The Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi (, . CF du Midi), also known in English as the Midi or Southern Railway, was an early French

railway company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be: * a manufacturing company, * a rail transport operations, railway undertaking providing services through operating rolling stock, * a railway infrastructure manager ...

which operated a network of routes in the southwest of the country, chiefly in the area between its main line – which ran from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, close to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast, to

Sète Sète (; , ), also historically spelled ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises'' (fem ...

on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

– and the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. The company was established by the Pereire brothers, who thus broke the virtual monopoly held in France by James Rothschild on the slow-paced railway projects taking place in the area of Paris during the 1840s and 1850s. The Rothschild branch of Paris responded by strengthening its grip on the sector with an alliance to the industrialist Talabot. The Pereires in turn founded their financial company Crédit Mobilier. In 1934 the company was merged with the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans to become part of the

Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi The Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi (), often abbreviated to PO-Midi, was an early French railway company that was formed in 1934 following the merger of the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans and the Chemins de fer d ...

(PO-Midi). In 1856, the Midi completed its rail line from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. In 1857, it continued on from

through

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

. This put it in competition with the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (). Originally named the ''Canal Royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considered one of the g ...

, and on 28 May 1858 the railway took over the lease of the canal.

Electrification

In 1909, the Compagnie du Midi launched a vast program of electrification of its lines under the impetus of the engineer Jean-Raoul Paul (1869-1960). It was a huge challenge for the time because it went far beyond the scope of railway operations alone. It was necessary to build infrastructure such as dams, power plants and distribution systems. The company was far from

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

production centres, so it was hard to get the fuel required for steam traction, and some coal was even imported from England. The proximity of the

made

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

generation possible and this favoured electrification. The shortage of coal during the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

of 1914-1918, and especially its prohibitive cost after the war, provided further impetus for electrification. After investigations in Switzerland and Germany, a system using

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...

(AC) at 12 kV and Hz was chosen for economic reasons. The

three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...

system was rejected as being too complex so a

single-phase In electrical engineering, single-phase electric power (abbreviated 1φ) is the distribution of alternating current electric power using a system in which all the voltages of the supply vary in unison. Single-phase distribution is used when loads ...

system was chosen. The

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

Cerdanya Cerdanya (; , ; , ) or often La Cerdanya is a natural region, natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the Catalan counties, counties of Catalonia. Cerdanya has a ...

line was electrified from the start because its gradients (up to 6%) were too steep for steam traction. The Perpignan - Villefranche-de-Conflent line (Pyrénées-Orientales) was chosen as the site for future tests because it provided conditions of both plain and mountain. This was the only line that was not later converted to 1,500 volts. It operated thus until 1971. From 1911, the company tried six different types of

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

system and chose the American Westinghouse system. This design was very simple and was capable of absorbing temperature variations. Even before the end of the tests, the company became a candidate for the construction of Eastern and Western trans-Pyrenees railways. Electric traction was chosen from the outset, reducing construction costs by allowing steeper gradients and sharper curves. The company then began an intensive electrification programme for the network, including work on the tracks, the construction of hydroelectric plant for the production of electrical energy and the creation of a distribution network for the transport of this energy. On 29 August 1920, the government imposed the 1500 V

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

(DC) system, mainly because the army did not want to use the same system as Germany. The reaction of the Midi was immediate and the company launched, in December 1920, new electrification programmes at 1500 V. From 1923, all facilities operated at 1500 V, except the Perpignan - Villefranche-de -Conflent line. In less than two years, the Midi network had succeeded in converting. The programme of electrification of the Midi was impressive because, in only a dozen years, the electrified network of the Midi formed a coherent whole. The programme ended in 1932, with the exception of the Montauban - Sète link, which was only switched on in 1935 after the signing of an agreement with the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO).

Electric locomotives

Where numbers appear inconsistent, this may be because Midi and

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

used different numbering systems. ;Alternating current Midi E 3101

Six prototype locomotives were ordered:
Midi numbers first * E 3001 from

Thomson Thomson may refer to: Names * Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin * Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson Businesses and organizations * SGS-Thomson M ...

and

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

* E 3101 from

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

and

Henschel Henschel & Son () was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons. Georg C ...

* E 3201 from Westinghouse, later SNCF 1C1 3900 * E 3301 from Brown-Boveri and SLM Winterthur * E 3401 from Ateliers du Nord et de l'Est * E 3501 from Schneider * Z 23031-23044, railcar, later * Z 23051-23063, railcar, later converted to 1,500 V DC to become ;Direct current SNCF numbers first ** 2C2 3100, previously Midi E 3101-10 ** , previously Midi E 4801-4824 ** , previously Midi E 4001-40 ** , previously Midi E 4501-50 ** , previously Midi E 4101-4190 ** , previously Midi E 4201-4250 ** , previously Midi E 4601-4650 ** , previously Midi E 4701-4717 ** , rebuilds of some BB 4200 and BB 4700 locomotives ** ,

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

, Midi Z 23201-215 ** , railcar, Midi Z 23001-015 ** , railcar, Midi Z 23051-063

Electrification

Electric locomotives

See also

References

Further reading