Decauville
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Decauville (French: ; this track was portable and could be disassembled and transported very easily.
The first Decauville railway used
(1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge.History
Origins
In 1853
In 1867, in order to overcome a labor shortage, Amand Decauville looked for a way to mechanize the
In 1875, things rushed: at the beginning of the year, Paul Decauville tried several means of transport within the very confines of his farm. Among these is the “H. Corbin System”: a wooden track, resembling a ladder, the uprights of which were covered with an iron angle iron. The wagons had only one axle, each resting on the previous one. After tests, this system was considered too fragile and was rejected. That same year, the Decauville farm chose to grow a lot of sugar beets and the harvest was expected to be excellent. A stock of 9000 tonnes of beets were waiting in soggy fields that are very difficult to access. Ordinary means of transportation (the dumper) prove unusable. Decauville then remembered the Corbin system and decided to have a track made in its workshops consisting of two square irons spaced 400 mm and fixed on flat iron crosspieces. To ensure transport, a worker had the idea of creating wagons. Thus constituted, the assembly no longer sunk into the ground. Faced with the urgency of the harvest, it was produced in quantity, which made it possible to finish the skidding before the first frosts.
Decauville produced track elements, engines and cars. Those were exported to many countries, in particular to the colonial possessions of European powers.[1] In 1878 Paul Decauville was given permission to build the Jardin d'Acclimatation railway in order to demonstrate passenger transport operations on his railway system during the Exposition Universelle of 1878.
The railway
First trades
From 1876, the workshops endeavored to perfect the track system and the rolling stock. It was at the same time generalized within the farm: evacuation of the manure, transport of parts in the workshops, etc. After a little less than a year of tests and improvements, the first elements were marketed: the tracks and a wagon chassis, to be adapted according to the needs of the buyer.
In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of its "portable" railway system, Decauville obtained the concession for the Tramway de Pithiviers à Toury (TPT) which ensured, until 1964, a large traffic in sugar beet as well as occasionally the transport of passengers.
Two years after the sugar beet episode, the success of the "Porteur Decauville" is such that elements were sold and delivered to the four corners of the planet, as the table below indicates.[2]
Military use
The French military became interested in the Decauville system as early as 1888 and chose the 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge track to equip its strongholds and to carry artillery pieces and ammunition during military campaigns. Decauville track was used during the French military expeditions to Madagascar and Morocco.
By the
The
Similar
Decauville wagon
A Decauville wagon[7] is a vehicle for rail freight transport, usually on 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge track. It usually consists of a standard rectangular frame on which two axles are fixed without elastic suspensions. A container or other equipment is mounted on it depending on the goods to be transported. The most common type features a V-section tipper and is used for transporting bulk cargo such as sand, coal and ores. Other common types of Decauville wagons are those for the transport of logs, in this case two wagons, one for each end of the logs and without being hooked together, carry the logs fixed on forks that can rotate on a vertical axis. Other types are the railcars with reticulated case for peat and sugar cane or the railcars with tank for fuel, the railcars for bricks, which can enter directly into the cooking ovens, railcars for people, railroadcars service for the transport and laying of prefabricated tracks. During the First World War, they were also used in trench railways.
They may or may not be equipped with brakes or tow hooks, there are examples of electric self-propelled wagons or with combustion engines. Currently the Decauville railcar has evolved to become a vehicle, also with trolleys, with a continuous brake, an automatic coupling system and with devices for the automatic unloading of the transported goods.
There are also
Civilian use
A Decauville railway was used in the construction of La Plata, Argentina, in the 1880s, and transported dignitaries from the mainline trains to the site of the founding ceremony. It was a 600 mm gauge rail built by the Province of Buenos Aires Railway, and departed from FCBAPE's Ensenada to Lomas de Tolosa (the first station established in the city).[8]
Decauville tram installations for
Decauville designed the steam tramway and cars used in
Also in Argentina, Decauville portable tracks and vehicles were used to transport passengers to Ostende, a city in Atlantic coast founded in 1913. The first tourists were carried to the town using a 3 km (1.9 mi)-length railroad that ran along the beach.[11][12]
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Decauville wagon) used by the former Soignes Forest Railway
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Tokio station, where passengers boarded the train toDecauville wagon)
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Beach train of the Comboio da Praia do Barril
Metre-gauge equipment
Decauville production in the field of metre-gauge track began around 1896 with a five-ton empty 0-4-0 locomotive. Competition was strong in this field, but the company's small range proved versatile.
Thus five locomotive types are mentioned in the 1897 catalogue, ranging from 13 to 23 tonnes in operation. A 0-6-0 steam locomotive was built in 1908 as No. 512 for the line from Berck-Plage to Paris-Plage. For nonpowered stock, there were only two wagons: a "giraffe" tipping wagon and a flat ballast.
In the 1908 catalogue the range was greatly extended, to the detriment of the 600 track: Among traction equipment the five initial types were still present, but they had been refined. At this time Decauville began to specialize in network equipment for colonies, leading to the appearance of very large metre-gauge vehicles (up to 32 tonnes, such as those intended for the French Sudan railway. 20 car models were available, including several specially adapted to tropical climates. There were also 14 types of wagons, most covered.
In 1939, the Decauville company built 3
The 'Z 600' equipment for the Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine line was manufactured by Decauville and delivered in 1958.
Vehicles
Steam locomotives
The first locomotives manufactured by Couillet, in Marcinelle in Belgium, were 020s, with a separate tender and designed to be transported on the back of an elephant. Decauville has collaborated with many workshops in the construction of its machines. We will mention the Tubize Metallurgical Company for the construction of the Mallet of the universal exhibition or the Weidknecht establishments.
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Decauville , France
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Locomotive 020, built by Couillet in Belgium for the West Melbourne Gasworks, and preserved in Australia
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Locomotive Decauville 030
Gallery of Decauville rail products
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Decauville system tourist train at Costa da Caparica, Portugal
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Decauville track from Transpraia, Costa da Caparica, Portugal
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Decauville track on a small bridge, Costa da Caparica, Portugal
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Decauville track junction, Costa da Caparica, Portugal
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Decauville track switch, Costa da Caparica, Portugal
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Yucatan, Mexico
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Legacy Decauvillehorse tram in use in Yucatán.
Other manufactures
In addition to railways, the company diversified very early on in many fields: agricultural machinery, electric motors, cycles and
Cycles
From 1891 to 1902, Decauville produced six models of cycles, some of which were equipped to be able to travel on the railway, by adding a system made up of three tubes and a roller. The emblematic production of this range is that of the tricycle, which serve, among other things, as the basis for the prototype at De Dion-Bouton.
Automobiles
The Decauville company, via its Decauville automobile car subsidiary, entered the automobile industry alongside the De Dion-Bouton company, for which it had producmain|ed 3,000 motor tricycles. After several years of study, Decauville presented its Voiturelle (1898-1903)[16] This small three-seater vehicle, designed in Bordeaux by two engineers from the maritime couriers, was equipped with a gasoline engine. Decauville studied a new chassis which was presented in 1902 at the cycle show. Surprisingly modular (it was possible to interchange seats and engines) this Decauville 1902 model was a great success. However, from 1907 orders fell and a crisis began. Decauville's lack of responsiveness led to the cessation of activity in the “automotive” branch in 1909. The sale of models in stock continued, however, until 1911.
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Two Decauvilles at the start of the 'One Thousand Miles' from London, on the Crystal-Palace track in April 1900
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lA car from 1898/1899
See also
- Bathurst Decauville Tramway
- Benjamin Constant railway
- Decauville automobile
- Decauville Tramway at Exposition Universelle in Gent, 1913
- Decauville wagon
- Feldbahn
- Forest railway
- Heeresfeldbahn
- Industrial railway
- Light railway
- List of Decauville railways
- Military railways
- Minimum gauge railway
- Mountain railway
- Schöma
- Trench railways
- Mogadishu-Villabruzzi Railwayextension
References
- ^ Small, Charles S. (April 1971). "Decauville Locomotives in Australia". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin: 88–94.
- ^ J. Turgan, The Great Factories, volume 38, p. 42
- ISBN 1-871980-55-0.
- ^ National Filling Factory, Hayes, Middlesex, West Middlesex Gazette, 7 June 1924, p2
- ^ rds
- OCLC 988744.
- ^ "Decauville catalogue" (PDF). pp. 34–.
- ^ 1882: Dos ferrocarriles en la Fundación de la ciudad de La Plata on Noticias con Enfoque
- ^ Yucatan trams
- ^ "Saigon tram network". 27 November 2013.
- ^ Cien años de historia on Viejo Hotel Ostende
- ^ "Estación Pinamar" history on Museo Ferroviario Ranchos (blogsite)
- ^ Competition results of the Decauville Cars from 1899 to 1902 (book)
- ^ 1903 Events in the United States Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine on Team Dan.com
- ^ "1905 Events in the United States". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ Cart for staff officer, of the Company of automobiles of the establishments Decauville Ainé, Report of the international Jury of the exhibition universal of 1900
External links
- Decauville Museum
- Portable Railways by M. Decauville, Aîne, of Petit-Bourg (Seine and Oise), France on Project Gutenberg
- Map of Decauville railways in the Yucatan, Mexico
- Decauville catalogue
- Documents and clippings about Decauville in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW