The locomotive « La Scarpe » was built in 1907, under number 1807 by the Corpet-Louvet company, one of the main French builders of narrow gauge locomotives. It is identical to the engines supplied in 1907 and 1908 to the Eure & Loir local railway network, but was supplied to a public works contractor, the Frot company, for its construction site at Leforest near Arras in northern France.

This area is drained by the Scarpe river, hence the name given to the locomotive, as was customary practice until the 1920s.

Unlike most locomotives of the CFBS, La Scarpe had a purely industrial career until the time it was preserved.

A first career in public works
During this first industrial career, in the 1910s and the first half of the 1920s, the engine was mainly used to build the many departmental local railways that were being developed at the time.

A second career in the sugar industry
In 1924, by which time the construction of local railways had been largely halted as a result of WWI, the locomotive began a second career, this time in the sugar industry. It was sold to the Boiry Ste Rictrude sugar mill in Pas de Calais, which was an ancillary factory to the Arras central sugar mill.

20 years and another world war later, « La Scarpe » continued its sweet career, having been sold in 1944 to the Beghin sugar mill in Longueval (Somme).

Finally, in a third phase, the locomotive was transferred in October 1951 to the Lanchères sugar beet shredding plant, also located in the Somme and which was part of the same industrial group.

It worked there until 1965, shunting wagonloads of sugar beet between the SE station at Lanchères and the shredding plant, and occasionally running on the Cayeux - St Valery sur Somme - Forest-L’Abbaye line.

The following year, the sugar beet began being carried by road, and “La Scarpe” became redundant.
Thanks to Charles-Edouard Girode (who was among the founding members of the CFBS in 1970, and its first Chairman), the engine narrowly escaped being scrapped. It was bought by a recently created Belgian tourist railway, the « Tramway Touristique de l’Aisne » (TTA), and left France in July 1966.

A third career in tourism
From 1968 to 1972, the locomotive was restored and fitted with air brakes. It began running on the TTA for the 1973 tourist season, until 1978.

The boiler was then considered to be worn out, and the engine was stored under cover in the TTA depot.

In 1992, the CFBS expressed interest in the engine, should it come up for sale in the future. There were at least 3 reasons for this:
- “La Scarpe” is the only surviving Corpet-Louvet engine of its type (“heavy” type, 17 metric tons empty)
- It is the only preserved steam locomotive to have run on the “Sea Bathers’ Railway”
- It would be a valuable addition to the large collection of engines preserved by the Association, which already includes 2 Corpet-Louvet locomotives.

In 2008, the TTA decided to restore the engine, in the framework of a development project for the tourist railway. “La Scarpe” began to be taken to pieces.

However, two years later, the TTA modified its investment policy. The project was abandoned and work on La Scarpe was suspended. The future of the engine was then very much in question.

In 2011, the TTA considered selling the locomotive and got in touch with the CFBS. Three years then passed, discussions continued and the TTA confirmed its wish to sell the engine to the CFBS.

Back to France
In February 2015, details of the sale were finalized. Within the CFBS, private financing of the purchase was arranged so as to avoid disrupting the Association’s cash flow. On 15th June, “La Scarpe” was placed on a low-loader lorry and arrived in the Somme the following day. Stored in a private warehouse for 2 years, the engine was transferred to the CFBS works at St Valery-Canal on 5th September 2017. 51 years after having left for Belgium, “La Scarpe” was back on French rails!

Since that date, ownership of “La Scarpe” has been transferred to the CFBS thanks to financial help from the Crédit Agricole Foundation, the engine has been listed as a technical heritage item and preliminary restoration work has been undertaken.  First of all, the axles and wheels were removed, for replacement of the wheel tyres. Those fitted to the engine meet Belgian tram lines standards, which are not compatible with those of the CFBS. Secondly, an inspection of the boiler, which led to good news: the boiler is repairable and will not need to be replaced by a newly-built one. This means significant savings on the restoration project: several tens of thousands of euros!

Hopefully, therefore, “La Scarpe” should be back in service in a few years from now, and possibly even for the 60th anniversary of its withdrawal from service in Lanchères, in 2025…

“La Scarpe” is the third French-built steam locomotive to have been returned to France by the CFBS.

Some technical data:
Weight empty: 17 metric tons            
Wheel diameter: 950mm
Boiler pressure: 12 bar
Length: 6m73    
Width: 2m10       
Water/coal capacity : 2000l/800kg