The Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (, ), is a preserved railway in northern France.The railway's own website - largely in French. Accessed 20 June 2015 The railway is managed by a non-profit organization, which runs from March to December between the towns of the Baie de Somme area: Le Crotoy and Cayeux-sur-Mer via Noyelles-sur-Mer and Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, on metre gauge tracks (formerly part of Société générale des chemins de fer économiques). The association was founded in 1970 and over the years it has become a major player in tourism development in the Picardy coast and is also responsible for the preservation, safeguarding and enhancement of the fleet full of cars, wagons, steam locomotives and diesel locomotives. A part of the line has dual gauge track, and although forming part of a group of five lines, at least a part of it has always been open to traffic.
Origins and route
The standard gauge line to Saint-Valery
A branch to Saint-Valery had been proposed as early as 1845. In 1853 the Chemin de Fer du Nord was granted permission to build a single track branch from Noyelles to Saint-Valery. This long line crossed the River Dien by means of a long wooden trestle bridge. The original passenger station at Saint-Valery stood at the site later occupied by Saint-Valery Canal station. The line opened to traffic on 5 June 1858. It was 1885 before the CF du Nord was able to get permission to use steam locomotives at Saint-Valery's docks, horse power having to be used before them.
The metre gauge lines
In the 1880s, there were various schemes to build narrow gauge lines of either or in the Somme département. Eventually, a metre gauge line nearly long was built by the Société générale des chemins de fer économiques (SE) from Noyelles to Le Crotoy, opening on 1 July 1887. A second metre gauge line opened on 6 September 1887 from Noyelles to Cayeux, from Noyelles,SE with stations at Saint-Valery Ville and Lanchères-Pendé. The line between Noyelles and Saint-Valery being laid between the rails of the standard gauge branch, which was also extended into Saint-Valery Ville. The line between Noyelles and Saint-Valery kept its Intérêt Général status, and the other lines had Intérêt Local status, with separate tickets being issued for each part of the route.
The railway carried holiday-makers to seaside resorts, and transporting local freight of galets, sugar beet, chicory and shellfish. Running around the entire length of the Somme Bay in the Somme département, in Picardy, northern France, it connected Le Crotoy with Noyelles-sur-Mer, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and Cayeux-sur-Mer, including the sands at Brighton-Plage. Other minor stations or halts were provided near assorted villages, hamlets and farms. In its literature, the operating Association claims that past passengers have included Colette, Jules Verne, Anatole France, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
The Réseau des Bains de Mer
These lines, with two others were grouped together as the Réseau des Bains de Mer. The other two lines were one from Noyelles to Forest-l'Abbaye and one from Abbeville to Dompierre-sur-Authie, which had a junction with the line from Noyelles at Forest-l'Abbaye. The Réseau des Bains de Mer was a part of the Chemins de fer départementaux de la Somme.
Wars
The CFBS line was affected by three wars; The Franco-Prussian War, the First World War and the Second World War.
Franco-Prussian War
France declared war on Prussia on 19 July 1870. Saint-Valery was a strategic port, and thus its capture was an objective of the Prussians. In October 1870 the French requisitioned Jules Verne's boat Saint-Michel I for the defence of the Baie de Somme. The boat was crewed by Crimean War veterans. In December 1870 horses and equipment were requisitioned for use by the French cavalry. A consignment of six hundred saddles left Saint-Valery by train for Noyelles on the 30 December. The Prussians occupied Saint-Valery from February 1871 until September 1873.
First World War
The CFBS line was particularly involved towards the end of the First World War, starting with Operation Michael on 21 March 1918. It was realised that the German advance threatened the Allies' ability to use railways in the area, and that there was a lack of line capacity in certain places. Therefore, a double track line was constructed, linking the main line from Calais with the Abancourt-St. Omer line. The engineer, Raoul Dautry, claimed he could build the line in 100 days. Work began on 15 May 1918 and the line opened to traffic on 15 August 1918, just 106 days later. Thus, the line was known as "La Ligne de Cent Jours" or The Line of One Hundred Days. The line was last used on 1 January 1919 and the track lifted in March and April of that year, thus ending the short life of the line.
Second World War
Baie de Somme area On 21 May 1940, German troops invaded the Baie de Somme area. Noyelles was the scene of Allied air strikes on various occasions. In September and October 1942, coastal defences were constructed in the Baie de Somme area. In February 1944, the Germans flooded the low-lying land near Noyelles by blocking the River Dien where the railway to Saint-Valery crossed it by a long embankment (this embankment had replaced a trestle in 1912). In April and May 1944, preparations were made to prevent the Allies from using the area to invade France.
CFBS line On 24 October 1941, a train was attacked at Noyelles and the locomotive was destroyed. In November 1941, one of the metre-gauge trains was attacked between Noyelles and Saint-Valery, with several railway workers wounded. Cayeux saw much increased traffic in galets, temporary -gauge lines being laid on the beach and down the streets of the village. A metre-gauge line was laid along the road from Lanchères to Ault, on the standard gauge line from Woincourt to Onival, with a branch (or separate gauge) line at Hautebut to a quarry near the coast. The Germans brought in a number of locomotives to work these lines, and after the war, nine of them were dumped just outside Saint-Valery, where three still remain (a fourth having been removed for restoration in 1997 - see below).
On 2 December 1942 the water tower at Saint-Valery was destroyed. On 4 May 1944, the depot at Saint-Valery along with two rail cars and a locomotive, were destroyed by fire. In June, the Saint-Valery area was bombed as a diversion from the D-Day landings. On 19 August, the Resistance blew up the water tower at Noyelles, followed by an ammunition train on 1 September. English and Polish troops relieved Saint-Valery on 2 September, and proceeded to bombard the Germans across the bay at Le Crotoy.
Freight
The main types of freight carried by the railway were:
Chicory
A chicory processing works was built at Saint-Valery Canal. A siding was laid in 1929 to serve it. The derelict building was demolished in 1998.
Sugar beet
The main sugar beet season was from October to January, thus providing useful income out of the tourist season. A râperie (shredding plant) was built at Lanchères. The râperie extracted the raw juice from the beet, and then sent it by pipeline to the sugar factory of Beauchamps. It had its own railway system and locomotives, which also worked on the CFBS line to Noyelles.
Galets
Before the railway came, the port of Saint-Valery handled galets (flint or silica pebbles) brought on rafts from Cayeux. The galets were used in the building and ceramics industries.
Shellfish
Local shellfish taken from the Baie de Somme were sent to market at Abbeville. Shellfish not available locally were also brought in to Le Crotoy for use in a restaurant there.
Other goods
Saint-Valery handled timber, jute, textiles, soap, phosphates and coal. Phosphates were mined at Crécy-en-Ponthieu and transported via a metre gauge line from there to Noyelles, and thence to Saint-Valery. Freight between Noyelles and Saint-Valery was sometimes carried in standard gauge wagons, but hauled by the metre gauge locomotives. This practice continued until 1973.
Demise and re-birth
After the Second World War, a plan was put forward to extend the standard gauge to Le Crotoy and Cayeux, with a new line to Le Hourdel at a cost of some FRF150-200 million. In 1963 another proposal was made to extend the dual gauge track to Lanchères at a cost of some FRF93 million. Even as late as 1968 plans were being proposed to extend the standard gauge to Cayeux, this time with the closure of the branch to Le Crotoy.
The line from Saint-Valery Ville to Cayeux was relaid with rails recovered from the standard gauge Woincourt-Orival line, which closed to passengers in May 1939 and completely from 1 January 1947. In 1949 the CFBS acquired some second hand steam locomotives after the closure of the Réseau Albert. Three second-hand railcars were acquired in 1955 and a new railcar was acquired in 1957, along with two second hand diesel locomotives. A third diesel locomotive was acquired in 1960. In 1971 a pair of De Dion-Bouton type OC1 bogie railcars (X157 and X158) were acquired from the Réseau Breton (RB), having been previously used on the Chemin de Fer des Côtes-du-Nord (CdN). X158 was subsequently transferred to the Chemins de fer de la Corse, and is now preserved by the CdN Society at Langueux. A trailing railcar was also acquired from the RB in 1971, having previously been built as a powered railcar.
The CFBS steam locomotives were mainly confined to the sugar beet trains after the war. The very last CFBS steam train running on 5 April 1959. The steam locomotive from the râperie at Lanchères worked until 1965. The râperie itself closed in 1966, at the end of the '65-66 season.
Even as late as 1958, the CFBS lines were carrying some of freight, including of sugar beet and of galets. In that year, a railcar caught fire at Cayeux, and the fire destroyed the loco shed, which was rebuilt. In 1961, the SE merged with the Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer et de Transports Automobiles (CFTA). The CFTA had interests in road transport, and instigated a system of rationalisation and cuts. The company livery changed from green to red and cream. Both goods and passenger traffic declined during the middle '60s and the line from Noyelles to Le Crotoy closed with effect from 31 December 1969. CFTA worked the line to Cayeux for three more years, galets being carried by rail as late as 1970. The line from Saint-Valery to Cayeux closed with effect from 31 December 1972. The SNCF continued to use the standard gauge line between Noyelles and Saint-Valery for occasional freight trains. The SNCF line between Noyelles and Saint-Valery was last used on 6 February 1989 and closed with effect from 1 January 1993.
Local opposition to the closure of the line to Le Crotoy was strong, and a preservation group was formed on 13 November 1969, initially under the name of Association Ferroviaire Picardie, and from 14 March 1970 the Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (CFBS). The initial aim of the society was to preserve the line from Noyelles to Le Crotoy as a tourist line. The first tourist trains ran on 4 July 1971, but although the railway had permission from SNCF to run into Noyelles, they were not allowed to drop or collect passengers there under an agreement with the local bus company. This arrangement lasting until 1986.