Original page created on 11/11/2013; updated on 26/12/2024.
Vitrains 1017, 2 × 3107, 3159 and 3160
Suburban 2-level coaches (VB2N)
Coach | UIC number |
2nd cl. / cab Bxe | 50 87 22-37 237-4 |
2nd cl. Be | 50 87 22-37 103-8 |
2nd cl. Be × 2 | 50 87 22-37 181-4 |
2nd cl. Be | 50 87 22-37 205-1 |
1st / 2nd cl. ABe | 50 87 32-37 014-5 |
1st / 2nd cl. ABe | 50 87 32-37 096-2 |
2nd cl. / luggage BDe | 50 87 82-37 051-6 |
Revision date | 17-06-78 (1017), 12-04-79 (3107) and 7-10-78 (3159-60) |
Home base: 3 Paris Saint-Lazare |
Driving coach: 156 g (NEM: 114 to 148 g)
Other: 152 to 155 g (NEM: 112 to 145 g)
Two 2nd class coaches were bought new in early 2015 to complete the train. Other references released at the same time have no interest, since they combined each time two coaches, including one end coach. Choice really hard to understand. At last, one Be and one ABe purchased end of 2018 to get a complete eight-coach train.
Coaches too low 1.5 mm.
Wheels ⌀ 9.8 for 840 real, good. The current pickup is done on wheel inner shoulders very unattractive but fortunately almost invisible from the outside.
Spring buffers — useless since the contact between coaches is done by the gangway rubber joints!
In general, these coaches run rather badly, due to the lack of clearance of the axles. In the 2015 series, these axles are a little shorter, but their tips are of poor quality: no finish, no rounding.
See the Loco-Revue Forum.
The first bogie has received Piko axles, while the second still has its original ones. The initial slope is about 1 %, and there is no special effect!
The driving coach was equipped with conductive bearings and adapted shafts.
Coaches built in 500 units (all types) from 1975 to 1978, plus 89 units from 1979 to 1982, by CIMT-Lorraine and ANF-Industries in Marly-les-Valenciennes. They are equipped with Y30 P bogies with pneumatic secondary suspension. Maximum speed in service: 140 km/h. Tare: 48 t.
The VB2N (Voiture de Banlieue à 2 Niveaux) trainsets, equipped with a cab for reversible driving, were — and still are — used on the Est, Nord, and Ouest suburbs (St Lazare, Montparnasse). They usually consist of six, seven or eight coaches (this depends on the time, on the starting station and on the type of loco for hauling).
They are hauled in the Nord region by BB 17000s in green or “concrete” livery. Typical composition of a Nord trainset: Bxe + 2 × Be + 2 × ABe + 2 × Be + BDe. So, the two mixed coaches are grouped together in the middle of the train.
The first line equipped on the Nord was Aulnay-Mitry.
Photo J. P. Demoy
Dimension | Actual | 1:87 | Model |
---|---|---|---|
Overall length Bxe 1 | 24 780 | 284.8 | 285.0 |
Overall length autres | 24 280 | 279.1 | 279.0 |
Body length - Bxe | 24 150 | 277.6 | 276.5 |
Body length - others | 23 980 | 275.6 | 274.0 |
Width | 2 856 | 32.8 | 33.0 |
Height | 4 320 | 49.7 | 48.2 2 |
Pivot distance | 17 800 | 204.6 | 204.5 |
Bogie wheelbase | 2 400 | 27.6 | 27.4 |
Wheel diameter | 840 | 9.7 | 9.8 |
|
VB2N attributed to Nord network, from 1972 to 1976. Source: Le matériel moteur de la SNCF by J. Defrance, edition 1977. |
||
Type | UIC number | Number |
---|---|---|
Be | 50 87 22-37 001 to 082 | 82 |
ABe | 50 87 32-37 090 to 130 | 41 |
Bxe | 50 87 22-37 233 to 254 | 22 |
BDe | 50 87 82-37 018 to 038 | 21 |
Set of four coaches bought second-hand. New, it was sold €239 at TMC. Complementary Be coaches ref. 3032, 3074 and 3107, and ABe ref. 3088, were available to make a complete train set.