French Railways - Expo Ghent 1913

We are finally coming to the end of this already long study, with the participation of the French railways, and yet it is limited to an overview of a collaboration whose extent and variety, to be put in their true light, would require a large volume.

The International Railway Material Hall was located in the Avenue du Canada, not far from the Plaine des Sports. France occupied the major part of it. Its participation included thirty-seven exhibitors whose installations were grouped in several distinct parts.

In the international railway hall, where only Belgium and France were represented, was the rolling stock sent by the administrations, companies and some manufacturers. It covered half of the hall, i.e. 3,000 m2 , and housed eight locomotives, two power units, two tenders, three railcars, ten coaches, four wagons and accessories.

Finally, in a second annex of 400 metres, there was a film room where all the regions of France crossed by railways, their most beautiful landscapes, their most famous sites, the universities of the big cities encountered on their route, were shown on the screen, thus allowing the spectators to make an instructive journey through the whole of France.

Very complete, very well understood, the exhibition of the French railways brought to a worthy close a participation which, harmonious and fertile in curiosities, serious in its teachings, amiable in its presentation, will leave an unforgettable memory in the same way as the sympathetic and distinguished men who organised it and who lived the life of the Exhibition, the life of Ghent and Belgium, leaving friendships as lively as they were lasting.

©Livre d'Or de l'Exposition Universelle & Internationale de Gand 1913