Original page created on 24/04/2019; updated on 29/06/2021.
Brand - Reference
ACME 55200
Type
CIWL MU 1964 Type sleeping car
| UIC number | ex-CIWL | Rev. date |
| 61 87 72-81 704-4 | 4704 | 15.6.72 |
| SNCF management. | ||
| 71 83 72-80 575-1 | 4762 | 23.11.72 |
| FS management. Pool TEN. | ||
| 71 85 72-80 592-4 | 4779 | 21.4.72 |
| SBB management. Pool TEN. | ||
Weight
Resp. 174, 169, 172 g; 139 to 142 g after removing the ballast (NEM: 121 to 158 g)
Comments
Steps and CIWL badges are in photoetched metal. The compartments are in night position, the ladders are in place, but not correctly positioned according to Dirk Frielingsdorf on wagonslits.de. Some (blue) blinds are more or less lowered. The little FIAT car handles are to be mounted, and it’s a little tricky… The buffers are on spring, and, of course, they get askew…
On the FIAT car, the Y24L bogie wheelbase is marked 2.3 m, whereas it is actually 2.5 m (however, this dimension is well respected on the model).
The bogies are equipped with current pickup strips rubbing on the axles, which makes the rolling quality rather random; the Y24L bogies are equipped with brass bearings, while the Minden are not. The wheels have a correct diameter of 11.0 mm, but their spacing is a little low, see table of dimensions.
See:
- Loco-Revue forum;
- wagonslits.de, with comments and corrections to the models by Dirk Frielingsdorf.
- gamos81.altervista.org for the reference list of issued MU sleeping car models.
Modifications
- NEM boxes shortened by 1.5 mm to suppress the gap between the coaches.
- Ballast (30 g) removed.
- Bed ladders correctly re-positioned in front of the windows on the Brissonneau and FIAT coaches. See
pictures: before, during, after.
- Brissonneau coach fitted with connectors for removable tail lamps. See the pages on this subject.
History
MU coaches concerned, not air-conditioned:
- CIWL No. 4701 to 4740: built in 1964 by Brissonneau & Lotz; they are mounted on L bogies, extrapolated from Y24 SNCF bogies, but with increased wheelbase from 2.3 to 2.5 m, except for the last four mounted on M3 bogies;
- CIWL No. 4761 to 4775: built in 1964-1965 by FIAT Materiale Ferroviario, mounted on L bogies;
- CIWL No. 4776 to 4790: built in 1964 by Waggon- und Maschinenbau GmbH Donauwörth (WMD), mounted on Minden-Deutz type M4 bogies.
Note: coaches 4741 to 4760, also built by FIAT, and similar to the 4761 to 4775, are of type M (only two beds per compartment) and are air conditioned.
Documents
- German website Wagons-Lits
- Wikipedia article Sleeping_car
- scalaenne website (in Italian).
- Main characteristics
- Document from ACME on the Loco-Revue Forum.
Coach ex-4766, Brussels-South, July 1980.
Photo M. Van der Linden on railfaneurope.net.
| Dimension | Actual | 1:87 | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall length | 26 400 | 303.4 | 304.5 |
| Body length | 26 100 | 299.1 | 299.5 |
| Chassis length | 25 100 | 288.5 | 289.0 |
| Width | 2 820 | 32.4 | 32.8 |
| Height | 4 260 | 49.0 | 48.9 |
| Pivot distance | 19 000 | 218.4 | 218.7 |
| Bogie L wheelbase | 2 500 | 28.7 | 28.5 |
| Bogie M wheelbase | 2 500 | 28.7 | 28.2 |
| Wheel diameter | 960 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| D | B | U | |
| 0.8 | 14.3 1 | 24.3 | |
|
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As on previous MU ACME, the roof is moulded with the body. The scale is almost perfectly respected. The three coaches have specific details (length of the handrails, heating cable housing, various grids, etc.)
The height is consistent. On the other hand, the mass is a little too heavy.