Passionate about this great brand of small trains, railway enthusiasts are meeting

The Jouef small train brand is celebrating its 80th anniversary. If the emblematic Jura company has since left the country, in Champagnole, an association continues to keep the legend of the little trains “made in France” alive. A thousand visitors are expected for their annual exhibition.

Like Alexandre, they sometimes came from far away to admire the most beautiful models of Jouef's small trains. The young man drove two hours to hunt in the aisles of “Jouefissimo”, the annual stock market exhibition of the “Jouef-39” association: “I’m passionate!” he claims. Like him, a thousand are expected for these two days of demonstration and bargaining.

“It’s nostalgia: these are products that were given to me when I was little, at Christmas, on my birthdayremembers Alexandre, It’s something that made me grow.” Moreover, if he took the trouble to travel to Champagnole, it was with a specific project in mind: “I collect the last catalog that Jouef created in the Jura”he explains. “Each model present in the catalog, I will try to find it”.

Although the company left France more than 20 years ago, Jouef, a contraction of “Jouets” and “Français”, has long been a flagship of the industry in the Jura: “Jouef was born here, in Foncine-le-Haut and in Champagole” reports Jean-Michel Garnier, member of Jouef-39. Founded in 1944, the company quickly became a giant in model making and small trains.

“In the 70s and 80s, it was still the second largest company in Jura, behind Solvay, and there were more than 1,200 employees” recalls Christian Grenier, co-president of Jouef-39. He himself passed “28 years in the box”as workshop leader. “We were a family, we experienced joys and tears” he says. “We do what is necessary to ensure that the image remains, for the local good.”

“For all those who are from Jura, we were born in Jouef, and we continue in Jouef” adds Jean-Michel. Further on, Gérard, a visitor, confides with emotion: “my grandmother, she worked from home, like many, she assembled small tractors”. “When Jouef closed, everyone cried” remembers the Jura resident. But he has a reason for satisfaction: “my son works at Alstom, he is in the manufacturing of TGVs”. A kind of continuity.

The exhibition gives pride of place to the brand's pieces made in the region. Circuits carefully preserved by the association are on display. “These are trains that are 40 years old and even more” marvels Jean-Michel. “The little green one, he adds, pointing at a model, he is around sixty years old. It was strong at the time, it’s still going strong!”

“Since they were bought and it’s made in China, it’s more modern,” concedes Alexander the passionate, “but there is no Made in France side”.

In the aisles of the stock exchange, where other brands and all types of models are represented, Jouef wagons are bargain hunted for prices ranging from 15 to 150 euros.