Compañía of los Caminos de Hierros del Norte

The company of the railroads of North (of the Spain) is one of the principal private companies to be returned in the formation of the Renfe in 1941.

The creation of the company

Several projects this railroads intended to connect Madrid to the Basque Provinces and the French border are born between 1845 and 1855. The province of Biscay grants a great interest to the creation of a railroad making it possible to connect it to the capital. Its siderurigic Industrie is then in full rise, and it has transport need reliable towards the capital. In 1843, one comes to inaugurate the Hauts-fourneaux Santa Anna de Bolueta. Metropolitan Spain does not have yet any railway line, and the period is with the euphoria for the new means of transport. Careful, the Spanish government grants only provisional Concession S. It is thus in form " provisoire" that the government, municipalities, and the interested royal chambers of commerce (mainly in Biscay) obtain the authorization to build a line known as " nord". On the basis of Madrid, it must gain Valladolid, Burgos, Bilbao, then to follow the coast by Deva to reach the French border with Irun. Only one condition is posed: that it is taken account of the interests of all the localities concerned with the layout, in particular in the province of Álava The changes occurred in the Spanish railway policy into 1851 force the biscayens to adapt to the new terms of payment on behalf of the state and to request a new concession In 1854, the new government Espartero - Leopoldo O'Donnell convenes the congress from which the new general law leaves the railroads of June 3rd, 1855 which gives all flat. The line of north east from now on divided into 3 sections:

Madrid with Valladolid by Avila and Medina del Campo
Valladolid with Burgos
Burgos with the France by Miranda del Ebro

The last section avoids from now on the Biscay, since the layout selected passes by Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alsasua, Tolosa and San Sebastian

To obtain the line in its entirety, it is necessary to obtain the concession of the three sections. As of November, the Emile brothers and Isaac Péreire obtain the concession of the section Valladolid - Burgos. In July 1856, the Sociedad of crédito mobiliario español obtains the concession of both others. But this company is also a creation of the Péreire… While the first blows of pickaxe are given to Valladolid, on June 18th, 1856, the Péreire also obtain the concession of a junction of Venta of Baños to Alar del Rey. In this last locality, another company must ensure continuity towards Santander and the mines of coal of Barruelo de Santullan. The December 29th, 1858, the Compañia of los caminos of Hierros del Norte de España is officially created with Madrid. Its capital is of 380 million Reales, the equivalent of 100 million Francs. Among his principal shareholders, one finds:

the Sociedad LED crédito mobiliario español (52700 actions)
the Loan on personal property French (29400 actions)
the Belgian General society (20000 actions)
the brothers Péreire (14000 actions)
Alba (500 actions)

In fact, only 25% of the capital are Spanish.

The first general meeting of the new company takes place with Madrid on January 19th, 1859

Construction and the startup of the line of North

Since 1856 a small French colony settles with Valladolid to begin work. This city has the advantage of being halfway of the two extremities of the railroad. In the long term, it is envisaged to install there the Ateliers of the material of the company and its main thing Dépôt of engines. The construction of the line starts in the two directions, towards Burgos and Medina del Campo. In Castille, topography does not present large difficulties and work advances quickly. The largest part of the hardware requirement arrives by the port of Santander. The orders arrive of Paris where the managing director of construction resides, engineer Lalanne. The engineer NR. Baker ensures the relay Valladolid. At the beginning of 1861,360 kilometers of line are already finished. The missing sections are most difficult. In the south, in Castille, it is a question of threading through the Sierra of Guadarrama. For north, it is necessary to cross the the Pyrenees in the tortuous valleys of the Guipuzcoa. In Castille, the company can count on a manpower of 13750 men in 1860. But a epidemic bursts and causes the suspension of work in many points. To cure it, the company will make come from France the doctor Valéry Meunier. Finally, construction will last eight years. August 15th, 1864, the official unveiling takes place with San-Sebastian. the junction of the compañia of los caminos of hierros del Norte with the sister of the Compagnie of the railroads of the South (which also belongs to the Péreire) is effective with Irun and Hendaye.

Opening of the various sections to the exploitation:

An extension by way of fusions and repurchases

While the exploitation starts to develop on the line of North, the empire of the Péreire is with its apogee in 1865. But the situation is not long in worsening. The construction of the line of north cost the double of the sum initially envisaged. The traffic develops to with it only slowly, sometimes by the fault of the company: in Castille, there is simply " oublié" to build access roads to the principal stations. Industries remain rare. A new director " of choc" is named in 1866, in the person of Gustave Noblemaire. It will throw sponge at the end of two years for a PLM with the already overrated reputation… It does not matter, the head office of the network was transferred to Madrid in 1866 also, which offered much more autonomy! Elsewhere in France and Europe, the Péreire know many vexations. In short, the compañia of los caminos of hierros del Norte de España knows quite hard beginnings. In the septentrional part of the network, the Guerres carlists come soon to worsen an already precarious situation. The company sees its situation improving as from the years 1870. The Guerres carlists end, and the government granted some subsidies under the undergone destruction. In 1874, the Sociedad LED crédito mobiliario español yields to the company the Coal mines of Barruelo for the sum of three million Francs. In 1876, the company starts to substitute steel rails for the iron rails. The fact seems anecdotic, but the company can from now on be even supplied in Spain, near the companies Catalan Basques and . Less dependant on Paris, the company chooses the extension. The first, the January 31st, 1874 answers a strict logic, with the official repurchase of the Nueva Compañia del Ferrocarril de Alar has Santander for the sum of 92.702.000 Reales. The company is from now on free of its external provisioning which will forward via Santander. February 13rd, 1878, the annexation of the Compañia of los Ferrocarriles de Zaragoza has Pamplona Barcelona (ZPB) makes it possible there to reach the the Mediterranean and the double almost length of the exploited lines. March 28th of the same year, the annexation of the Compañia del Ferrocarril de Tudela has Bilbao gives access the large port of Biscay. Norte has from now on the appearance of a wide-area network and must have a station inhabitant of Madrid worthy of this name. 1878 thus see the beginning of the building work of the new station of Principe Pio. It will be officially inaugurated on July 16th, 1882. May 24th, 1881, Norte repurchases the concession of the line in metric gauge track of Villalba to El Berrocal for the sum of 12000 Pesetas. A little later on August 11th, the company obtains the concession of the line Segovia - Medina which offers an alternative to the principal line on part of its southernmost layout. One second wave of repurchase begins in 1884. It begins on August 14th with the absorbtion of small the Compañia del Ferrocarril de Lerida, Reus there Tarragona which makes it possible to consolidate the positions of the company in Catalogne. More interesting, the fusion of the first May 1885 with the Compañia of los Ferrocarriles de Asturias, Galicia Leon opens new outlets there towards provinces hitherto ignored by Norte. The movement accelerates then. October 13rd, 1886, the Credito General of Ferrocarriles yields the concession of the line of San Juan de Nieves to Villabona. The following year, on December 31st, 1887, Norte absorbs the lines of the Sociedad de Ferrocarriles there Minas of San Juan de Las Abadessas. The first February 1889, the line Selgua - Barbastro is transferrée with the company. May 27th, 1890, Norte repurchases the concession of the line Soto de Rey - Ciano with some " Sizzo" who had obtained it the previous on April 23rd. Powerful the Sociedad of los Ferrocarriles Almansa-Valencia-Tarragona is in its absorptive turn on May 25th, 1891. The annexation of small the Sociedad of los Caminos de Hierro del Este de España, on January 1st, 1892, encloses this phase of expansion. The territory of the company from now on is well delimited.

Consolidation and the modernization of the network

The network is supplemented little by little. May 3rd, 1893, the government authorizes the transfer of the line of Jaca (built by the company on behalf of Sociedad Anonima Aragonesa) to Norte. The XXe century sees the setting in double life of certain sections particularly charged: Madrid - Pozuelo in 1900, followed San Sebastian - Pasajes in 1902 and of Madrid - El Escorial, Medina del Campo - Valladolid - Burgos, and Irun - Alsasua in 1913

An electrification in two times

It is into 1914 that one seriously thinks of electrifying part of the network. Spanish neutrality in the conflict benefits the economy and causes a considerable growth of the traffic. The line of the collar of Pajares is one of hardest of Spain. In practically continuous slope of 20 per thousand, it comprises nearly 70 tunnels, whose work of Perruca celebrates it, 3071 meters length. Traction vapor reveals its limits there, and it is this section which one chooses to electrify in priority.

the electrification of the collar of Pajares

July 24th, 1918, a law approves the electrification of the slope of Pajares. It is not question of electrifying the totality of the line, but only the section of 62 kilometers Ujo - Busdongo. After study of the various proposals presented by the principal American and European firms, it is the proposal of the firm General Electric which holds the attention particularly. The tension will be of 3000 volts, in D.C. current. This systême is hitherto exclusively used in the United States. Its first important application is carried out by the company Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific between 1915 and 1917. This tension is then much higher than in the rest of Europe, where one uses the 570 or the 1500 volts. It has the advantage of requiring the construction of less sub-stations, with a more economic overhead line. The contract with the General Electric is signed in 1921, and the line powering takes place on January 1st, 1925.

appearance of the 1500 volts.

The good performances obtained in the slope of Pajares push the Norte to continue the experiment: in 1927, one decides to electrify the sections of Irun to Alsasua, of Barcelona to Manresa, and of Barcelona to San Juan of mow Abadesas. As curious as that can appear, it is a different tension which is retained, the 1500 volts D.C. current. Several reasons explain this change: impossibility, with the techniques of the time, to build railcars in 1500 volts, the difficulties of getting material 3000 volts in Europe, some advantages technical as regards sub-stations, and, it should well be said, some " mode" of the 1500 volts in Europe, several countries having retained this tension (France, Netherlands, the United Kingdom). This electrification besides is partially inspired by that of French PO, in particular for the sub-stations. The various lines selected are powering in 1928, and on June 7th, 1929 for Irun - Alsasua. Already one studies another ambitious electrification, that of the sections of Madrid to Avila and Segovia. Work starts only in 1935, and are very quickly stopped by the civil war. It is the Renfe which will put these lines under tension on February 9th, 1946.

Random links: