The Usines Ragheno (Ragheno Factories) were a rolling stock manufacturer, building vehicles for railways and tramways. They are located in Mechelen, Belgium.
The Usines Ragheno (Ragheno Factories) were a rolling stock manufacturer, building vehicles for railways and tramways. They are located in Mechelen, Belgium.
A first factory was founded in 1851 William Ragheno (1820-1867) from Brussels, being called Établissements Ragheno (Ragheno Establishments). The factory contained a blacksmith's workshop and built carriages for the Belgian railways. William Ragheno was the son of Pierre Ragheno, mechanical engineer for the Belgian State railways. [1]
On June 17, 1899 [2] the Société anonyme des usines Ragheno was opened (having workshops for the construction of railway and tramway equipment and carriages) hoping to develop production capabilities for foreign markets.
The company would build railway and tramway rolling stock until 1975. It merged with Groupe BAT (Bruxelloise d'Auto-Transport) to form Ragheno Beherman Auto-Transport in 1979. [3]
The company also built locomotives between 1919 and 1925. [4]
Établissements Billard was a French railway rolling stock construction company founded in 1920 and based in Tours. It specialised in light railbuses and metre gauge and narrow gauge rolling stock. The business ceased trading in 1956 and later became Socofer.
The Société Franco-Belge was a Franco-Belgian engineering firm that specialised in the construction of railway vehicles and their components and accessories. The company originated in 1859 as the Belgian firm Compagnie Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériels de Chemins de Fer, founded by Charles Evrard. The company expanded its share capital in 1881 forming a new firm Société Anonyme Franco-Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériel de Chemins de Fer and constructed a factory in Raismes (Valenciennes) in the Département Nord in France.
Socofer is the name for the railway construction company that before 1968 was known as Établissements Billard.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 12 was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotives built in 1938–1939 for the fast lightweight Ostend boat trains operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium.
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The Belgian State Railways Type 1 was a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotives for passenger service, introduced in 1864.
The Belgian State Railways Type 12 was a class of 2-4-2 steam locomotives for express passenger service, introduced in 1888. They were the successors of the Belgian State Railways Type 1 locomotives.
The Belgian State Railways Type 25 was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives for freight service, introduced in 1884.
The Belgian State Railways Type 28 was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives for freight service, introduced in 1864.
The Belgian State Railways Type 51 was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives for shunting and local train service, introduced in 1866.
The Belgian State Railways Type 5 was a class of 2-4-0T steam locomotives for local passenger service, introduced in 1880.
The Belgian State Railways Type 20 was a class of 0-8-0T steam locomotives, introduced in 1870.
The Belgian State Railways Type 11 was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives for local passenger traffic, introduced in 1888. It gradually replaced the Type 5 in this role.
The Belgian State Railways Type 6 was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives for express passenger service, introduced in 1885.
The Belgian State Railways Type 4 was a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives for passenger traffic, introduced in 1878.
The Belgian State Railways Type 30 was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives for mixed service, introduced in 1900.
The Belgian State Railways Type 32 was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives for mixed service, introduced in 1902.