Original page created on 18/03/2015; updated on 08/04/2023.
Brand - Reference
REE WB-339, WB-340 et WB-347
Type
L “kangourou” system KE type
| UIC number | Revision date |
| 20 87 040 0 305-1 P | 26.8.68 |
| 20 87 040 0 464-6 P | 26.8.68 |
| 20 87 040 0 495-0 P | 1.8.68 |
| Home base: Paris-Bercy | |
Weight
52/75 to 78 g without/with load (NEM: 61 to 79 g).
Comments
The drawbridge is movable, but not connected to the operating lever. The holding in position is provided by a complex double articulation system. Don’t force during the manoeuvre!
The wagon with IBM trailer bears the inscription: Able to run at
the speed of 100 km/h between Paris and Rotterdam
.
For trailers, a landing gear with elongated legs is provided as a spare part for parking.
For Yellow trailer “Renault Parts”: the twin wheel spacers seem too wide to me.
Anonymous blue trailer: registration plates in raised position, not articulated, are clipped at the back, for the transport. Other plates in road position are in the bag of parts. Problem: this trailer has very big tyres (⌀ 12.5), which makes it slope down in a way that I find excessive in the wagon: see photo, above. With “massive” plastic Wiking wheels machined at ⌀ 11.4 (photo below), it becomes more acceptable.
Note: on the REE website’s drawings (why do they never provide photos?), two-axle semi-trailers have their wheels always horizontal, and those front get through the drawbridge… Careful computer editing…
See:
- very good pictures on the hetgroterdamproject.nl website.
- the page on the manoeuvring tractor and the semi-trailer loading ramp.
- the Loco-Revue Forum.
History
Wagons built from 1959 to 1965 by Société Lorraine De Dietrich in Lunéville and by CIMT in Valenciennes in more than 240 units. Tare: 11 t; max load: 29 t.
Owners: Société d’équipement des grands itinéraires (SEGI) — Major Route Equipment Company – and Alliance et gestion commerciale (Algeco) — Commercial Alliance and Management. Operator: Société de traction et d’exploitation de matériel automobile (STEMA) — Company of traction and exploitation of automotive equipment, become Société nouvelle des transports combinés (Novatrans) — New company of combined transport, company resulting from the merger, in April 1967, of the STEMA and the Groupement technique des transports mixtes (GTTM, UFR technique) — Technical grouping of mixed transport.
Wagons specializing in the transport of “almost” standard semi-trailers, unlike UFR trailers. To fit the loading gauge, the trailer wheels are placed in a movable pocket which can be raised for the circulation from a wagon to another. Wagon loading requires special ramp and tractor.
These wagons ran in complete trains “Poids-Lourd Express” — Lorry Express, with an Est metallized coach (called Romilly), equipped with berths, for the lorry drivers who accompanied their tractor.
Note: the Renault logo on the yellow semi-trailer dates from 1972. The previous one was from 1959.
Documents
- Loco-Revue sheet
No. 167-168 / 61967
67 b 14 (former series). Sheet preview.
- SNCF 1972 booklet, p. 72.
- Rail Miniature Flash No. 599 of June 2015, p. 20 - 27, Le wagon kangourou à essieux.
- Vidéo (14 Mo)from Le Magazine du Rail No. 21
of a demonstration at the Brussels International Fair in 1958. It shows
the first wagons equipped with a crank to lower the movable bridge
(see also the Loco-Revue sheet’s diagram), while the following were
equipped with a lever.
- Video Kangourou : technique d’avenir on YouTube.
- International Union for Combined Rail-Road Transport (UIRR) website.
- docrail.fr website.
Photo collection Steiner
| Dimension | Actual | 1:87 | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall length | 13 260 | 152.4 | 152.0 |
| Chassis length | 12 020 | 138.2 | 138.1 |
| Chassis width | 3 065 | 35.2 | 35.2 |
| Side height | 1 255 | 14.4 | 14.2 |
| Wheelbase | 9 000 | 103.4 | 103.2 |
| Wheel diameter | 1 000 | 11.5 | 11.5 |
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. .
Arrived with drawbridges at the bottom of the box, but put back in place without difficulty. The trailer is not easily placed into the wagon’s “fifth wheel” (removable part), which had to be enlarged.
The drawbars are NEM 363 dovetail. Suitable Profi Fleischmann coupling heads are available under the reference 6570. At the time of writing, they are in stock from €1.65 to €2.00. No brass bearings.