60cm gauge railways in the liberated regions THE SHORT-LIVED RECONSTRUCTION NETWORKS

Realizing its potential in areas where communications networks were in ruins, the Ministry of Liberated Regions (M.R.L. in the French acronym) lost no time in becoming interested in military 60cm gauge railways. As soon as the armistice was signed, it contacted the Ministry of War to obtain access to all the 60cm gauge systems built on the front. An agreement was reached quickly and the French military networks were taken over by the M.R.L. as of 1st March 1919. However, the networks as a whole were in poor condition and could not be operated overnight. The rolling stock, worn out by four years of warfare and sometimes poor maintenance, was on its last legs. The systems built by the Artillery were very far from meeting