The Tramways of the Marquenterre

The Department of Picardy in northern France is an area is known for the battles of the First World War and, in happier times, the metre gauge narrow gauge railways of which that from Le Crotoy to St Valery and Cayeux is the sole survivor today.

But not far from Le Crotoy the rivers Somme and Authie make their way to the sea and between them there used to run a delightful 60cm steam tramway that carried mainly holidaymakers from the main railway line from Paris to the coastal resorts of Quend-Plage and Fort Mahon. 

From 1895 to around 1935 an increasingly antiquated tramway moved holidaymakers during the summer and agricultural products to and from the exchange station with the main line just outside Quend.

It was little photographed, but like many French railways was the subject of numerous postcards, which today are almost the only record we have of this line.