Unknown European Diesel Railcar

[carlwebus]

Hi All

 

Does  anyone know  what the beast in  the accompanying photo is and/ or   where/ when  the photo was  taken?

 

It  displays the logo "NORD" on the side and (I  think) "ZZ52" (could  be ZZ32) on the front  corner.  Seems to run on two 8  wheel bogies.

 

I thought "NORD" must mean France - but I think it may be for "Trenord" which is Lombardy, Italy?

[Johann Marsbar]

Nord railway of France Micheline railcar....

 

Regardez ici...

https://trainconsultant.com/2020/09/08/les-michelines-le-train-en-pantoufles-de-bibendum/

 

C'est en Francais, malhereusement   (or something like that. It's over 40 years since I got my French O level....)

Edited November 24, 2020 by Johann Marsbar

[chris p bacon]

I'm sure one of those had trials on the Oxford to Cambridge line.

 

Just checked and it was a similar vehicle

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrcov3764.htm

[Fat Controller]

They also did some runs in Stoke-on-Trent, between the main line at Sideway Junction, and the Michelin factory at Trent Vale. To this day, the term 'Micheline', for a diesel railcar, is common parlance in France.

[carlwebus]

Thanks guys. Much appreciated! The links supplied are fascinating indeed.  une expérience fascinante

[wasabi]

Tome 1 of 'Autorails de France' will tell you more than you might want to know about the Michelin railcar, as well as some other fascinating types.  It was published in 1992 by La Vie du Rail so might need some tracking down.  I went on one of these on a railtour of Madagascar in 1997 and it's possible that they still have one in working order.

[rue_d_etropal]

if you can get the book, it is worth while but as it is now out of print prices have gone up.The Micheline railcar was very experimental, going through a lot of changes. The early ones , one of which was also tested in Britian had articlated lorry/car type front end. Marklin have produced a similar model(not the same version though) as the one that did run in Britain. Then a later verson, a type 22 , similar to the top photo was tested in Britain, and from that a locally built version, the Coventry railcar, was built.

It all seemed to fizzle out in Britain. One problem was that they were too quiet , being on rubber tyred wheels, and railside workers had difficulty hearing them approach. The drivers cab being raised above body, was also somethinf which the H&S people of the time did not like after a railcar(not a  Michelin type) in Ireland with that type of drivers compartment crashed, I think into some cows, as the driver could not see too well. In France this type of cab was used on a lot of railcars, even some high speed ones(eg Bugatti), with few problems, except when shunting in reverse the guard would be in front of train communicating instructions with driver.

[Fat Controller]

58 minutes ago, wasabi said:

Tome 1 of 'Autorails de France' will tell you more than you might want to know about the Michelin railcar, as well as some other fascinating types.  It was published in 1992 by La Vie du Rail so might need some tracking down.  I went on one of these on a railtour of Madagascar in 1997 and it's possible that they still have one in working order.

The one from Madagascar/ Malagasy was brought back to France, I believe: not sure where it went to in France.

[wasabi]

Found it on International Steam of all places - there were apparently two survivors and one is in a museum in Clermont Ferrand whilst the other remains in Madagascar.  The information is from about 2010 so things could have changed since then.

[carlwebus]

Many thanks guys.

[Reno]

The "Micheline" in Watford.....

 

 

[Michael Hodgson]

And detonators didn't work under the rubber tyres. 

[rodent279]

Some video of the Madagascan Micheline here, commentary in German for those who verstehen.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by rodent279