The Froissy Dompierre Light Railway (, CFCD) is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

light railway running from Froissy (a hamlet of

La Neuville-lès-Bray La Neuville-lès-Bray (, literally ''La Neuville near Bray'') is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D329 road, on the banks of the river Somme, opposite Bray-sur-Som ...

) 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), ...

department,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is run as a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. 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) ...

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 A trench railway was a type of railway that 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 so ...

of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

battlefields.

History

In 1915, the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

built a railway along the

Somme Canal The Canal de la Somme () is a canal in northern France. Its total length is 156.4 km with 25 locks, from the English Channel at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme to the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Saint-Simon, Aisne, Saint-Simon. ...

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 ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

Réseau Albert The Réseau Albert () was a set of Rail transport, 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, Somme, Albert - Doullens, Albe ...

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 that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

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 (; Picard: ''Chonne'') 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 loca ...

in 1931. The line escaped

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

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 referre ...

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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

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 Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

''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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

near A1 motorway and close to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

. 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 (; Picard: ''Chuingne'') 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 ...

and a zig zag 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 () 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 collection of buildings, ...

'', 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

), 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. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scale, weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinder ...

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 narrow-gauge, 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 c ...

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 engine has the oldest l ...

References

External links

APPEVA, official web site

of a visit to the line {{coord, 49, 55, 24, N, 2, 43, 45, E, region:FR-80_type:landmark, display=title 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