Le Musée des Technologies Ferroviaires

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In La Seyne-sur-Mer very close to Toulon in the Var, there is a very surprising Museum of Railway Technologies. It is housed in the home of its creator who has long hoped to be able to install his collection in a dedicated and more appropriate place, but failing to achieve this,

It is the house he lives in which serves as an exhibition space. So certainly, the objects are somewhat crowded there, but the visit is not without interest, quite the contrary. Here, everything that could be made functional was done so, which has the merit of

Making through demonstration very understandable the operating principles of devices which for many have not been found for a very long time along our railway tracks. The equipment on display is representative of the history of steam and then electric traction,

But also of signaling, from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century. Rather than respecting the chronological order of the visit, I have chosen to offer you in this new report a tour devoted to signage before preparing other videos around other themes developed in this museum.

Curious to discover how the mechanical signals implemented by different large companies worked day and night , through demonstrations that you will probably not find in any other museum? So hello and welcome to Aiguillages! You are here at the La Seyne-sur-Mer railway museum. I’m going

To show you a little of everything there is, starting with what’s outside: signaling equipment from Paris-Orléans, with regard to certain objects like the kilometer post, the barrier and PLM , therefore the semaphore and the disk. It’s very surprising because here, we’re not really in a museum,

But it still looks a lot like it. Are we at your house? Yes, yes, yes, we are at my place because I had the opportunity to move the museum to a more public place, let’s say. Which obviously poses a big disadvantage from a space point of view,

As we will see inside. Everything is a bit on top of each other and my goodness, you have to deal with it. We’re going to see it. You still have beautiful pieces, beautiful in the sense of their historical interest

And the space they also take up. Yes, yes, I tried to recover material that would no longer be recoverable now that it has disappeared. So it was obviously necessary to accommodate all of this in the premises available to me, which was not an easy thing. And now it’s a little saturated.

We’re going to go see all that. And since the weather is nice, maybe we’ll go through the garden like that. Yes, we’re going to have the exterior first. Here we have a PLM semaphore which is functionally mounted with the interposition on

The control of a compensator which allows in reality, as there can be large distances between the control and the signal, which therefore makes it possible to compensate for the expansion of the wires with temperature variations between summer and winter. Therefore, the compensator keeps

The cable always taut by the counterweights which can therefore be seen on site. Then, another important thing is the presence of an aubine device. The aubine device is a device that was designed by a gentleman of the same name, Mr. Aubine, very early

In the construction of the railways. Its purpose is to separate the control from the signal so that the signal can be closed by the train, by the passage of the train itself. Here we have this device which therefore has two arms. One arm goes to the control levers,

The top one, and the bottom arm goes to the signal. These two arms can be associated or dissociated via a latch which will lock or unlock by the action of the wheels on the pedal which we see at the edge of the rail. So, there, the semaphore is in the closed position.

We will put it in the open position, which will cause the pedal to be raised to a level higher than the rail. So, there, the semaphore is open, which therefore authorizes the departure of the train. And we see here that the two levers are still united. The pedal is raised to

A level higher than the rail, so when passing the train, the first wheel of the machine will press on the pedal, which will separate the two levers and the counterweight from the signal, therefore putting it in the closed position. So it was the train itself which closed the signal behind it.

Is this what we call aubiner? This is called aubiner! This Mr. Aubine has been, let’s say, a little forgotten, but his name has remained in posterity since we always talk about aubining a signal, even though it is no longer used at all on the purely mechanical system that is here.

So forgotten that I don’t think we know his first name, right? Yes, exactly, exactly, we don’t know his first name, absolutely! So it was important to recover such material which was, let’s say, almost at the origin of the railway and which was one of the first elements relating

To traffic safety so that a train could not overtake another. other. What we didn’t say, but it’s something that will be very important in everything we see in your museum, is that you made sure that as many things as possible were functional. ? Yes, absolutely, absolutely, within my possibilities,

Of course. Try to make everything work that can be done effectively. So there, for example, we have a disk, a PLM disk with electric lighting, therefore modernized. But I also wanted to be able to present similar equipment, a

PLM disk with its kerosene lighting, which we will see shortly. What must also be said is that the mechanical signals are designed in such a way that it is the counterweight which puts the signal in the closed position, so that if there is a break in the control cable,

Automatically the signal goes into the closed position, by the action of the counterweight. So, the purple square, in this form, is a PLM model, it is the equivalent of the traditional red and white square, but for service roads. The presence of the bell

Is to warn personnel who are on foot, who may move around, since these are service roads, that traffic, such as a locomotive, may pass. So, here, we are dealing with material that has been recovered, preferably in the region where it comes from everywhere?

From almost everywhere, yes, yes, yes, because the water crane comes from Niversac near Périgueux, the signals come from the Manosque region. The 490 kilometer post is from the Compagnie du Midi and the Carré is a unified SNCF model So mechanical square?

It is a mechanical square of SNCF design dating from after 1938 which integrates its counterweight whereas on the other signals, the counterweight is independent of the signal, there the counterweight is part of the mechanism on the signal itself.

And although mechanical, we are starting to introduce a little electricity since in fact there is a lamp, this time electric, which is there to remind… Absolutely, and therefore for night observation . So mechanical signals have electric lighting now. But originally, therefore,

This was not the case with this one since it was made after 1938, but had kerosene lighting, which we will see later for the disc. So there, we have a semaphore which allows us to authorize or not authorize the pushback of a train of freight wagons onto the marshalling drawers. Yardage

Is a place where we will separate cars from a freight train because these cars have different destinations, so they must be routed onto different tracks depending on their destination. So, we bring the freight train made up of these wagons to different destinations, on a track called a drawer, which drawer has a length

Which is at least the length of the longest trains in the between 700 to 800 meters at approximately and then the locomotive which brought this train of wagons to the drawer,

It will push back the train and at the end of the drawer, at the entrance to the drawer rather there is a mound, that is to say that the track goes up on one side and goes down on the other,

Which means that by pushing back the train, the last car becomes the first. It will cross the hill, there, we untie it and the signal box will send it on the track on which it must go to constitute new freight trains with a more targeted destination. So this signal,

Which is located approximately in the middle of the drawer, tells the mechanic whether he is authorized to push back or not. So, there, it is in the closed position, that is to say that the mechanic cannot repress it. The particularity of this signal is to have… To be observable from both sides,

Unlike usual signals when they are only observable from the side. Quite simply because once the mechanic has passed this signal, he has to turn around to see if it is still open or closed. So, for the night, there are lights on both sides

And the blue wing is also painted blue on the other side. For the signal to open, the agreement of two people is necessary: ​​the person who is at the level of the mound, where the wagons are detached, and the person who is at the switching station who will direct the

Detached wagon. which will come down from the mound, direct it on the path on which it must go. So, the two people each have a lever for controlling this signal and both people must agree to authorize the maneuver. The signal here is raised with these two levers,

One being supposed to be the one at the mound and the other at the signal box. Here I’m going to put them both in the closed position. There, it is in the open position… So, there, the two levers are in the closed position and the signal is closed. If

Only one of the levers is opened, the signal will not open for safety reasons; both people at the signal station and at the mound must agree to authorize the pushback of the train. So I’m going to open one lever, it’s not going to do anything to the signal, I’m going to close it,

I’m going to open the other, it’s not going to do anything to the signal, I’m going to open both and the signal will open. So a lever is open, but the signal has not moved. I close this lever, I open the

Second. It will be the same thing. The signal is not going to open and now I open both levers and the signal will open. So, always for security reasons. If one of the two people, the one on the mound and the one on the post, realizes that the maneuver must be stopped,

Well, just close one of the two levers for the signal to close. . So, you need the opening of both for the opening of the signal. But closing just one is enough to close the signal. This one is controlled by this set of counterweights. This

Is a signal, let’s say, inspired by PLM although its design, the design of this one is more recent since it is manufactured by SNCF. Well, we are here with the reconstruction of the upper part of the mast, a mast which would be identical to the one we saw outside,

That is to say a PLM disk, but equipped for its lighting at oil, as it was originally. Each signal had lanterns associated with their usefulness and their signal. The lantern corresponding to this type of signal is this one. It’s a kerosene lantern,

So we’re going to light it. So there, I light it with a lighter, but originally, when it was in operation, there were railway workers who were responsible for lighting the lanterns which were done at the right of each signal . And for that,

The person responsible for lighting the lanterns had to have… Well, already go on foot, along the tracks, or sometimes by bike, to light these lanterns. But these lanterns are for observing the signal at night, so we didn’t leave it on during the day.

You had to turn them on every evening and turn them off every morning. And to do this, the staff in charge of this walked around with this lantern or identical to this one. SO, to light the signal lanterns. So the lighter lantern here has a small

Tank with fuel, so gasoline, methylated spirits or petroleum, it doesn’t matter. So he dips this tampon in the gasoline and through this opening, he lights this tampon, therefore his own candle, his own lantern flame. And with that, he will

Light the signal lantern. That was the role of the lighters. So the lantern, we are going to attach it to its support… It is placed on a trolley which slides along the mast from the bottom to the top where we are here, via this chain, so we’re going to bring it up. There

Is an automatic attachment system that will fix it at its correct level. So this lantern has a white glass in front and at 90 degrees here, a yellow glass. We’re going to mount it… So it was mounted from the bottom of the signal. There was no need to go up after the signal.

So the lantern remains hung at its correct level. And if we take a step back, there is a red screen which is attached to the large red disc in front of the white glass of the lantern. So this gives the red and on the side, the yellow beam is

Reflected. The yellow light is reflected on a mirror at 45 degrees, and therefore from a distance, we see both red and yellow, so the associated red and yellow color indicates to the mechanic that he is in the presence of a disc. Each signal has color codes specific to them. So

When a mechanic sees red and yellow together, he knows he’s looking at a disc, even if he doesn’t see the whole disc because it’s dark. When you open the signal, there is a cam at the top that tilts a green bezel with a green screen,

So in front of the white glass of the lantern, which makes what was red previously becomes green now. As for the yellow beam which still exists on the side, it is no longer reflected on the mirror since it is cut by the sheet metal. So, there, we only see the green light. So

We see either the green light, as with all signals when they are in the open position, or the red light and the yellow background associated and we know that we are in the presence of a disc. Over here, we can see the mirror with its support. There, unlike the signals that we

Saw earlier outside which were controlled by funicular transmissions, that is to say by wires and levers, here, we are in the presence of an engine made by a manufacturer called Morse. This, according to Morse motors which were designed to replace funicular transmissions such as we saw outside, by cables, by compensator,

Et cetera. So, there, we put a motor like that at each mechanical signal to make each command electrical and no longer mechanical. The Morse motor therefore includes an electric motor which operates under eight volts, in direct current which will drive, through a set of gears, this

Large toothed ring which has no axis, which has no radius, which turns on three rollers one, two and three and which therefore has cams four cams at 90 degrees from each other which, when it turns this disc goes through the engine will turn in that direction. The cam here will

Hook this piece by hooking this piece. It will drive this arm which is here, which will correspond behind to the chain which controls the signal therefore causing the opening of the signal. So this is the engine that will do it. There will then be when the signal is in

Its correct opening position, there will be a cutoff of the power supply to the motor and we will see the spark here, from the limit switch and therefore the motor is not more fed. On the other hand, these electromagnets will remain powered here, there are two which keep them pressed against this

Bar and we will see the role that this bar plays later when the signal closes. So we’re going to open the signal. So. So, there, the engine did its job. There, it is no longer powered. The cam which was at the top came, it drove this part and the disc

Open. And the disc will remain open as long as the electromagnet is powered. That is to say, this bar is stuck here. When you want to close the signal, it is not the motor that will intervene. The closing of the signal is only caused by the counterweight. But for that,

Things have to come off here. And to unhook this here, that is to say this part of the cam which holds it, you have to cut off the power supply to the electromagnet. With this piece, this bar will fall and it will cause it to come loose. And the counterweight will be able

To close the signal. So. But there is no longer any intervention from the electric motor. The electric motor only intervenes now when the signal must be opened. These Morse motors were designed especially for this use, therefore the operation of mechanical signals without

Having to make funicular transmissions. So we see the counterweight which is up there, it is the counterweight which brings back… There, there, there is the cam which tilted the green bezel, therefore in its location. But when the cam turns in the other direction obviously,

It is the counterweight which raises the green bezel so as to leave room for the red screen. So that’s every morning, we often think that in the evening, we have to turn them on, but we forget

That in the morning, we had to come and turn them off… Paul Ducousseau blocks, named after their inventor, Monsieur Paul, who was director of the Compagnie du Midi and an engineer from the company Monsieur Ducousseau, had designed this system of blocks which only includes two signals,

The disc and the semaphore, the semaphore being the square. So these signals had the particularity of always being in the closed position when there was no train, therefore the opposite of the automatic light block. Quite simply because the closing position,

That is to say the presentation of these red shutters corresponds to the fact that the power supply of the electromagnets which fold them forward and give the opening position, these electromagnets -magnets were powered by batteries and so that they did not wear out too

Quickly, they had to not deliver current for the longest time, so when there was no train who passed. There, they are therefore in the closed position, so we will put them in the open position by powering the electromagnet which controls them. So. So,

This gives the opening position of the signals, both the disk and the semaphore. These shutters, which fold down, are made of aluminum sheets which replaced what was originally there, that is to say red-dyed silk which was stretched over the frame that

The ‘we can see behind. And this silk was torn and burned in the sun, obviously, since it was the Compagnie du Midi. The silk was later replaced by the aluminum sheets that we see now. Then the signals return to the closed position simply by cutting off

The power supply to the electromagnets due to the fact that they are not mounted vertically, they are mounted offset therefore, which means that by gravity, they return to the position this position naturally. Originally, kerosene lanterns were also used to light them

At night. So we can see the circles in the aluminum, behind there, so we also mounted kerosene lamps which gave the red signal. Then, therefore, they were electrified. So these were lights independent of the mast which were next to it and so we closed the openings

Which corresponded to the kerosene lamps. Among the signals also which were specific to certain companies, then we go from South to North. So, here we have the SEM palette, specific to the North. In fact, they were signals that gave either a clear path

Or a warning. So, there, it is in the closed position, so the warning is given. So in the middle, we have a lantern which shines on both sides, with white light. And this light passes through two yellow screens on each side in horizontal lines and therefore the

Yellow light reflects off the mirrors to give the corresponding bands. In the open position, the white light like the lantern is attached to the wing, so the white light this time passes diagonally through green glasses, green screens which are reflected,

Which are reflected rather on the mirrors to give bands green. And in the middle, then it’s the same in the middle of the lantern, so there we have, we have the yellow or we have the green, quite simply

Because, inside the lantern, there is a small little support of glass with one, with a counterweight and it is mounted on a pivot, which means that the glass support does not move since it is articulated on the pivot and the ballast, always keeps it in a vertical position, and it is

The position of the lantern which changes and therefore which passes in front of the yellow or in front of the green. The rotation angle is 35 degrees, this has to be quite precise. And so originally, they were kerosene lanterns, these kerosene lanterns must necessarily as they were fixed

After the wing they rotated, which was not the case with the lanterns which illuminated the signals, so it was necessary that inside the kerosene lamp does not rotate, it had to remain vertical. So the body of the lantern rotated, the lamp inside was also weighted so

That it remained vertical and the body of the lantern had two chimneys, so that in each position there was have a fireplace above the kerosene lamp. This was undoubtedly not the simplest device, but it had the merit of working for many years. The Museum of Railway Technologies can be

Visited almost any day of the year, it is only open on request from its owner who you can contact via the website of the tourist office of la Seyne-sur-mer, I will give you the link in the description,

But you will also find the contact details of this museum in my Rail Tourism and Leisure Guide which contains a little more than 700 ideas for walks with a railway theme to do alone, between friends or family, almost everywhere in France.