The catalyst for this article was a visit to the CFTV which was organized by the SNCF Society and commenced with a rendezvous at Tonbridge in Kent, for a 7am departure on Saturday 31st May 2008.
Our journey was made by coach and we went via the Channel Tunnel, and then the E15/A26 Autoroute from Calais as far as junction 10 to pick up the E44 and local roads to get to St Quentin station to board our ‘chartered heritage train’. CFTV have an arrangement to use a platform at the SNCF station as would have been the case back in 1900 for example.
Before describing our day and the CFTV operation, I need to set the scene with a history of the railways in this area which will include a chronology of CFTV.
The Vermandois is a lowland plateau to the west of the River Oise and is also crossed by the main rail routes from Paris to Brussels. With main lines in situ it was inevitable that branch lines would spring up to link into
