November 15, 1960, “white cheese” (station master, in railway language, with his immaculate headdress on his cap), responsible for giving the start, lowers his flag in front of the muzzle of the Capitol. This rapid, made up of first class carriages and a dining car, leaves Paris on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, returns from Toulouse on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. With four stops (Limoges-Bénédictins, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Cahors and Montauban), it takes seven hours, only runs in the evening, with an arrival around midnight. This is still only a trial run.
May 28, 1967, the big day. Le Capitole, through the Solognote forests, between Fleury-les-Aubrais and Vierzon, is the first rapid to run at 200 km/h. “The decision was a leap of faith in the future. The volume of customers had grown only slowly until then”writes Maurice Mertens, in Rail Life. The railwaymen’s magazine points out, with pride, that 432 test runs at 200 km/h, and 40 to 250 km/h, marked out the reliability of this technical and commercial ride. In 1867, you only reached the Pink City after 8:11 p.m. on a slow journey at an average speed of 35 km/h. In 1950, the same distance was traveled in 9:27. In a century, the train has made giant leaps. Toulouse is now six hours from Paris.
No more wagon green and stainless steel grey. The Capitol is inaugurating its new clothes, making way for “High Speed” cars clad in red, designed by Paul Arzens. Its locomotives, the swift BB 9200, also tumble in bright red livery, with a dolphin-grey band on the waistband, and display their state of service, prominently, on an enamel plate: « CHAPTERS ». It is said that the choice of exterior paint had an influence on the clientele. When the same train was made up of red cars and green cars, it was not uncommon to see the passengers carapate from a green one to settle in a red one…
Parisian lobster and Gavotte crepes
In the fall of 1968, a Capitole du matin, in both directions, completed the range. In the spring of 1970, there he was spinning with the famous cars “Great Comfort”, egg-shaped, air-conditioned, with padded seats, wide, soft. Now in working order, it drives every day. Despite a tormented route through the foothills of the Massif Central and the escarpments of Limousin, “the fastest train in France” rushes at an average of 140 km/h to Limoges, then 120 km/h to Toulouse-Matabiau (the name refers to the killing of the bull, it’s my fault, in Occitan). The station could almost be reflected in the water of the Canal du Midi, which flows at its feet. Sculpted bas-reliefs, exalting the railroad and industry, frame the central clock. On its facade, the crests of 26 towns in Occitania assign it to the center of this province.
The Capitole is welcomed with fervor and pride by users, impressed by the red and silver livery of the train, and by the feat of rallying Paris to Toulouse in just six hours, against more than nine previously. / Document Trainconsultant-Lamming
Inside the Capitol, everything is done to give luster to this daily feat. A hostess intervenes at the microphone to warn that the light horse of modernity will cross a terrestrial “sound barrier”: the magical 200 km/h. In the restaurant car, of high gastronomy, a fascinating speedometer maintains the thrill of crossing switches at such a pace. Dizziness and the intoxication of being there do not in any way alter the pleasures of the table. Served on a white tablecloth, the meals are hearty. Open the menu to see: varied hors d’oeuvres, Parisian-style lobster, leg of forest meadow salt, sarladaise potatoes, mimosa endive salad, cheeses, Richelieu ice cream bomb with wafers, Gavottes crepes, coffee, liqueurs. Three to four services are scheduled at fixed times, signaled by a bell. We can book.
The success is immediate. We rush for “take the capitol”, peaceful motivation in our latitudes. In Limoges, the first weeks, onlookers flock, take photos, marvel at the elegance of this train, loaded with so much hope. The prestigious TEE (Trans Europ Express) label, hitherto reserved for international connections, is granted to it. The silver plates, which distinguish it from ordinary trains, line up above the bay windows. The SNCF hastens to put new trains into service, to meet demand. The national company’s posters and advertising cleverly succeeded in anchoring people’s minds that the Capitol was traveling at 200 km/h. In reality, it only reached this power over 70 km, barely a tenth of the course, then, in 1971, over 40 km more. Magical effect of communication.
In Limoges, the “cyclopean station”
The passage to Limoges deserves to go down to contemplate “the most beautiful station in France” (the title is sometimes disputed, wrongly) and even the world, according to the American weekly Newsweek. The building, surmounted by a massive dome, flanked by an imposing campanile, the same height as that of the Gare de Lyon (67 meters), with vast dials, dominates the city and the landscape. We owe it to a young architect, Roger Gonthier, who wanted it on piles, spanning the tracks.
Communications officer for SNCF Nouvelle-Aquitaine, local child and lover of his station, Jean-Michel Debernard says that it was widely criticized when it was built in the late 1920s. Like the Eiffel Tower, before being acclaimed, then listed as a historical monument, it was harshly attacked for its external appearance, a mixture of neoclassicism and art deco: “cyclopean station”, “centipede colossus”, “block of lard that butchers display in shop windows at Christmas”, “big clock that would have misplaced one of its candelabra”. It’s an outburst, while the spectacular construction site, a technical feat, had attracted intrigued crowds. A few, wiser voices had nevertheless celebrated “a masterpiece of beauty and power”. Visionaries.
Limoges station, nicknamed “the most beautiful station in France”. / SNCF-Media library / Bruno Vignal
The freestone facades cover the reinforced concrete framework of which the station is made. Above all, do not enter without having contemplated the two majestic statues symbolizing “the capital of the arts of fire” (porcelain and enamel, not to be confused with e-mail, etc.) framing its large marquise, surmounted by a canopy of stained-glass windows in the shape of a basket handle, supported by eight columns. On the tympanum, Ceres, goddess of agriculture, neighbor with Mercury, god of commerce and travellers. On the side, balconies with balustrades and coats of arms of the cities on the lines of the Compagnie du chemin de fer from Paris to Orléans surround this Byzantine building. At the base of the dome, the eye still open, similar to that of the Nautilus of Jules Verne, watches over the cardinal points.
Victim of unequal competition
Going through the door means entering a vast, high-ceilinged concrete cathedral, lit by stained glass windows by Francis Chigot, a colored glass artist, overlooked by the corolla dome that diffuses overhead light. At the corners of the huge hall of lost steps, the eye has plenty of time to detail, without embarrassment, naked women, the four caryatids personifying Limousin, Brittany, Touraine and Gascony, provinces formerly served by Paris-Orléans . Coats of arms of the allegorical imagery of the IIIe Republic. Counters, counter, furniture are in exotic solid wood, and the large decorative panels, including a large tourist map, signed by the porcelain maker Camille Tharaud.
The luckiest travelers can enjoy the luxury of the “Grand Confort” cars, photographed here in 1971, with a bar car, wide padded seats and air conditioning throughout the journey. / SNCF-MEDIATHEQUE / A. BOUCHER
At the time of the Capitol, the Buffet de Limoges, flagship of this traditional restaurant method, was open from 5:30 a.m. to midnight. Adorned with carved woodwork, staff decor and paintings, its great room did not only attract hungry travellers. A whole local clientele of gourmets liked to come and sit down there with their families and tie their towels around their necks. The memory is erased.
From the Capitol to the Tarpeian Rock… Competition from Air Inter’s Caravelles which reach Toulouse in one hour threatens the survival of this rapid, victim of unequal competition. And when, in the summer of 1982, it hits second-class cars, the Capitole loses its rank, its prestige and its title of TEE. His days are numbered. It will not survive the TGV, which nevertheless passes offshore, towards Bordeaux. The red arrow was withdrawn from operation in September 1991, after thirty years of service.
The luckiest travelers can enjoy the luxury of the “Grand Confort” cars, photographed here in 1971, with a bar car, wide padded seats and air conditioning throughout the journey. / SNCF-MEDIATHEQUE / A. BOUCHER
The Capitol put Paris at 2 h 50 from Limoges. In 2022, the capital moved away. We only reach it in 3 h 15 or 3 h 30, in the best case. Today, Limoges-Bénédictins, which stands out on the horizon, bitter from a neglected line where trains are scarce, is no longer the station but Heaven. The Limoges Intermodal Exchange Center. Stop dreaming.
Next week, episode 4 – The Blue Pigeon