THE THÈMES
PREVIOUS LOCOMOTIVE WORKS IN THE ROUEN AREA (from 1840 to 1912)
Sotteville Quatre-Mares was not the first locomotive works to be built in the Rouen area......
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE QUATRE MARES WORKSHOPS (from 1913 to 1919)
The French government gave the go-ahead for the construction on April 16th 1913, and because of the urgency of the situation, construction had already begun by the following August. The first tasks were to clear and drain the site.....
A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKSHOPS AND THEIR ROLE
From 1920 onwards, Quatre-Mares was mainly dedicated to major overhauls and heavy accident repairs. 250 such overhauls were programmed annually. The workshops also undertook the repair of various locomotive parts on behalf of the traction depots....
THE OVERHAUL OF STEAM LOCOMOTIVES (from 1920 to 1938)
The basic principals of steam locomotive design and construction... Major overhauls and rebuilding... The creation of the SNCF...
THE WAR PERIOD (from 1939 to 1944)
Like all the French, the people of Sotteville and St Etienne du Rouvray didn’t really believe in the “phoney war”, not until, that is, the invasion and subsequent occupation of their towns on 13th June 1940 plunged them all into horrors of the Second World War....
THE RECONSTRUCTION (from 1944 to 1947)
The major steps of the reconstruction.... after clearing the rubble, construction of individual shelters for machine tools and metal working benches to protect them from the weather.... resumption of operations...
THE APOGEE STEAM (from 1948 to 1963)
.... Throughout its existence, Q.M. constantly strives to reduce down time as well as costs through the improved quality of its work and through the greater productivity of its workers...
THE SWITCH TO DIESEL (from 1964 to 1972)
It was in 1963 that "Service Conversion Diesel" plan was set up to implement the conversion of the plant from a steam locomotive works to a diesel locomotive workshop......
DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE OVERHAUL AND REPAIR (from 1972 to 1995)
Principles of the diesel-electric locomotive.... maintenance policy.... the evolution of the workshops and their facilities....
Recruitment, the training school, everyday life, the career development, railway culture, the staff, strikes and trade unionism.....
THE WORKSHOPS AT THE DAWN OF THE XXI° CENTURY
At the dawn of the 21st century, "Quatre-Mares" retains its role as SNCF’s main workshop for diesel-electric locomotives of 2000hp to 3600hp.... the renewal of SNCF’s diesel locomotive fleet becomes a pressing need....
