Froissy - Cappy - Dompierre gala

26th May 2006 to 29th May 2006

I travelled to Northern France with two friends at the end of May 2006 and spent the best part of three days riding on and photographing this lovely 60cm narrow gauge railway.
It's situated between Amiens and Peronne in the Picardie district - the High Somme; an area synonymous with much fighting from July to November 1916. The railway was built to supply the allied front line with munitions & supplies. (The beauty of narrow gauge track is its ability to be laid in 'panels' over any terrain without the need for ballast or a trackbed - ideal in a battle situation where front lines may change).
After the Great War the railway was used to rebuild a lot of this area (1919 - 1924). Thereafter it was used for the transhipment of sugar beet between the factory up on the plateau at Dompierre, and the Somme canal down at Cappy/ Froissy. Rolling stock and loco(s) from WW1 probably worked this line until it was taken over by enthusiasts in 1970. 2006 was the 90th anniversary of the battle of the Somme.

These photos were the driving force in getting my first ever website up and running courtesy of Fotopic, who I highly recommend. They were taken on a tripod mounted Nikon D200 along with a 70 - 210 f2.8 Sigma zoom.

Froissy 003.jpg	Froissy 004.jpg	Froissy 006.jpg	Froissy 008.jpg
By the canal 011.jpg	Cappy 012.jpg	Alf checks Chaloner's stack 013.jpg	Cappy 014.jpg
Cappy 015.jpg	Cappy 016.jpg	Climbing up to the tunnel 018.jpg	Climbing up to the tunnel 019.jpg
Cappy tunnel 020.jpg	Cappy tunnel 021.jpg	Cappy 023.jpg	Froissy Pont station 024.jpg
Cappy tunnel 025.jpg	'Doll' exits Cappy tunnel 027.jpg	My front cover 027a.jpg	Ascending the plateau 029.jpg
Ascending the plateau 030.jpg	Plateau station 032.jpg	Area below zig-zag 033.jpg	Area below zig-zag 034.jpg
Area below zig-zag 035.jpg	Area below zig-zag 036.jpg	Relics en route to old tunnel 037.jpg	Negotiating the zig-zag 040.jpg
Ascending the plateau 041.jpg	Area below zig-zag 042.jpg	Dropping back down 046.jpg	Dropping back down 047.jpg
Ascending the plateau 049.jpg	Froissy Pont station 053.jpg	Ascending the plateau 054.jpg	Plateau station 055.jpg