Original page created on 05/02/2014; updated on 13/02/2023.
Brand - Reference
LS Models 40413-1 and 40421-3
Type
OCEM 26/29 type PAz travelling post office for mail sorting
| UIC number | Revision date |
| 50 87 00-47 148-7 2 | 6.5.70 |
| 50 87 00-77 206-6 ? | ? |
Weight
123 g (NEM: 99 to 129 g)
Comments
Delivered with a small trolley with mailbags, which could be rather yellow than burgundy (the PTT having adopted the yellow for their road vehicles far before doing so for the wagons).
Still the same problem of NEM box too narrow. In fact, the thickness of the tail of provided standard couplings is 1.4 mm, while the Fleischmann Profi are 1.65, and the NEM 362 imposes 1.75−0.05 for the inside height of the box!
Item No. 40421-3: fitted with Y24 bogies and unified buffers, some of which are askew. I didn’t know that OCEM Paz had received such buffers. Apart from that, this van is identical to the previous one. There is no longer any problem inserting the couplings, and the heads can be set in two positions: one fully depressed, the other 2 mm apart.
One footstep is deformed because it is incorrectly mounted.
Quite a few spare parts are supplied: two buffers,
a jumper, two bellows, etc. Photo.
Do not rely on the photos above to compare the
colours of the two models. They were taken under very different lighting
conditions, with different cameras. Here is a photo showing the
two together for comparison. You can see that the shades are very close.
See:
- Loco-Revue Forum
- forum-train.fr
- gamos81.altervista.org for the reference list of issued OCEM travelling post office models.
Modifications (item 40413-1)
Item No. 40413-1
- Drawbar boxes mangled to accept a coupling.
- Steps, buffers, infrastructure, brake blocks painted.
Item No. 40421-3
- Buffers straightened by reducing their tenon.
History
The 21 m OCEM 26/29 PAz (travelling Post Office) cars were built in 328 units from 1927 to 1930 by Franco-Belge and Carel & Fouché. They are equipped with Y2 bogies.
UIC numbers: 50 87 00-47 101-6 to 455-6
Postmen were on board and sorted the mail contained in the mail bags during the train travel.
Documents
- Loco-Revue sheet
No. 239/121968-68 d 20 (former series). Sheet preview.
- Wikipedia article.
- Wikipedia article on mail trains.
- Le Train Archives de l’OCEM, p. 80-81.
- LS Models instruction leaflet.
Photo Loco Revue.
| Dimension | Actual | 1:87 | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall length | 21 570 | 247.9 | 248.0 |
| Chassis length | 20 280 | 233.1 | |
| Width | 2 912 | 33.5 | 33.8 |
| Height | 4 068 | 46.8 | 47.0 |
| Pivot distance | 14 680 | 168.7 | 168.4 |
| Bogie wheelbase (Y2) | 2 500 | 28.7 | 28.8 |
| Bogie wheelbase (Y24) | 2 300 | 26.4 | 26.2 |
| Wheel diameter | 920 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
Document available as a PDF.
If you are interested, please let me know by e-mail,
specifying the title of the document-s.
For conditions, see page
Loco-Revue documentary sheets. .
Item No. 40413-1: very fine (roof handrails, buffers, etc.). Brass bearings, and even if the bogie inner side beams “rebel” a little, the wheels turn without rubbing. No difficulty to replace deployed bellows with folded ones, the first being not glued.