Soulé A2E
The A2E is a rail bus from the French manufacturer Soulé . It was built in three copies and was considered a test vehicle for the use of simple railcars on branch lines with little traffic.
Surname
A2E stands for "Autorail à deux essieux" (two-axle rail bus). According to the SNCF classification , it is also known as the X 97150 series, with the "X" denoting a railcar with a combustion engine . The company numbers of the three vehicles are X 97 151 to X 97 153.
history
The railway company CFTA was looking for a light vehicle for passenger transport in Brittany in the 1980s for its Guingamp – Paimpol and Guingamp – Carhaix railway lines leased from the SNCF, following a resolution passed in 1982 . With it, the "Picassos" of the X 3800 series running there at the time were to be replaced. In 1988, she ordered three A2E railcars from Soulé, of which a non-motorized prototype was presented in 1985. The vehicles were built in 1989/90 and delivered in May 1990.
description
The A2E is - unusual for French conditions - a two-axle vehicle for operation on standard gauge tracks . It is 3.00 m wide, 3.62 m high and 15.57 m long over buffers . Its wheelbase is 8.30 m and the curb weight is 25.5 t. The underfloor mounted four-stroke - diesel engine of the type Cummins LTA 10 R 6 provides 209 kW at 2100 / min. The force is hydraulically via a Voith - transmission transmitted E 15 D 501 U on one of the two axes, the maximum speed is 90 km / h. The vehicle, equipped with screw couplings and buffers , can tow a trailer load of 25 t.
The railcar has two single-leaf doors on each side. The beaded fronts of the bidirectional vehicle in the area of the two- light peak signal (with separate rear lights) are bent upwards and downwards. The two front windows are asymmetrical , the driver sits behind the larger window. The A2E is single-class (only 2nd class ), it has 28 seats plus twelve folding seats. There is a luggage compartment to the right of the driver at both ends of the vehicle. To the left behind the right front door are two rooms, one of which houses the electrical equipment and the other the toilet.
The vehicles are designed for one-man operation and capable of multiple traction, a maximum of all three railcars can run in a train set. The double suspension of the axles developed by Soulé, which enables a bogie vehicle with comparable driving comfort, was innovative . In the first few years, the railcars were colored gray and green of the TER Bretagne . From 2000 onwards, as part of a modernization, in which u. a. the seats were also renewed, a livery in gray and blue.
commitment
The three vehicles based in Carhaix were only used on the two above mentioned vehicles. Routes used. In 2009 they retired from active service after the SNCF had taken over the routes and used "Baleines" type X 73500 .
Web links
- X 97150 A2E at autorails.free.fr
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c X 97150 "A2E" CFTA at trains-europe.fr, accessed on December 23, 2017
- ↑ Soulé ferroviaire s'associe à ABRF in: La Vie du Rail 2286/1991, p. 8.
- ↑ a b c X 97150 A2E at autorails.free.fr, accessed on December 23, 2017
- ^ Georges Mathieu: Le matériel moteur de la SNCF . 1st edition. Éditions La Vie du Rail, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-902808-48-8 , p. 242 f .