Creation of the company Le Matériel Roulant at Garchizy

Throughout the Great War, demand for vehicles and metal-based public works increased hugely.

For mass production of vehicles, the group of metalworking industries founded the company: Le Matériel Roulant at Garchizy on the Loire, near Nevers. This later merged with the neighbouring foundry of Garchizy, which led to the emergence of a great modern metalworking construction plant.


The foundry at Garchizy in activity, viewed from the chateau (19th century).

The vehicles workshop was installed in a vast assembly of 6 adjacent parallel halls which covered 4 ha. After the war, the market was saturated by foreign vehicles (American, German etc.) and the company shut down in 1924. The State then bought the land and set up ECMCF (central establishment for railway equipment).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION…

Book : La Nièvre, kingdom of the forges, Musée de la Nièvre, 2006

Source : Ministry of Culture, Mérimée section