LA GARE DU MEUSIEN

Saddlebags and capotes on their backs, the soldiers are ready to leave for the front and take the train, at the "Meusien" station, impasse Varinot. The "Meusien" is the name given to the narrow gauge railway network created in the Meuse department at the end of the 19th century. From 1914, this network was requisitioned by the Army. A regiment of engineers improved it by doubling some of the tracks, creating stations specialising in supplies (for men and horses) and linking all the stations by telephone. In 1916, 128 locomotives and 800 wagons were requisitioned from other networks to run on the Meusien network, which led to a sharp increase in traffic. Twenty-two trains a day used the line in February 1916, then 35 a day in April: this was the peak. The Meusien fulfilled its role with dignity. It carried food for men and horses to the front. On the way back, it carried wounded men. One locomotive, "La Suzanne", survived the war and has been classified as a historical monument. It was restored on the initiative of the Association of the Historical Railway of the Sacred Way. This association plans to put it back into circulation in 2016 on a 4 km section near Bar-le-Duc.