 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2021) |
| A2n 001 railcar | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The A2n 001 was an experimental Diesel railcar built in Italy by CaFiCi consortium in 1982. Despite a long test period in several regional lines, the vehicle never came into regular service.
The railcar was designed taking advantage of the experience developed in the construction of 2-decks vehicles gained in Italy by the Casaralta workshops (Bologna) in building railways carriages derived from those in service on the Parisian "banlieue" and supplied to Ferrovie Nord Milano and Ferrovie dello Stato companies. Such vehicles were built under CIMT Lorraine (a French firm) license.
The experiment was focused on the research on a lightweight vehicle with higher capacity than railcars used at that time. The objective was to provide regional and branch lines with such vehicles, with an offer estimated at about 40-50% more passengers than equivalent traditional railcars, despite the "low power consumption and a saving of about 20% in investment and running costs".
It was designed a curious double-decker railcar reminiscent of the similar coaches of the time. The vehicle was built by a company called Cafici International, with headquarters in Geneva; the name came from the initials of the three partners who formed that consortium: Casaralta (Bologna, Italy) CIMT- Lorraine (France) and FIAT Ferroviaria (Savigliano, Italy), a specialist in the construction of lightweight material.
The engine was supplied by Fiat (IVECO 828 SRI engine 4-stroke, 8-cylinder V) and installed in only one of the two carriages, which were derived from those equipped on the double-decker coaches then being delivered by Casaralta, with secondary air suspension and brake discs and mixed strains.
The arrangement of space was such as to create in practice four distinct rooms: the two vestibules allow access to the front and rear rooms, a total capacity of 17, and the two central decks, with a capacity of 60 seats respectively the upper and 48 lower.
Released from the factory in 1982, the following year the vehicle was tested on some lines in Piemonte region, covering several times the Turin-Trofarello and Fossano-Limone Piemonte paths.
In 1984, after several weeks of testing on the ACT (Reggio Emilia) network and along the Suzzara-Ferrara Railway (FSF), [1] the railcar moved back in Piemonte and in the French Riviera, where on behalf of the SNCF was the subject of different test runs on the Cuneo-Nice, where the low power of the one engine was put to the test by ramps imposed by the Maritime Alps, highlighting not brilliant performances.
The FIAT organized later, in 1986, a further series of test runs on Brescia-Iseo-Edolo (Valcamonica railway) whose owner, SNFT, judged the railcar unsuitable for the demanding services. In the same period, with the formula of loan use, the railcar was also used by SATTI for services on the Canavesana railway.
The first buyer of A2n 001 appeared in 1988, when the Swiss association "Vapeur Val-de-Traves" bought and moved it in its Neuchâtel depot; however, using the railcar on an occasional basis.
A new change of ownership took place in 1997, when the railcar was purchased by SNIM - National Society of Industries and Mines of Mauritania which, after installation of air conditioning, aimed to employ it again in a tourist service on the relationship Nouadhibou-Zouérate.
Due to the low performance and to its nature as prototype the railcar was finally de-motorized and today is still occasionally used as trailer on tourist service "The train of the desert."
A railcar is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach, with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "railmotors".
A bilevel car or double-decker coach is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity.
The British Rail Class 104 diesel multiple units were built by Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company from 1957 to 1959.
Ferrocarriles Argentinos was a state-owned company that managed the entire Argentine railway system for nearly 45 years. It was formed in 1948 when all the private railway companies were nationalised during Juan Perón's first presidential term, and transformed into the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado Argentino.
The Alstom Coradia LINT is an articulated railcar manufactured by Alstom since 1999, offered in diesel and hydrogen fuel models. The acronym LINT is short for the German "leichter innovativer Nahverkehrstriebwagen". It was designed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch and has been distributed as part of Alstom's Coradia family.
Chemins de fer de la Corse (CFC) is the name of the regional rail network serving the French island of Corsica. It is centred on the town of Ponte Leccia, from which three main lines radiate to Ajaccio, Bastia, and Calvi. The section following the northwest coastline between L'Île-Rousse and Calvi, known as the Balagne line, gives access to many beaches and is very popular with tourists.
The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand. New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) classified them as RM (Rail Motor), the notation used for all railcars, numbering the 35 sets from RM100 to RM134. They were the most numerous railcars in NZR service. Their purchase and introduction saw the demise of steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains, and was part of a deliberate effort to modernise NZR passenger services at a time of increasing competition from private motor vehicles. Being diesel powered and lighter the railcars were less expensive to operate and able to maintain quicker timetables, although became plagued with mechanical and electrical problems, with a number of the class eventually being turned into depowered locomotive-hauled carriages and reclassified as the AC class "Grassgrubs".
A control car, cab car, control trailer, or driving trailer is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartments with all the controls and gauges required to remotely operate the locomotive, including exterior locomotive equipment such as horns, bells, ploughs, and lights. They also have communications and safety systems such as GSM-R or European Train Control System (ETCS). Control cars enable push-pull operation when located on the end of a train opposite its locomotive by allowing the train to reverse direction at a terminus without moving the locomotive or turning the train around.
The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa is close to the Naples–Portici railway.
The ALn 772 series are a group of Diesel railcars built for the Italian public railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) between the 1930s and the 1950s. As the first project in Italy to abandon the automobile-derived design and adopt a comprehensive "rolling stock" approach, it represents the link between the simple and sturdy Littorine and the modern Diesel units.
The Y1 is a diesel-hydraulic standard gauge railcar. It is in use in Croatia, Cuba, Norway, Serbia, Kosovo, Sweden and Uruguay. The production of the railcars was begun in 1980 by Kalmar Verkstad and Fiat Ferroviaria for Sweden.
British Rail Class 139 is the TOPS classification for PPM60 model lightweight railcars built by Parry People Movers, for use on the British rail network. The class were originally built in 2008 for operation on the Stourbridge Town branch line following an extensive trial with a prototype registered as a Class 999 unit.
The ALn 668 series is a family of diesel railcars built by Fiat Ferroviaria between the 1950s and the 1980s. The trains were built for the Italian public railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), now Trenitalia as well as many Italian private railway operators. Types derived from the class have been built for the railway companies of other nations. Most of the trains are still in service today.
Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train operations in the region. The equity is equally divided between the two companies.
A steam railcar, steam motor car (US), or Railmotor (UK) is a railcar that is self powered by a steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams in Britain. In 1848 they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol & Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.
The 1100 class railcar or Budd railcar were a type of diesel railcar built by Commonwealth Engineering for the Department of Railways New South Wales in 1961. They primarily operated on the South Coast Daylight Express until withdrawn in 1993.
The ALe 582 is an Italian electric multiple unit train designed for commuter and medium-distance services, developed in the mid-1980s to replace pre-war and immediately post-war EMUs and locomotive-hauled trains on various lines in Sicily and Southern Italy, although they later diffused on the whole FS network. They're part of the "ALe Elettroniche" or "G.A.I." family, together with their predecessors ALe 724 and their successors, the ALe 642.
Materfer is an Argentine manufacturer of railway and road vehicles, located in the city of Ferreyra in Córdoba Province. The company was established by Fiat Concord in the late 1950s, being its subsidiary until 1980 when Sevel Argentina took over Fiat vehicles.
The 7131 was an Argentine diesel multiple unit class, first produced in Italy by Fiat Ferroviaria, then licensed to Argentine company Materfer to continue the manufacturing. Those railcars were introduced in the 1960s to replace the existing rolling stock of most of the urban services of Argentina, such as Roca, Urquiza, Mitre and Sarmiento lines.
The Naples–Foggia railway is an Italian railway line connecting Naples, in Campania, with Foggia, in Apulia, crossing the Apennines at the saddle of Ariano through a series of tunnels.