# Unknown French Rail Line



## printman2000 (Mar 23, 2011)

I was watching a documentary last night about the D-Day invasion of France. There were two video shots showing a small rail line between a wall and a road. The tracks seemed very small, maybe three foot wide.

Anyone know what these were use for?


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## Ispolkom (Mar 31, 2011)

printman2000 said:


> I was watching a documentary last night about the D-Day invasion of France. There were two video shots showing a small rail line between a wall and a road. The tracks seemed very small, maybe three foot wide.
> 
> Anyone know what these were use for?


Was it in the British/Canadian sector? I've found reference to a Decauville light railway (2 ft gauge) that ran between Caen to Luc-sur-Mer, so it would have been right around Sword Beach. Alas, my sum total of knowledge of Decauville railways is from wikipedia.


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## printman2000 (Mar 31, 2011)

Well, the footage showed American soldiers. But who knows exactly where it was filmed.


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## Ispolkom (Apr 1, 2011)

I think the railroad must have been the Chemins de Fer du Calvados, though the lines in the American invasion sector were taken up in the 30s. Two things I notice in the Wikipedia article: it had carriages for bicycle transport, and the railroad finally ceased operation on June 6, 1944.


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## printman2000 (Apr 3, 2011)

Ispolkom said:


> I think the railroad must have been the Chemins de Fer du Calvados, though the lines in the American invasion sector were taken up in the 30s. Two things I notice in the Wikipedia article: it had carriages for bicycle transport, and the railroad finally ceased operation on June 6, 1944.


That looks like the rails I saw. That is one small gauge train. The track looks more like a train ride at a zoo.


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## Ispolkom (Apr 3, 2011)

Years ago I rode the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales, which has a similar gauge. I was surprised at how big and wide the carriages were, though we did travel at a very sedate speed.


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