Train des Mouettes

The Train des Mouettes is a tourist train that has been operating since 1984 on the 21 km of railway between Saujon and La Tremblade on the Saujon to La Grève line in France. As the only steam railway in Charente Maritime (Nouvelle Aquitaine), it serves the stations of Fontbedeau, Mornac-sur-Seudre, Chaillevette, Étaules, and Arvert.

Commercial Service
The 'Compagnie du chemin de fer de la Seudre' was founded on 25 April 1868 and required several years of negotiations before construction could commence. The line was opened to traffic on 8 April 1876 following completion of the section from La Tremblade to Saujon with an inaugural train running on 25 June 1876. It was later extended to the La Grève channel in La Tremblade.

In 1880, the line was acquired by the administration of the ‘Chemins de fer de l'État’, which had absorbed the bankrupt Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest in 1908. The state network, after merging with other national railway companies in 1938, became the SNCF.

In 1939, the line was closed to passenger traffic but continued its operations for freight transport.

In 1980, the SNCF closed the line to all traffic, with the exception of oyster trains operating from La Tremblade. Subsequently, the section between La Tremblade station and the La Grève terminus was dismantled.

Tourist Service
In 1984, the ‘Chemin de Fer Touristique de la Seudre’ (CFTS) association revived the line by running a tourist train.

In 2002, CFTS ceased tourist operations. The infrastructure (track, stations and Chaillevette depot) was then acquired by the department of Charente-Maritime.

Between 2004 and 2006, the line's operation was entrusted to the company Veolia Transport through its subsidiary CFTA.

No trains ran in 2007.

In 2008, the ‘Trains & Traction’ association took over the operation of the line and secured its activity, reporting about 9800 passengers during the year.

Tourist operations take place from early May to late September, with daily runs in July and August. Some special trains are organised in-season or off-season, such as the "Train des Loupiotes" or the "Train Éclade de moules".

The office is located at Saujon Chemin Vert station, and the workshop is in Chaillevette, at the centre of the line.

In the summer of 2021, a train composed of restaurant cars hauled by a diesel locomotive, the Seudre Océan Express, entered service. The journey included a round trip between Saujon and Chaillevette, lasting about 3 hours, with a meal (lunch or dinner) prepared onboard from regional products and served at seats, without passengers disembarking during the journey.

The Seudre Océan Express ran regularly in 2022, especially during the holiday season, raising the total number of passengers carried in the year to 45000. The service was extended to 2023.

Infrastructure
The 21km route has 69 level crossings.

The depot and workshop is located in Chaillevette, halfway along the line, and was expanded in 2015.

In 2020, two turntables were installed, one at each end of the line, allowing locomotives to be turned.

Rolling Stock
The railway has about 60 items of rolling stock, of which 18 are classed as 'Historic Monuments':

Wagons

 * One 1889 three-axle PLM van;
 * One 1898 'Chemins de fer de l'Est two-axle van;
 * One 1905 two-axle West State Railways van, rebuilt and returned to service in 2015. Classified as a Historic Monument in 1994;
 * Seven 1866-1869 two-axle type M vans for freight trains, including number 40 87 949 which was classified as a Historic Monument in 2013;
 * One two axle postal van with open end platforms, built by Van der Zypen & Charlier in 1902 for the line from Rosheim to Saint-Nabor, from the former tourist railway "Train folklorique de Rosheim a Ottrott".
 * One MC 76 Corail van, loaned under SNCF agreement. Installed in a fixed position serving as a changing room for volunteers in season.
 * One two-axle metallised baggage van ex-Midi Dd2 50 87 93-37 536–3, modified into a generator van to accompany the restaurant train. Loaned under SNCF agreement.
 * One two-axle tank car built in Germany in 1928 for France for war damages;
 * One OCEM 19 flat wagon with drop sides;
 * One rake of Talbot ballast hoppers type SV-WF 969 495 built in Germany in 1930 for France for war damages, classified as a Historic Monument in 1990;
 * Ten American bogie wagons type USA 1918 called "TP": 3 flats, 2 tanks, 4 covers, 1 dumper, including the 4-door covered type Lyw 422 874, classified as a Historic Monument in 1990 and the 2-door covered Lyw 412 000 called "Felton", classified as a Historic Monument in 2006;
 * One original 'Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans' covered wagon with double pitched roof, from the Touraine Steam Trains;
 * Three Ouest-Etat type covered wagons from the Touraine Steam Trains;
 * One flat wagon number Jho 117544 of 'Compagnie de l'Est' origin, from the Touraine Steam Trains;

'US 1917' Wagons
In September 2016 in Chaillevette, the restoration of a train of six wagons known as type "US 1917" began. This work, which received the support of the Heritage Foundation and the United States World War I Centennial Commission, involved two covered wagons, a flat wagon with stanchions, a gondola, a tank and a low sided wagon. At the end of October 2017, the first two left the Train des Mouettes workshops. This rolling stock was restored to the original livery of the American Expeditionary Force of the First World War. The two wagons were exhibited in La Rochelle from 9 to 19 November 2017, as part of the centenary of the arrival of American soldiers during the First World War. It was in La Rochelle that parts for 37,800 wagons were unloaded, to be assembled by American soldiers, then, once peace returned, by the Middletown Car Company based in Aytré, Charente-Maritime, France.