Guignicourt–Rethel railway

The Guignicourt–Rethel railway was a 35 kilometres (22 miles) long narrow gauge and metre gauge railway in the north of France, commissioned in 1904/05. Three sections were closed in 1940, 1947 and 1961, while the remainder was re-gauged in 1971 and operated as a standard gauge railway until 1987.

Guignicourt–Rethel
Guignicourt-sur-Aisne Rethel
Technical
Line length	35 km (22 mi)
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Route map Legend km Reims–Laon railway from Laon 0 Guignicourt[1] to Soissons[2] Reims–Laon railway to Reims Menneville Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne Évergnicourt Avaux-le-Château from Reims Vieux-lès-Asfeld Asfeld CA-line to Montcornet[3] Blanzy/Aire/Balham Château-Porcien Nanteuil-sur-Aisne Acy-Romance Canal des Ardennes Aisne from Reims Rethel 35 tp Charleville-Mézières

History

The Guignicourt–Neufchâtel section of the secondary railway line of the Chemins de fer de la banlieue de Reims with a track gauge of 1000 mm was opened in 1904 and extended to Rethel in 1905.

The Évergnicourt-Vieux-lès-Asfeld section was closed in 1940, the Vieux-lès-Asfeld-Asfeld section in 1947 and the Asfeld-Rethel section finally in 1961. Only the remaining Guignicourt-Evergnicourt section was converted to standard gauge in 1917 and operated until 1987.^[1]

Rail track

Vignol rails with a weight per metre of 25 kg/m on wooden sleepers were used for the superstructure of the Rethel-Asfeld line, while Vignol rails with a weight per metre of 22 kg/m on wooden sleepers were used for the neighbouring Asfeld-Dizy metre-gauge line of the Chemins de fer départementaux des Ardennes, which opened in 1909.^[4]

Rolling stock

In 1958, the following rolling stock was used on the line by the sugar factory at Acy-Romance:

• Six Corpet-Louvet 1'C 19.5 tonne steam locomotives from the CA (Nos. 61, 71, 77, 79, 81).
• Two Corpet-Louvet steam locomotives C with 18 t from the CBR
• One Corpet-Louvet steam locomotive 1'C with 19.5 t from the CBR
• Two three-axle diesel locomotives with 180 hp Willème engines and Minerva six-speed transmission 0-3-0 with 16 t (no. 651 and 652) and one 0-3-0 with 18 t (no. 301), all formerly Compagnie Générale des Voies Ferrées d'Intérêt Local (VFIL) in Pas-de-Calais
• A light HAWA railcar (Hannoversche Waggonfabrik in Hannover) of the CA.
• Approximately 150 open freight wagons and about 30 closed wagons with an empty weight of 5 to 6 t for 10 t to 15 t load capacity

Some German bogie wagons with an empty weight of 12 t and a carrying capacity of 20 t^[4]

Train stations

• 
  Neufchatel-sur-Aisne
• 
  Évergnicourt
• 
  Asfeld-la-Ville