The “Petit train de la Haute Somme” is the last remaining section of a large military network built during WW1. The site is situated right in the zone of the battle of the Somme (July to November 1916) where British and French armies had built a considerable network to prepare the offensive of July 1st 1916 and supply the artillery, the tommies and the “poilus” French soldiers in trenches.
In 1970, some railway enthusiasts decided to save the line that the sugar refinery was about to give up. They created the “Association Picarde pour la Préservation et l’Entretien des Véhicules Anciens – APPEVA” (society for preservation and restoration of heritage vehicles). They rebuilt the track from Froissy to Cappy (1,5 km) with rails remaining from WW1 and hunted for steam locomotives all over France. The very first passenger train ran on June 13, 1971 and the first steam locomotive on July 14 of the same year.
The society volunteers bought up the line and the railway rolling stock used by the sugar refinery in 1974, and little by little adapted it to passenger traffic.
As there were no railway buildings along the line, the society members built a shed, then a little station at Froissy, and a few years ago, a museum where a part of the collection is on show: 38 steam or diesel engines and a bit more than 120 wagons.
Text quoted from the website of Le P’tit train de la Haute Somme. Image copyright APPEVA.
