PA 1974 travelling post office LS Models

Original page created on 26/06/2021.

Brand - Reference

LS Models 40421-1 and 40421-2

Type

Travelling post office PA type 1974

UIC number Revision date
51 87 00-87 026-5 4 13.9.74
51 87 00-87 006-7 4 16.1.74

Weight

147 g (NEM: 121 to 158 g)

Comments

The box contains two 1974 PA and one OCEM PAz, all for the gentle price of about €250, i.e. an average of €84 each. Compared to other productions with a visible interior, this is very expensive!

The appearance is very satisfactory (the roof and the body are in one piece, so there is no joint problem…). The scale is almost perfectly respected. Some parts are not well assembled: inscription plates, buffers with divergent squinting. This is strangely often the case at LSM: bad design of the tenons?

The Y24 bogies are as usual fitted with brass bearings. The running is good. The brake discs are present. See the axle characteristics in the table of dimensions.

A number of spare parts are provided: two steps, two electric jumpers, plus four steps to be fitted under the chassis, the original ones being fitted to the bogies. There are also the classic parts to decorate the buffer beams, with an extra one for each. The cable connection boxes fit quite easily and hold sufficiently, so no gluing is required. Photo.Spare parts

There is no problem inserting the couplings, and the heads can be in two positions: one fully inserted, and one 2 mm apart. The drawbars slide without any hard points.

When fitted with Profi heads, the vans are almost in contact when stationary. Photo But the drawbars have a lot of clearance: the gap can be up to 3 mm, or 1.5 mm per drawbar.No gap between the vans (stationary)

See:

History

The PA (bureau de poste ambulant) vans, type 1974, 26.40 m long, were built in 114 units from 1973 to 1980 by Établissements Soulé in Bagnères de Bigorre. They are equipped with Y24X bogies with mixed shoe and disc brakes.

Tare 47.5 t. Load 10 t. Speed limit 160 km/h.

Original registration numbers: 51 87 00-87 001-x to 099-x, 51 87 00-87 341-x to 343-x, and 50 87 00-77 344-x to 355-x.

Postmen were on board and sorted the mail contained in the postal bags during the train journey. Compared to the OCEM PA, the sorting room is only slightly larger, but the comfort is much improved, with dust removing tables, good thermal insulation and proper heating.

Documents

  • La Vie du Rail No 1456 of 1st september 1974.
  • Loco Revue No 357 of January 1975, p. 10 to 12.
  • Encyclopédie des voitures SNCF ed. 1990, p. 418 to 423.
  • Wikipedia article on post trains.
  • DocRail website.

Travelling post office PA type 1974 LS ModelsTravelling post office PA type 1974 LS Models

Travelling post office PA type 1974

Photo Coll. G. Coudert on DocRail.

Dimension Actual 1:87 Model
Overall length 26 400 303.4 305.0
Body length 26 100 300.0 299.8
Chassis length 25 100 288.5 290.0
Width 2 825 32.5 32.8
Height 4 230 48.6 49.1
Pivot distance 19 000 218.4 218.3
Bogie wheelbase 2 300 26.4 26.2
Wheel diameter 920 10.6 10.7
D B U
0.9 14.3 1 24.7
  1. NEM: 14.5 ± 0.1.