Those who hiked over the trails that criss-cross the Vosges between Abreschviller and the Massif du Donon a bit over 50 years ago, through or along one of the many valleys, would invariably encounter a railway in the unusual gauge of 700 mm. It was generally not a long way to go on it before meeting a siding on which were parked trucks loaded with logs. Today there remains only the last 6 km from Abreschviller which is exploited as a tourist line.
By the 1850s the Forest Service had established a comprehensive program of forest road construction, which was only partially realized. In 1884, now part of Germany, the German forest administration replaced the proposed forest roads by a railway up the stream of Abreschviller from the locality of Zweibach, a distance of 5 km, soon extended to 13 km in 1888 . The gauge chosen was that of the military railways of Prussia, 700 mm, the only known use this gauge in France.
Some years later, a project to build a railway in standard gauge between Sarrebourg and Abreschviller was under consideration. The question was whether the standard gauge line should be extended to the lower terminus of Zweibach of the forest railway or to Abreschviller. The establishment of large mills at Abreschviller including a sawmill run by the state-owned forest administration resulted in opting for the latter. The standard gauge line went to Abreschviller and the later SNCF station was built in 1892.
On 30 March 1892 a violent storm, the same as that of 26 December 1999, devastated the mountain and felled about 200,000 m3 of wood. Faced with this enormous amount of material to move quickly the German forest administration of the time immediately realized all projects to extend the narrow gauge, approximately 35 km of line (not including sidings and loops), which were built in four months. Matériel was purchased and a workshop for the maintenance and repair of this equipment was installed in Abreschviller, near the state-owned sawmill. From 5 July 1892 the first steam trains crisscrossed the massif.
A few years later, once the wood of the 1892 storm was shifted, the forestry administration considered that the development of the network was too large for normal needs. After a study, part of the existing network was declared redundant: the rails and excess equipment were sold. In 1902, another storm left the forestry administration 180 000 m3 of wood to make use of. A new extension of the network was decided. In 1918 it comprised 50 km of track and it continued to expand until 1939 to about 73 km with 9 km of sidings.
Every day two trains served the network: one the line of Zorn, the other that of the Saar and the stream of Abreschviller. In the morning they brought the empty cars and left them a short distance upstream of the loading sites. The cut wood in the forest was brought down to the railway by two loggers and loaded onto the trucks with a winch. They were then fed by gravity to the nearest downstream siding and taken in the afternoon by the train which connected to Abreschviller. Each wagon was hitched to the next and the previous one, and to the locomotive with a long wooden pole fretted with a ring coupling at each end. This system was important for an overhang at the ends of loading trucks, facilitating the transportation of long logs without stability or registration problems on curves. Each train could transport 50 to 70 tonnes of logs.
Some 50 people were employed for the operation of the railway, including loaders and maintenance staff.
Annual traffic was about 35 to 40 000 m3 to 1958, about half the timber production of the entire forest, the other half was directly conveyed by the road that increasingly penetrated the massif.
In 1960, evacuation paths for the wood consisted of 61 km of railway and 92 km of roads (42 km of forest roads and 50 km of roads classified as public roads). The tracks and rolling stock had pronounced wear that would have required significant maintenance or renewal. Moreover, logging trucks and forestry tractors with trailers appeared whose employment proved more flexible and cheaper than the railway: the wood loaded at the heart of the forest could be routed directly, without further handling. These considerations led the forestry administration to decide on the gradual decline of the railway and construction of a highway program of 85 km of which 48 would replace the red line along the Saar already following the road of the Donon a dozen km . A complementary program of roads and skid trails would facilitate the approach to the wood. The dismantling of the railway began in 1962. In 1964, 40 km of track remained and the end of 1966, after 75 years of loyal service, the network ceases to be used to transport timber.
At the end of the forest network to transport wood, the forest administration had for several years made it available to tour groups who requested it. Some Saturdays and Sundays, tourist trips were organized. Also, once the proposed abandonment of the railroad was known, the idea of maintaining a section of line for tourist operation took shape in agreement with the tourist office of Abreschviller. With the support of the forestry administration, the delegation Strasbourgeoise Federation des Amis des Chemins de Fer Secondaires (FACS) a committee was set up for the resumption of a section of line and its regular operation over summer weekends.
It was first envisaged to use the 10 km from Abreschviller to Brechpunkt. The end of this section was, however, particularly arduous because it involved two successive cusps to traverse a high gradient. This would have required special traffic restrictions from the moment it was about to transport the public. It soon became clear that this difficulty, and the distance, would have considerably increased the operating costs. Also, in order to be able to offer the trip at a reasonable price, the Committee quickly realized it needed to limit its ambitions. Thus the route was determined as Abreschviller Grand Soldat, or 6.1 km.
The initial Committee, after its conversion to the Association du Chemin de Fer Forestier d'Abreschviller (ACFA), could benefit from various subsidies and from June 1968 a regular weekend operation began with a diesel shunter that required the least rehabilitation costs, and three open cars. This first year of operation was a success beyond the most optimistic forecasts as more than 10 000 tourists were taken during the season.
Encouraged by this success, the Association redoubled its efforts, developing the terminus of Grand Soldat, renew some sections of track in great need of it and to rehabilitate the steam locomotive Heilbronn, a 0-4-4-0T Mallet, and to obtain closed two passenger cars that were sold on very favorable conditions by the Swiss Wengenalpbahn (see earlier post). The transformation of the running gear was made in the workshops of the Association for these cars to travel on the 700 mm when they were designed for 800 mm. Meanwhile, the local branch of the Club Vosgien wanted to map out some new circular walks around the terminus of Grand Soldat, a noted hamlet, being the birthplace of Alexander Chatrian, born in 1826, a writer and railwayman, author with his friend Erckmann of Phalsbourg, a series of novels of which the best known is L'Ami Fritz.
Since then, a second steam locomotive has been restored (Decauville), two cars purchased in Orleans, built on two existing bogies, a third steam locomotive an 0-6-0 with separate (Jung from 1944) was bought in Austria, tracks rearranged at the beginning and at the terminus were supplemented with 2.5 km of line entirely rebuilt, and ticket pavilions were built at the beginning and at the terminus, with the help of the Abreschviller Tourist Syndicate.
The 10,000 passengers per season (May-October) of the first year rose to 25,000 then to 35,000 in 1971. Since then, visitor attendance has varied from 25 to 30,000 per season.
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