The Reconstruction of the Steam Engine Terminals in Northern France after the First World War

This chapter proposes to study a largely unknown matter of railway history that constitutes a unique experience worldwide: the reconstruction of the technical facilities of the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord of France after the First World War. This experience can be summarised in the proposal of a general reconstruction project, developed by engineer Raoul Dautry, following new concepts and parameters that seek to conciliate the principles of the scientific organisation of labour within the specificity of the railway activity, in addition to the urgency for the reestablishment of the normal operation of the network. Instead of imposing a single model, a standardised design of each of the fundamental parts was proposed, managing thus to conciliate the standardisation of elements with the capacity for adaptation to the specific circumstances of each particular case; to expedite the construction process; to rationalise the movements of the locomotives according to the various work processes and to facilitate possible enlargements or changes that could become necessary with the march of time. That being said, this experience cannot be analysed without taking into account that it took place in a very specific spatial and temporal frame.