Jean-Pierre Jaffres, a former railway worker assigned to train maintenance, recounts a slice of his professional life in a 170-page book.
He will present it at the “Fez lire” festival which runs until Sunday October 6 in Le Mans (1).
Recruited to the workshops in 1977
In 1977, Jean-Pierre Jaffres was hired at the SNCF equipment workshops, 2, avenue de Bretagne in Le Mans. Built in 1913, this imposing building originally repaired wooden wagons. It was located near the Morocco district, a veritable SNCF enclave where nearly 5,000 railway workers lived almost self-sufficiently.
In 1946, various railcars (Michelines) were maintained and repaired there. “ In the mid-1960s, air transport was the SNCF’s major competitor, and it had to react. The TGS (special gas turbine) was partly built in Le Mans in 1967, it is the ancestor of the current TGV. After the oil crisis of 1973, the use of gas was abandoned in favor of electricity » says the author who will end his career in the design office.
In the 1970s, nearly 800 agents carried out overhauls, transformations and repairs until the site closed in 2013. “ This book evokes traditions, with its portraits of very special agents and their particular missions. It is also punctuated by personal memories, rants, but also real laughs. » confides Jean-Pierre Jaffres, retired since 2010 and who was once a correspondent for the magazine “La Vie du rail”.
(1) “L’atelier” by Jean-Pierre Jaffres is printed at the book workshop in La Flèche (€15). The author will be present on the Esplanade des Jacobins on Saturday October 5. Contact: 06 29 75 05 40 or [email protected]
