A NETWORK OF LINES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2812, 1 July 1916, Page 9

A NETWORK OF LINES

LIGHT RAH.WAYS IN CHAMPAGNE. '. (From Mr..H\ Warner Allen, -the Topre.sentative of the British Press with : the Froiich Army..) '. The most remarkable achievement of - the French military engineers is. undoubtedly the network. of railway lines that now covers the barren countryside in • Champagne. First- of all,; one . may take the lines of. normal gauge. The - French had at their disposal in this dis- ; trict ■ the: line Which runs through Somme-Suippe, • Somme-Tourbe; . and ■ Somine-Bioiine, . known n.s "the , line I- of ' tlie .Sonimes." Before ; the battle of ' Champagne'last September it :,was. pos-sible-that this: line might be cut-by the enemy's long-range fire; consequently; it: was rdoiiblcd'by another-: 'ordinary, .gauge line; ,well ; out of-the ■enemy's'roach: iAs: a. matter of fact,"during'the:offensive the '"-.line" of the-Sbmines-'-was• able : to ■work un-' • interruptedly; -as': the -Germans were' far . ' too' busy' checking the French' advance. ' to'spare either time or-ammunition for •' .'-the railway-line in the rear. . ' These two'line.s form, as 'it were, a doiible-.\ackl)one to the French'-organisn-'-tionv They arc-linked up to one-another ' and to the front trenches by a''comElete network of light railways on the lecauvillc-.system, with a two-foot gauge." All-about over -tho bare Champngno slopes funny-little en-. .' gines, pufiing and blowing with two cr three trucks behind them, are to he seen/ Sometimes, for an important line of. communication, the track has been carefully levelled,, so that there are no 6teep gradients, and the toy engines cau pull;,veritable trains 'of trucks carrying. : each some eight, or 'nine tons of material. -These light railways are so, ar- .' ranged that, if,the ordinary line of the Sommes'were cut, tlieir communications with the doubling line behind would be .uninterrupted, and •material , could still be brought up to the trenches in a con- ' tinuous stream. • Tlie most surprising feiituro: of. these ■ light railways is the nudacit.v with which -they have been pushed forward into close proxjmity with the front' trenches o:ny a hundred yards or so from the. enemy. It is. hot good for. the .trains to go up tdo near the front during.the day time, as, unfortunately, the white smoke of the engines provides the . German gunners with a too easy target. At night their task is easier, but. even then it is onlv in certain places where it is safe for . thorn to remain stationary.-However, tlio engine-drivers regard German shells with' : the greatest equanimity. If a rail nr two ;is .torn up it can be replaced in the twinkling'of. an eye, and any considerable interruption of traffic can only be accomplished by a very heavy sustainod bombardment. .■ " : * : r -