Réseau Breton

The Réseau Breton (French pronunciation: [ʁezo bʁətɔ̃], RB) is a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), standard gauge, and former 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in), metre gauge, railway in Finistère, France, with a few kilometres of line in Côtes d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan.

Forests in inland areas had previously supplied timber for construction of buildings and shipbuilding at the larger coastal ports, but this industry had largely declined as the source material was exhausted and the land turned over to agriculture.

[1] Apart from roads, the first transportation system constructed in Brittany was the Canal de Nantes à Brest, started in 1811 and completed in 1842.

[2] Although the canal could carry high volumes of freight, it was slow, relying on horse-drawn barges.

These lines left central Brittany an area devoid of railways, and served only by the Canal de Nantes à Brest.

[2] In 1880, the concession to build an Intérêt Générale system in Brittany was given to the CF de l'Ouest.

Leaving Carhaix, the railway shared the trackbed with the line to Guingamp until it curved to the left and crossed the D787 road.

The Ulne was crossed on a high stone arch bridge before Huelgoat-Locmaria (15.8 km (9.8 mi)) was reached.

The d'Argent was crossed by a steel bridge before Kervallon Halte (19.8 km (12.3 mi)) was reached.

A dual gauge section of track was laid on the up line on the viaduct across the harbour.

[5] This was built by the CF de l'Ouest as part of their Paris - Brest line.

The viaduct crossed the Chemins de fer armoricains (CFA) Morlaix - Plestin-les-Grèves line.

Although plans were made to upgrade this to station status and provide full facilities, these were not carried out.

At Guingamp there were loco sheds and facilities to service metre and standard gauge rolling stock.

The Leff is crossed by a steel bridge on the approach to Frynadour (79.6 km (49.5 mi)).

Leaving Carhaix, the N164 Angers - Brest road was crossed by a skew bridge.

Gourin station (20 km (12 mi)) was also the terminus of the Chemins de fer du Morbihan (CM) line to Meslan, although there was no direct link here between the two networks.

Rosporden station had a connection with the standard gauge Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (CF PO) Savernay - Landerneau line and there was an end-on junction with the CFA Rosporden - Landivisiau line.

The Blavet was crossed by a steel girder bridge before Gouarec station (33.6 km (20.9 mi)) was reached.

[5] After closure, the section of trackbed between Caurel and Mûr de Bretagne was used for the short-lived 5 km (3.1 mi) long Réseau Guerlédan, which opened on 2 July 1978.

Loudéac station (71.2 km (44.2 mi)) was shared with the CF de l'Ouest,[5] lying on that company's St Brieuc - Pontivy line.

Full facilities were provided here, the turntable being a dual gauge one, shared with the CF de l'Ouest.

[4] Châteaulin Gare station had a connection with the CF PO Savernay - Landerneau line.

Leaving Port de Carhaix (5.7 km (3.5 mi)), the line crossed the D769 road and then followed the Canal du Nantes à Brest until St Hernin - Cléden Halte 11.9 km (7.4 mi)) was reached.

The canal was followed until Spézet-Landeleau station 16.7 km (10.4 mi)), after which the Aulne was crossed by a long steel bridge.

Kerivarc'h Halte 22.3 km (13.9 mi)) was followed by Châteauneuf du Faou 27.9 km (17.3 mi)), where the RB station lay alongside the CA station, which was on the CA's Landivisiau - Rosporden line.

[5] The line between Pont-l'Abbé and Saint-Guénolé, built to metre gauge, had been opened by the Chemins de fer départementaux du Finistère, and closed before the Second World War.

A British Thomson-Houston diesel locomotive was trialled on the RB, having previously been tested on the CF du Vivarais.

In 1948, a Renault railcar with a 600 horsepower (450 kW) engine that had been destined for French Indo-China was tested on the RB for six months before being exported to Cameroon.

The first RB standard gauge locomotive was an 0-6-0 built in the 1860s for the CF de l'Ouest.