Paulin Talabot
[1] He studied at the École Polytechnique from 1819; Talabot is said to have become a follower of the Saint-Simonianism movement,[2][3][4] but according to Ernouf this is because is he is confused with his younger brother, Edmond.[6] Learning of the success of the railways in England that were being built by George and Robert Stephenson, Talabot formed the Compagnie des Mines de la Grand’Combe et des chemins de fer du Gard, which planned to build a railway to take the coal from the mines at La Grand-Combe to the Mediterranean at Nîmes.The first section of line from Nîmes to Beaucaire, opened on 15 July 1839, and a train covered the 28 kilometres (17 mi) in 32 minutes using steam locomotives from Newcastle in England hauling carriages built in France.[13] In 1855 Talabot published Le Canal des deux mers, d'Alexandrie à Suez; moyens d'exécution.[14] He later built railroads in Algeria, where he was also involved with maritime transportation and mining (with the Compagnie de Mokta el Hadid).