The train in Creuse told by an enthusiast

Pierre-Alain Menant held a signing session at Bourga'presse to present his work History of the railway in Creuse .

Passionate about the world of trains in rural areas, originally from Mayenne but based in Paris, Pierre-Alain Menant works for a subsidiary of the RATP responsible for operating the bus networks in the provinces. And if he looked into the Creuse railways, it is because he discovered the Creuse during a trip with friends then during a cycle tour of the Creuse, just before the health crisis.

A job-creating network

After researching the railway tracks in Creuse and having only found a relatively old book on the subject, during confinement he documented himself. Once released from the “imposed confinement” of 2020, he obtained documentation from the Departmental Archives.

After Railways in Mayenne et The little belt of Paris and the Auteuil line , History of the railway in Creuse talks about the impact that the train may have had on the development of the territory.

The pages are treated chronologically and illustrated with original photos, including a very rare one on the Busseau-sur-Creuse viaduct. The reader becomes acquainted with the influence that the train had in the creation of jobs in the coal mines of Lavaveix-les-Mines, with the debates of 1864 on the route of the Montluçon-Limoges line, Aubusson being at the more populated era than Guéret… He also discovered, against the backdrop of the prospect of the creation of the Ahun coal basin, the expansion of industry in Creuse in the mid-19th century. ^e century, represented mainly by Aubusson, Felletin and Bourganeuf….

If he does not see the tons of potatoes on the quays of Bosmoreau-les-Mines… the reader will also note that the line to Bourganeuf opened quite late, in 1883. Just before the war, it was the first line to close for the passenger transport. Freight freight will end in 2004.

After the storm of 1999, the SNCF planned to open five wooden stations and renovate the stations but the project would not come to fruition!

From granite to artists

In his work, the author also evokes the transport of soldiers near the Courtine camp, granite paving stones towards the constructions of the Parisian fields, as well as the comings and goings of artists from the Crozant school…

On the few Creuse lines still in operation, Pierre-Alain Menant, as a fine connoisseur, already knows which ones should close in the medium term… And if he says he has no other plans in mind, there is no doubt that he should let yourself be seduced by another picturesque story of the means of transport which was invented two centuries ago.