Original page created on 20/03/2016; updated on 21/05/2023.
Brand - Reference
REE VB-066 et VB-098-3
Type
B10 UIC 64 and 69 type in green livery
| UIC number | Revision date |
| 51 87 20-80 631-5 5 | 28.12.70 |
| 51 87 20-80 632-3 5 | 29.3.71 |
| 51 87 20-80 634-9 5 | 17.3.71 |
| Home base: Villeneuve | |
| 51 87 20-71 697-7 2 | 28.12.70 |
| Home base: Le Landy | |
Weight
129 g (NEM: 113 to 146 g)
Comments
The body-to-roof junction is less apparent than on the C160 livery coach. This may be due to the fact that the Celtic green livery is darker.
The exterior of the window frames is painted in green, the interior in aluminium. On the photograph taken in close-up, it can be noticed that the door window pane is not correctly fitted.
As on the C160 livery coach, the bogie centre dampers, inserted, tend to move and may also rub on a chassis rib in extreme cases. The wheel flanges are 0.8 mm. It will be difficult to disassemble the axles because they are surrounded by the brake linkage (very detailed too).
There are on one side of the chassis two bosses meant to ensure a 2-point suspension (the third point being the ball of the opposite side bogie), but these bosses don’t lean on the bogie! They should be thicker by an average of 0.15 mm. And, on the other hand, there is very little clearance in rolling to the ball side: the secondary suspension spring heads quickly come into stop on the chassis beams.
The gangways, very thin and in metal, don’t stand vertical. Must be glued if you don’t want to lose one!
The seats are a pretty straight blue, which, in my opinion, does
not match reality. It was rather a slightly bluish grey, as evidenced
by this
photo extracted from the SNCF 1972 booklet (although the image
quality is not excellent). 
To tell the truth, the
caption only says 2nd class compartment of a recent coach
. But,
in 1972, what could be a recent 2nd class coach with
compartments, if not a UIC coach?
On one of the coaches, an axle rubbed on a badly positioned brake block. The buffers were tilted downwards, but this was due to a bad snap in the chassis end, which includes the buffer beam. The coupling (with Profi heads) is difficult, but coaches run with buffers and gangway rubber joints joined. Unfortunately, there is a buffer muddling on my test layout (min. curve radius 550 mm) when pushing.
See:
- Loco-Revue Forum.
- gamos81.altervista.org for the reference list of issued UIC coach models.
Modifications
- 3-point sitting restored by interposition of 0.3 mm shims glued on the bogie frame, bosses side.
- Lighting with LEDs controlled by latching reed switch.
History
Coaches built according to the UIC specifications (Y type), 24.5 m long, delivered from 1964 to 1971 by De Dietrich and CIMT Lorraine, for a total of 300 units. UIC numbers 51 87 20-70 501-2 to 690-3 and 51 87 20-71 691-0 to 800-7.
Note: numbers 51 87 20-80 instead of 51 87 20-70 can be found, as on the REE coaches. This corresponds to the presence of steam heating equipment in addition to electric heating, and therefore rather concerns coaches of the former series.
Documents
- Loco-Revue sheet No. 80 / 65 c 7 (former series).
- La Vie du Rail sheet.
- Loco-Revue No. 627 of July/August 1999, p. 30-35.
- Ferrovissime No. 6 of June 2008, p. 16-22.
- Ferrovissime No. 8 of September 2008, p. 45-54.
- Wikipedia article.
- eurocity64.fr website.
- trains-europe.fr website.
- DocRail website.
Photo SNCF on DocRail.
| Dimension | Actual | 1:87 | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall length | 24 500 | 281.6 | 282.5 |
| Chassis length | 23 200 | 266.7 | 266.5 |
| Width | 2 880 | 33.1 | 33.4 |
| Height | 4 050 | 46.6 | 46.3 1 |
| Pivot distance | 17 200 | 197.7 | 197.3 |
| Bogie wheelbase | 2 300 | 26.4 | 26.5 |
| Wheel diameter | 920 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
|
|||
| List of the UIC B10 (after eurocity64.fr) | |||||
| Type | UIC No. | Num. | Bogies | Deliv. | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UIC 60 | 51 87 20-70 501 to 600 | 100 | Y24 | 1964 | — |
| UIC 61 | 51 87 20-70 801 to 805 | 005 | Y24 | 1967 | Ex CFL |
| UIC 63 | 51 87 20-70 601 to 630 | 030 | Y24 | 1965 | — |
| UIC 64 | 51 87 20-7(8)0 631 to 660 | 030 | Y24 | 1966 | — |
| UIC 65 | 51 87 20-70 661 to 690 | 030 | Y24 | 1966 | — |
| UIC 69 | 51 87 20-71 691 to 800 | 110 | Y24 | 1971 | — |
One can question the era system of Morop, but, if one refers to it, I think one has to exactly conform to it and not invent one’s own system! Unfortunately, LS Models is used to the fact, and REE is apparently going the same way…
For ref. VB-066. Acquired at a much more attractive price than the prevailing one (-15%), price which has also fallen for the following series. Gag: the box is marked era IIIb, that is, according to Morop, from 1950 to 1955. Strange enough for coaches delivered from 1964, and having revision dates between 1970 and 1971… And there is no instruction sheet.