Chemin De Fer is the name of the French version of baccarat. It is played mainly in France, Monte Carlo, and other European countries. It is rarely played in the United Kingdom or the United States.
The name Chemin De Fer means railroad in French. This name likely comes from the fact that the shoe (called "sabot) of cards travels around in a loop around the table. The game is known to have existed since the middle of the 19th century, but some historians claim similar games existed much earlier. Baccarat itself is closely related to blackjack (or Twenty-One) -- which itself is derived from the earlier French game called Vingt et Un.
The game is played like baccarat except instead of allowing the gamblers to place a bet on Player (Punta) or Bank (Banco) the gamblers actually must take on the roles of Player and Bank. Each player at the table becomes the banker in turn and he is responsible for covering any winning player bets and he gets to collect all losing player bets. The players at the table all gamble amongst themselves instead of against the house as in American barrarat. Also unlike Baccarat, Chemin De Fer has some flexible third card rules that allow both the Player and Banker to decide whether to call a third card or not.
The casino provides a dealer (croupier) that ensures the rules are followed and to keep the game running smoothly. The casino also provides all the necessary equipment to run the game including the table, chairs, cards, chips, and security. For it's part the casino extracts a 5% commision on all winning Bank bets.
One oddity of the game is that it is most often played with oversized chips called "jetons" or rectangular or square "plaques". Chemin de Fer was a favorite game of James Bond 007. You can watch him play it in the movie Casino Royale.