• Route
• Train
  • Rolling stock
  • History of the rolling stock
  • History of the line
  • Old pictures
  • Centenary of the electrification of the Chemin de Fer de La Mure
• Things to see and do
• Children's carnival
• Organise your trip

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History of the rolling stock

1889 - 10-tonne gondola cars, or "coal cars." Coal is a heavy material that has always raised issues with transport. In a mountainous region such as the Matheysine where until the end of the 19th century the main means of transport was mule trains, the advent of the railway paved the way for all kinds of developments. 373 three-axle cars of this type, with vacuum brakes and screw brakes, equipped with a cupola or brakeman's seat, were delivered to the network between 1889 and 1931.

1909 - 15-tonne gondola cars The total success of the first electrification trials on the SGLM line quickly made it feasible to increase the transport capacity of trains to meet the requirements of the Compagnie des Mines de La Mure. At the same time, the engineer René Thury designed the extension of the electrical installations to include the entire line and the tractive stock. The first electric engine, E1, "Le Drac," arrived in 1903. It had a haulage capacity of 110 tonnes at 22 km/h on the ascent and 300 tonnes on the descent with trains of 20 cars. 100 three-axle cars of this type with screw brakes, equipped with a cupola or brakeman's seat, were delivered to the network between 1909 et 1913.

1927 - Railcars A1 to A8 The continued growth of coal transport made it necessary to add to the tractive stock. Eight Thomson-Houston / La Buire railcars (A1 to A8), each fitted with four pantographs, were delivered between 1913 and 1927 for transporting passengers on the Saint Georges-La Mure section and its extension to Corps, opened in 1932. Technically outmoded by the time they were delivered, with a wooden body covered with metal sheet, they were consigned to shunting duty when the La Mure-Corps line was downgraded in 1952. Three of these engines exist today in historical collections, only one of which is in working order (shown here).

1961 - "Richard" hopper cars In 1931 the Compagnie des Mines de La Mure installed equipment at Saint-Georges-de-Commiers station enabling the coal transported by SGLM to be "transhipped" to the PLM national network. In the late 1950s new facilities designed to increase train productivity by facilitating coal unloading were installed. The new block trains comprised thirteen cars and transported 221 tonnes of anthracite, which was unloaded in a single operation. These cars were used to transport coal from 1961 to 1988 with a daily capacity of 3,500 tonnes. 72 two-axle cars of this type, which enabled the coal to be unloaded automatically, were delivered to the network in 1961.