The étéSociété Franco-Belge was a Franco-Belgian engineering firm that specialised in the construction of railway vehicles and their components and accessories. The company originated in 1859 as the Belgian firm Compagnie Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériels de Chemins de Fer, founded by Charles Evrard. The company expanded its share capital in 1881 forming a new firm Société Anonyme Franco-Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériel de Chemins de Fer and constructed a factory in Raismes (Valenciennes) in the Département Nord in France.
In 1927, the company split into a Belgian (Société Anglo-Franco-Belge, SAFB) and a French company (Société Franco-Belge).
The company's factories were occupied during World War I, during which period it was used as a sawmill, and during World War II, during which period it manufactured Kriegslokomotives. SAFB merged with the Ateliers Germain in 1964; the company closed in 1968 due to lack of work.
The Franco-Belge (based in Raismes) was acquired by Alstom in 1982, as of 2012 the factory Alstom Petite-Forêt, Valenciennes operates as an Alstom subsidiary, specialising in metros, trams, and double deck trains, A test track Centre d'Essais Ferroviaire is located west of the Raismes factory.
History
In 1859, Charles Evrard acquired Parmentier Freres et Cie. based in La Croyère, (La Louvière, Belgium) and merged it with the Ateliers Charles Evrard (of Brussels, Belgium) to form the Compagnie Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériels de Chemins de Fer (1862), with a capital of 1 million francs. Charles Evrard was the company's director. At the Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris, the company exhibited a locomotive, passenger coaches, an iron goods wagon, and a steam rail crane.
In 1881, the plant in Brussels was closed and the factory's equipment was transferred, reducing pollution and other inconveniences caused to the populace of Brussels.
A new company, the Société Anonyme Franco-Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériel de Chemins de Fer, was created in 1881, including all the assets of the 'Compagnie Belge' (representing 60% of the share capital); the company was capitalised to 8 million francs, the Banque franco-égyptienne invested in the new enterprise. In 1882 a new factory was established in Raismes in the north of France, allowing the company to circumvent protectionism in the French market; initially the factory at Raismes in France assembled machines using components manufactured across the border in Belgium. All types of railway rolling stock were built by the company. Charles Evrard died in 1896.
In 1911, the company was renamed Société Franco Belge de Matérial de Chemins de Fer. The company manufactured a wide variety of rolling stock (locomotives, carriages, specialised freight wagons) for clients, including the Belgian railways, private French railways, as well as exporting to Spain, Portugal, and other European countries; China, Turkey, and Indochina; as well as to African and South American countries.
Up to 1914, the company board was dominated by Belgians; after 1914, the company became majority owned by French interests, mainly from Paris. At this time the company had a capacity of around 50 locomotives and over 1,500 carriages and wagons per year; during German occupation during World War I, the plant in Raismes was ordered to carry out repair work, but this was resisted by the plant management - the factory was used under occupation as a sawmill.
Post World War I, the French and Belgian activities were separated into independent companies in 1927 with the Croyere site forming the company "Société Anglo-Franco-Belge" (SAFB or AFB), which received English investment and specialised in equipment for metal and wooden fabrications for transportation equipment. The French operations of the company remained as "Franco-Belge".
Société Anglo-Franco-Belge (1927-64)
In 1939, SAFB two acquired two metal working factories were absorbed, in Seneffe and Godarville (Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont), both in Hainaut, Belgium. During occupation, the company manufactured over 100 locomotives for the Deutsche Reichsbahn, as well as carrying out repair work. The company director Gilbert Bostsarron became involved in the French resistance network, and arranged allied attacks on the factory; his network was discovered by axis forces resulting in his being arrested and shot in 1944.