Loss of Alsace-Moselle 1870 (≈ 1870)
Travel of railway depots to Mohon.
1896
Initial project
Initial project 1896 (≈ 1896)
Two rotundas and one central workshop planned.
1903-1904
Revised and final plans
Revised and final plans 1903-1904 (≈ 1904)
Three and then two 32-way rotundas.
1906-1908
Construction of depot
Construction of depot 1906-1908 (≈ 1907)
Assembly of steel buildings and installation.
1966
Municipal merger
Municipal merger 1966 (≈ 1966)
Birth of Charleville-Mézières including Mohon.
1981
Destruction of a rotunda
Destruction of a rotunda 1981 (≈ 1981)
As a result of the decline of the Lorrain railway.
28 décembre 1984
Registration rotunda remaining
Registration rotunda remaining 28 décembre 1984 (≈ 1984)
Protection for historical monuments.
26 décembre 2006
Workshop registration and vestiges
Workshop registration and vestiges 26 décembre 2006 (≈ 2006)
Extension of heritage protection.
2017
Risk of collapse
Risk of collapse 2017 (≈ 2017)
Fire aggravating the age of the site.
2018
SNCF commitment
SNCF commitment 2018 (≈ 2018)
150,000 euros promised for renovation.
2024
New vocation of the site
New vocation of the site 2024 (≈ 2024)
Repurchase and museum/railway project.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The SNCF rotunda (CW 4): entry by order of 28 December 1984 - The workshop and the remains of the second rotunda, in full (CW 4): registration by decree of 26 December 2006
Key figures
Ingénieur de la Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est - Initial Designer
Author of the 1896 project.
AMR Mohon - Safeguard association
Committed to preserving the site.
Ateliers de Vendeuvre - New owner (2024)
Company buying the deposit.
Origin and history
Mohon's railway shed is a railway depot built at the beginning of the 20th century in the present city of Charleville-Mézières, which emerged from the merger in 1966 of five municipalities, including Mohon, nicknamed the "city of chemote par excellence". This site was dedicated to the maintenance and parking of locomotives, reflecting the strategic importance of rail in the region after the loss of Alsace-Moselle in 1870, which had deprived the East Railway Company of its depots at Mulhouse and Montigny-lès-Metz.
The initial project, conceived in 1896, provided for two rotundas connected by a central workshop. Revised in 1903 to include three rotundas, the final 1904 plan contained two rotundas of 32 tracks each and a workshop equipped with pits for locomotive maintenance. The construction, carried out between 1906 and 1908, included steel structures, a ferry bridge and a clock. This complex illustrated the technical innovation and expansion of the French railway network.
The decline in the deposit began in the 1980s, as a direct result of the decline in rail traffic caused by the collapse of mining and steel activities in Lorraine. In 1981, one of the two rotundas was destroyed. The remaining rotunda was listed as historical monuments in 1984, followed in 2006 by the workshop and remains of the second rotunda. Despite the risk of collapse exacerbated by a fire in 2017, renovation commitments (€150,000 promised by SNCF in 2018) and associative initiatives, such as that of AMR Mohon, allowed us to consider its preservation.
In 2024, the site, bought by the Ateliers de Vendeuvre, a company specialized in car manufacturing, began a new life. An agreement between SNCF Immobilier, the city of Charleville-Mézières and Ardenne Métropole plans to transform the old depot into a place combining railway and museum activity, with an opening to the public. This project marks the rehabilitation of a major industrial heritage, a symbol of the social and technical history of the Ardennes.
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