The state of war deprived the Company of a large part of its staff because of the mobilisation; it also suspended the studies in progress with a view to the concession of new lines, such as those which were to connect the port of La Rochelle to the Charente network, or the establishment of those recently conceded from Cheylard to Aubenas (Ardèche) and from Ghisonnaccia to Porto- Vecchio (Corsica).
In addition to causing a shortage of personnel, the war disrupted the operating conditions of all the networks where the passenger service had to be reduced to the strict minimum; however, the transport of goods often reached an unprecedented scale to meet the needs of national defence.
Train leaving for Etang at Toulon-sur-Arroux station. In the foreground, a dumper wagon with a Gf lookout. (Collection J. RENAUD)
On the network of general interest of Charentes and Deux-Sèvres, train towed by the 130 Decauville n° 123 in Burie station. (Collection R. VERGER)
CFD equipment on the Meuse network
The C's. F.D. also contributed to the defence of Verdun by renting from the 10th section of the Chemins de Fer de Campagne (2nd subdivision), some of their equipment which was put into service on the Meusian network, namely :
8 locomotives :
8 bogie cars:
10 vans:
20 covers:
55 dump trucks:
30 dishes:
Crossing trains at Cressy-sur-Somme station. Locomotive no. 203. Notice at the end of the second train, the rolling crane and the Hf platform with a lookout supporting the crane boom. (Collection J. RENAUD)
1919-1939: a period of parking between the two world wars
It also had to adapt to the new economic and social situation and gradually re-establish the density of services throughout its network . In order to achieve this under the least expensive conditions, it took advantage of government incentives to promote the use of self-propelled internal combustion engine railcars; but the models tried at the time did not give very convincing results and their use remained limited.
On the roughest line of the Vivarais network, train entering Tence station, towed by a Mallet 3 + 3 locomotive. (Collection J. RENAUD)
During this period, the CDFs did not obtain concessions for new lines, but they nevertheless increased their field of action by obtaining the leasing or retrocession, in several departments, of existing networks.
On the Lozère line, mixed train in Rove-Jalereste station towed by the Mallet 1.2 + 2 locomotive n° 324. (Collection J. RENAUD)
As the Department considered the operation of these two lines to be too loss-making, the lease to the C.F.D. ended in 1928 and 1929.
Still in 1923, but on 1 July, the C.F.D. took over the operation of the Yonne Shortline Railways network under the lease agreement of 25 June of that year. These were the lines from Sens to Égreville, from Joigny to Toucy, from Joigny to Auxerre and from Fleury to Aillant-sur-Tholon already in service, and those from Sens to Saint-Maurice-aux-Riches-Hommes and Nogent-sur-Seine and from Saint-Maurice-aux-Riches-Hommes to Villeneuve-l'Archevêque, whose construction was being continued by the department. The commissioning of the latter would not take place until 1 December 1928. The whole represented 183 km of railways.
Finally, on November 26th 1931, the C.F.D. took over the service of the line from Meaux to Dammartin which they had obtained the retrocession of by decree of January 5th of the same year (30 km).
Train C-F.D. No. 12 undergoing tests on the Yonne line. Here in Chablis. (Collection C.F.D.)
In the meantime, the length of the railways had only been reduced by the 44 km of normal track from Barfleur to Montebourg and Valognes bought by the Department of Manche (decree of 30 April 1926) and the metric tracks of the Tramways de l'Ardèche (86 km) from 1925 to 1929 as well as the 19 km from Lagny to Mortcerf in 1934.
The law reducing the working week to 40 hours obliged the S.N.C.F. to recruit a large contingent of additional staff, despite the abandonment of certain lines due to the coordination decrees, this administration preferred to transfer the operation of a few second-rate railways to secondary companies whose staff was or would be overcrowded due to the closure of some of their networks.
Thus the C.F.D., which abandoned the operation of the Yonne Local Railways network on 1 January 1939 and that of the line from Bourbon-Lancy to Toulon- sur-Arroux on 2 February 1939, obtained the leasing of the normal ex-P.L.M. tracks from Dijon to Épinac and from Maison- Dieu to Dracy-Saint-Loup from 12 April of the same year.
Passenger train to Château-la-Vallière (Indre-et-Loire Nord). Tractor C.F.D. n° 11. (Photo F. FONTAINE)
It was at this time that the Company's network underwent its greatest development: 2,232 km of railroad tracks.
In the field of technical operations, the last five years of this period were marked by profound changes, the merit of which is partly attributable to the C.F.D. Company.
The first railcars, too fragile and lacking in power, had only been able to complement the service of conventional mixed trains. The active collaboration of the C.F.D., first with De Dion and then especially with the Éts Billard in Tours, made it possible to develop diesel railcars that were perfectly successful and remarkable for the time, and which were able to provide most of the passenger service in conditions of comfort and speed superior to those offered by the road competition.
Automotrice Billard A 80 D and trailer R 210 in Les Menets, on the Vivarais network. ("La Vie du Rail" document)
We can mention the seventeen of Dion which were provided for the networks of Vivarais, Charentes and Saône-et-Loire, the four billiards of Indre-et-Loire and Corsica (1935). They were followed by the Billard A80D type, the result of close collaboration between the C.F.D. design office and this manufacturer. This railcar, reproduced in fifty-four copies and its trailer, treated according to the same standards, and of which nineteen units were delivered, circulated on most of the Company's networks until their closure, to the complete satisfaction of the users.
At the same time, at the instigation of Mr. P. Zens, the C.F.D. promoted the use of diesel locotractors. The first ones were obtained by adapting an engine and a transmission on the chassis of old steam locomotives. Three prototypes were being developed on the networks of Indre-et-Loire, Charentes and Saône-et-Loire on the eve of the Second World War.
