The Froissy Dompierre Light Railway (french: Chemin de fer Froissy-Dompierre, CFCD) is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

light railway running from Froissy (a hamlet of La Neuville-lès-Bray) to Dompierre-Becquincourt, through Cappy, in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

department,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is run as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

by APPEVA (''Association Picarde pour la Préservation et l'Entretien des Véhicules Anciens'') and is also known as ''P'tit Train de la Haute Somme''. It is the last survivor of the narrow gauge

trench railways Trench railways represented military adaptation of early 20th-century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of World War I. The large concentrations of soldiers and artillery at the f ...

of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

battlefields.

History

Image-Réseau voie de 60 Somme 1923 map-en-

In 1915, the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

built a railway along the Somme Canal between Péronne and Froissy. Between 1916 and 1918 the railway was at the Allied front line, and transporting 1,500 tonnes of materials daily. At Froissy, the

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, ...

Réseau Albert The Réseau Albert was a set of railway lines in France from 1889–1955, part of the ''Chemins de fer départementaux de la Somme''. There were four lines in the Réseau Albert system:- Albert - Doullens, Albert - Ham, Fricourt - Montdidier ...

connected with the CFCD. After the war, the railway was used in assisting with the reconstruction and also to bring food into the villages it served. New lines were laid including a zig-zag to reach the Santerre Plateau. The line was by this time being used for the transportation of

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

to the sugar refinery in Dompierre. In 1927, a further deviation was built to avoid Cappy Port, which required a tunnel. The line was extended to

Chaulnes Chaulnes () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Chaulnes lies in the eastern part of the Somme department, 13 km north of Roye. The Chaulnes station is served by local trains between A ...

in 1931. The line escaped

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

with little damage, although one train of molasses was attacked by a British aircraft. Two Coferna

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s were acquired in 1942, working alongside the Feldbahn

0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. Locomotives of this type are also referr ...

s. The

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s were retired in 1946 and replaced by three

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

''loco-tracteurs''. The extensions to Péronne and Chaulnes had been removed by 1954 and increased competition from road traffic meant that the line ceased operations in 1972, by which time a preservation society had already started operations.

Preservation

APPEVA was formed in 1970 with the aim of preserving a narrow gauge railway as a working museum. The CFCD was a good location, being between

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

near

A1 motorway A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

and close to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. APPEVA operated its first train in June 1971 between Cappy and Froissy, a distance of . By 1974 the line was operating as far as the top of the zig-zag and in 1976 the full line to Dompierre was opened to traffic, following improvements to the level crossing on the Santerre Plateau. In 1996, a new museum was opened in Froissy. The line starts from the Froissy terminus and follows the towpath along the Somme canal to the little station of Cappy. It then runs through a curved tunnel more than long followed by a bridge to cross the road from Cappy to

Chuignes Chuignes () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Chuignes is situated on the D143 and D71 crossroads, near the banks of the river Somme, some east of Amiens. Population See also *Communes of ...

and a

zig zag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

which was built after World War I to allow locomotives to climb the very steep slope towards the Santerre upland area. Once on the Santerre, the line runs on the side of the road to Dompierre. The terminus is located near the former sugar refinery of Dompierre. APPEVA owns or has in store 9

s, of which three are operating and some are considered as a ''

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a col ...

'', and 24 diesel engines. The Froissy Dompierre Railway operates from April till the end of September, on Sundays and holidays, and every day of the week (except Monday) in July and August. The journey between the Froissy museum and the Dompierre terminus takes one hour. The CFCD is twinned with the

Leighton Buzzard Light Railway The Leighton Buzzard Light Railway (LBLR) is a light railway in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England. It operates on narrow-gauge track and is just under long. The line was built after the First World War to serve sand quarries north of ...

. APPEVA publishes a monthly magazine in French devoted to narrow gauge railways and touristic railways (Standard, metric and narrow gauge) called ''Voie Étroite''.

Museum

The ''Musée des chemins de fer Militaires et Industriels'' (Military and Industrial Railways Museum), located near the line terminus in the hamlet of Froissy (French commune of La Neuville-lès-Bray), features a large collection of gauge railway material, steam engines, diesel engines and wagons, in an exhibition hall inaugurated in 1996. It also features an interesting

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

speeder of 1917, used by the US Army.

Rolling stock

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Passenger stock

The CFCD operates a variety of open and closed passenger stock, most of which is built on chassis of freight vehicles dating from World War I.

Freight stock

The CFCD has a variety of goods wagons, both open and closed, that date from World War I, and also examples of wagons from the industrial use of the line after World War I.

Visiting locomotives

During the 40th anniversary of preservation of the line in 2011, three British-based locomotives visited, including

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the DHR or the Toy Train, is a gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal. Built between 1879 and 1881, it is about long. It climbs from ab ...

DHR 778 DHR 778 (originally number 19) is a narrow-gauge steam locomotive, that was built in 1889 for the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. It is preserved in the United Kingdom, and is the only DHR locomotive outside of India. The locomotive is notable ...

References

External links

APPEVA, official web site

of a visit to the line {{Heritage railways in France Froissy Industrial railways Somme (department) 600 mm gauge railways in France Tourist attractions in Somme (department) Railway lines in Hauts-de-France Railways with Zig Zags