This collection of meter gauge rolling stock is one of the largest in France. Meter gauge track was extensively used between 1880 and 1914 for the French light railway network, as it was cheaper and quicker to build than standard gauge track. The CFBS collection is also the only one of this scope to run on a true network of two lines, with a total length of 27km (17 miles).
This exceptional technical heritage (most CFBS steam locomotives and many carriages and wagons are listed), operating in a preserved natural environment, explains that the CFBS is very popular with TV and cinema professionals, who can easily re-create authentic scenes from times past. For the same reason, the CFBS draws photographers from all over Europe, keen to catch an exceptional railway atmosphere, in an area of outstanding natural beauty and under equally exceptional light.
Steam locomotives
The CFBS owns a unique collection of meter gauge steam locomotives, which is one of the largest and most representative in France.
No less than 9 engines are preserved at St Valery sur Somme works, of which 6 are currently in working order.
Furthermore, all these engines are of different types, ranging from the four-wheeler, 15-ton contractor’s locomotive, to the 10-wheeler, 34-ton secondary railway engine.
Most of them, however, are of the type most frequently encountered on French light railways, namely the three-driving axle type. Their weight ranges from 18 to 25 tons depending on the locomotive.
They are from a wide variety of railways, all of which closed between 1945 and 1967, having fallen victim to road competition: Réseau Breton, local networks of Aisne, Corrèze, Oise, Morbihan and Seine & Marne. Three of the locomotives were built for civil engineering works or for industry, including one which twice crossed the Atlantic!
This variety extends to the builders of the locomotives. Most leading engine suppliers from the 1885-1930 period are represented: Buffaud-Robatel, Cail, Corpet-Louvet, Fives-Lille, Pinguely, Piguet, as well as one Belgian builder, Haine-St Pierre.
No other heritage railway in France can align such a wide range of locomotives in working order and in regular service.
Diesel locomotives and railcars
From the mid-1920s, faced with growing competition from road transport, French light railways began putting into service petrol- or diesel-powered motive power, cheaper and more flexible to operate.
The CFBS collection comprises several representative items from this period, in particular the 3 diesel locomotives that eliminated steam from the system in 1954. One of them is in working order, the second is being overhauled and the third awaits restoration.
The collection also comprises 3 railcars, all of which ran on this railway between 1954 and the end of commercial services in 1971. All three are awaiting restoration.
Alongside such “historical” stock, the CFBS also owns more recent diesel engines, used for work trains, shunting and for carrying passengers, as well as one standard-gauge diesel shunter.
Finally, two meter-gauge railcars belonging to SNCF, built in 1950 and modernized in 1980, have been entrusted to the CFBS. One, back in its 1950/60s red and cream livery, is in regular service, the second one is awaiting restoration.
Carriage and wagons
Here again, the CFBS stands out among heritage railways by the importance of its carriage and wagon stock: no less than 31 passenger carriages, 9 vans and more than 40 goods wagons.
Passenger carriages
Two categories co-exist here: the “historical” carriages and the Swiss stock.
The CFBS has been successful in preserving 10 “Somme” bogie carriages built in 1921 in Belgium to replace stock lost during WWI. These composite carriages (1st/3rd class and 2nd/3rd class), with varnished wooden bodies and end-balconies, are highly representative of French meter-gauge light railways in the early XXth century. Their authenticity means they show up regularly in films, the latest being Benoît Jacquot’s “The Journal of a Chamber-Maid”, released in 2015.
Other preserved items from the Somme system include an original 19th century four-wheeler van, and another from the post-WWI reconstruction period.
In 1999, the CFBS was able to obtain two bogie carriages from the former meter-gauge line linking Orange to Buis-les-Baronnies in southern France, one of which has been returned to service, while the second is undergoing restoration. The association was also entrusted in 1988 with a wooden composite bogie carriage from the former Réseau Breton, belonging to the AMTUIR urban and suburban transport association.
A small four-wheeler carriage, dating back to 1894, is the oldest and probably the quaintest in the passenger carriage fleet.
Last but not least, the CFBS has preserved and restored a splendid and quite unique saloon bogie carriage built in 1889.
To meet its commercial growth, the CFBS also bought between 1978 and 1981 a first batch of 5 passenger carriages from Switzerland, a country whose many meter-gauge railways renew their stock regularly, putting older carriages up for sale. With passenger numbers growing steadily, a second wave of Swiss stock (6 bogie carriages and 2 vans) was delivered to the CFBS in 2004.
More recently, dining-cars were bought, also from Switzerland, to make up a heated train able to run throughout the year.
Goods stock
With some 20 goods wagons in working order, the CFBS can run trains that are typical of French light railways in the 1880-1960 period, thus meeting the heritage preservation objective that is the raison d’être of the association. These wagons, of the van, open and flat type, can be seen running every year in September during the European Heritage Days, during the Steam Galas held every 3 or 4 years, for TV and cinema shootings or for special trains chartered by railway enthusiasts.