In the early 1990s, the collection and subsequent consolidation of historical archives in a single location led to the creation of the Centre des archives historiques de la SNCF, located in Le Mans. Opened in 1995, it is open to all members of the public, in accordance with French legislation.
For nearly 30 years, SNCF has had the largest corporate archive service in France. The Service Archives Documentation SNCF (SARDO) is the operational memory of the Group, and of the staff who built it. It makes its historical and heritage collection available to you, comprising not only written, handwritten or printed documents, but also photographs, posters and other sound and audiovisual material, and supports you in your research projects.
The archive collections held at the CNAH
All the documents, posters and objects bearing witness to technical, operational, infrastructure, rolling stock, architectural, commercial and advertising matters are preserved there. You will find in particular:
- Board of Directors records since 1938
- Internal regulatory texts
- Archives of the departments responsible for budgetary and financial matters, staff policy and commercial activities, including a fine collection of tourist posters and brochures
- Records of the departments responsible for Infrastructure, Rolling Stock and Transport, dating back to the era of the former railway companies
- Plans of rolling stock, stations and civil engineering structures
- Nearly 1,600 serial publications whose issues span a period from 1842 to the present day. These publications include internal magazines (Bulletin PLM, Le PO illustré, Notre Métier, Notre Trafic, etc.), trade union publications, numerous foreign-language magazines, and railway history or model railway magazines
- A photographic collection made up of postcards, lithographs, photographs and glass plates, predating 1945.
- A significant number of objects from the railway world: 400 locomotive nameplates, regulator watches, former railway employee badges, uniforms, etc.
50
linear kilometres of archives preserved
8000
Posters
400
nameplates
Practical information
The Centre national des archives historiques de SNCF is open to the public from Monday to Thursday, 8.15am to 12pm and 1pm to 4.15pm, and on Friday, 8.15am to 12pm. Consultation in the reading room is by appointment only.
CNAH SNCF
2, avenue de Bretagne, 72100 LE MANS
Phone: +33 (0)2 43 21 74 65
Email: archiveshistoriques.sncf@sncf.fr
