercial tests. Type X 5000, it has been completely redesigned and equipped with only drive wheels, should give the best results and be easy to tow.
A new system, mounted on the 1,500 HP locomotives for track-laying companies, allows a slow working speed by means of an auxiliary motor and a special gearbox. With the same locomotive, normal speed is achieved by means of standard traction motors. This system thus saves a special type of slow-moving traction machine.
Moreover, when the firm Moyse filed for bankruptcy, the C.F.D. acquired the entire batch of available parts and, after agreement with the Société Française de Locotracteurs (S.F.L.), provides the after-sales service for Moyse locotractors on an exclusive basis. The Bobigny spare parts depot has approximately 18,000 different items.
C.F.D.'s road services and warehouses.
When its lines were closed, the C.F.D. Company set up a number of alternative road services. Among these, we should mention the relations from La Ferté-sous- Jouarre to Montmirail, from Bourbon- Lancy to Toulon-sur-Arroux, the networks of Indre-et-Loire, Lozère and Vivarais. The Company operated some routes itself (such as the Dordogne network) and on others, commissioned a local specialized company to operate on its behalf (such as the Lozère network).
Among the range of its freight services is the Indre-et-Loire network, where its subsidiary Riverain also provides handling, lifting and other services.
For some time a new activity had been added to that of transport: storage. The Company became the owner of vast warehouses in Lille-Lesquin, Rouen-Le Vaudreuil, Blois and Tours. These warehouses were rented to companies for the storage of their goods". This remunerative activity, the railway operations of the Avalonnais line and the road operations of the Dordogne, as well as the construction of locomotives in Montmirail, the after-sales service in Bobigny and the activity of the Engineering and Design Office on the Avenue de Friedland make the C.F.D. Company a dynamic company that has been able to adapt to the current economic conditions.
source : MTVS 1981-3
