Multiple-units and Rail Buses - France: Books - History

Automotrices et locomotives électriques de France

For rail enthusiasts, the equipment running on electrified railway lines has always been a category apart in the railway world. Although less fascinating than steam locomotives, electric vehicles, especially those from the period from 1900 to 1955, have their defenders and admirers.
The trial and error of early operation, with their procession of more or less successful prototypes, quickly gave way to series equipment with remarkable performance.

As a tireless cartophile, Jean-Pierre Rigouard, author of numerous illustrated works on the history of the railway, presents to us in images the "Boîtes à sel", "Boîtes à ozone", "Nez de cochon", "Femmes enceintes", "Waterman", "Batteuses" or "Fers à repasser": in other words, the railcars and locomotives (or motor cars) of the French railway network.

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Les Michelines

In 1931, a railcar equipped with Michelin tires traveled from Paris Saint-Lazare to Deauville and back in two hours and three minutes, a record. Subsequently, all the railcars built by the manufacturer's workshops in Clermont-Ferrand were called Michelines. The last ones stopped running on the SNCF network just after the Second World War.

Today, this name is still wrongly used to refer to railcars equipped with metal wheels. But this new technology has given rise to other railway applications, such as cars for trains on the Paris to Strasbourg line or for metros in France and abroad...
Welcome to the "red and yellow" adventure. Take a seat on board!

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Autorails et michelines

In the world of railways, a railcar is a passenger car that has its own engine. Called a railcar by its designers, it is rather under the name of Micheline that this means of transport has gone down in history. On secondary lines, it made it possible to reduce operating costs by replacing heavy and slow omnibus steam trains.

The use of the gasoline engine, then diesel, paved the way for fast railcars providing long-distance connections. The French railway companies ordered prototypes from the De Dietrich, Decauville, ADN establishments, but also from the car manufacturers Renault, Bugatti, Berliet, etc.
Michelin, in order to reduce rolling noise, used pneumatic tires: the Micheline was born.
This book is dedicated to all those who traveled in these cream and red cars, who remember the roar of their engine and the two tones of their horn echoing through the countryside...

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Les dépôts autorails SNCF

The French SRU law of December 2000 is in its own way the culmination of years of building a new dynamic, with the effective transfer to the regions of the resources that allowed them to really take control of the development and operation of TERs...
Deeply virtuous, this development led them all to invest, often much more than the old distribution of responsibilities between the State, the SNCF and the regions would have allowed, in new equipment. Thus, several billion euros, in less than 10 years, quickly transformed our countryside and our provincial metropolises, giving the new TER the appearance of TGVs in which the French rediscovered the train, wondering where the "Michelins" had gone... which they had nevertheless stopped taking.

"Les dépôts autorails SNCF" retrace, for the first time and in a complete manner, the career of all the railcar centres of the French railways. In addition to the history of each centre, illustrated by often unpublished photos, bearings and plans of the installations are also published.

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Les automotrices électriques en France

The railcars evolved over more than a century to become suburban trains or regional trains for suburban services.
This book traces the evolution of these very special trains with the contribution of numerous unpublished documents.

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Les Caravelles : Les Eléments Automoteurs Diesel

The X 4300 to X 4900 railcars, commonly known as EAD or "425 hp" by railway workers, left a significant mark on the French railway landscape for over 50 years. Introduced in 1963, these vehicles were hailed for their innovation, notably the adoption of an underbody engine.
Built by the ANF factories, 456 examples were produced until 1981, providing satisfactory performance for the SNCF. Mainly dedicated to regional rail service, they provided express and omnibus services across the country. After various modernisations from 1985 onwards, these railcars are now reaching the end of their career within the SNCF.

This work, richly illustrated with photographs and documents, traces the adventure of the "Caravelles", from their design to their technical developments, from their services in France to their use in Romania, as well as their preservation by associations.

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Les RGP, du TEE au TER

This book invites you to relive the epic of the RPG, from the TEE to the TER, through a detailed study and abundant and varied iconography. Spread over six decades, this railway saga remains in the annals as that of the mythical railcars.

In the 1950s, the SNCF turned to a new generation of railcars to improve non-electrified connections. These new machines had to reach 120 km/h in a straight line and efficiently climb the slopes of the tracks. They aimed to replace the old railcars acquired before the war.

Four contracts were concluded between the SNCF and the manufacturers to create the RGPs, which stand out as the most successful in terms of comfort, speed and longevity in the post-war railcar fleet. Available in twin-engine (RGP 2) and single-engine (RGP 1) versions, they left their mark on their era, providing exemplary service for six decades, with a major renovation in the 1980s.
The RGPs had a varied career in France and travelled on foreign networks, such as SNCB, NS, CFL, DB, CFF, FS, and Renfe under the prestigious Train Europ Express label.
The RGP 2s left the railway scene in 1986, while the RGP 1s continued their service until 2006, giving way to the modern X 72500 and AGC.

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