Locomotive N° 3714 was built in 1909 by the Buffaud-Robatel company for the Seine & Marne local meter gauge railway (this network, defined as a « tramway », was mainly built alongside roads). Of 0-6-2 T type (3 driving axles, one pony truck axle) and named “Béton-Bazoches” (a Seine & Marne village served by the network), it is almost identical to 13 other engines built between 1902 and 1904 for this same railway by the Cail company. All these locomotives were designed to operate cab first, to offer the driver better visibility when running through villages. This explains why, unlike most other CFBS engines, the cab of 3714 is closed on the “rear” side and open on the “front” side (towards the funnel).

After closure of the Seine & Marne system, 3714 enjoyed a second life as an industrial engine, hauling seasonal trains of sugar beet to the Nangis sugar mill, until 1965.

Initially preserved at Verneuil (Marne) in connection with the planned creation of a museum of secondary railways, N° 3714 was finally bought by CFBS in the spring of 1971. Restoration took almost 10 years, the preservation society in those days having few resources.

In November 1981, the engine was test-run and it was put into regular service for the 1982 season.

In 1998, after 15 years of intensive service around the Somme Bay, the original (90 year old!) boiler was very much the worse for wear. N° 3714 was withdrawn for a second restoration, and fitted this time with a newly-built boiler.

Work proceeded far more swiftly then previously and the locomotive was back in service for the 1999 season.
 

Listed as a Technical Heritage Item

Some technical data:
- Empty weight: 20 t.
- Diameter of driving wheels: 0.820 m.
- Diameter of pony truck wheels: 0.620 m.
- Operating pressure: 12.5 kg/cm2
- Surface of the grate: 0.83 m2
- Diameter of the cylinders: 0.320 m.
- Piston stroke: 0.380 m.
- Length: 7.600 m.
- Width: 2.380 m.
- Height: 3.300 m.