Établissements Billard

Établissements Billard was a French railway rolling stock construction company founded in 1920 and based in Tours. It specialised in light railbuses and metre gauge and narrow gauge rolling stock. The business ceased trading in 1956 and later became Socofer.

Production

Draisines

Draisines : These worked on different VFILs, and for the "Big Companies" which became the SNCF.

Locomotives

Billard Locomotive Y 7200

T50
T75D
T75P
T75G

These were designed for the French Military Railway. They were used, among other things, to service the Maginot Line.

SNCF Class Y 7100

Railbuses

Billard railbus N° 314, type A 80D, from the Chemin de fer du Vivarais

Railbuses for numerous French VFIPs (secondary railways)

Type A 80D,
Type A 135D,
Type A 150D,
Type A 210D,
Networks of the Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux, including:
- Corse,
- Vivarais,
- Indre et Loire,
- Seine-et-Marne
Tramways d'Ille-et-Vilaine Company
Overseas networks:
- Madagascar
- Réunion
French West Africa:
- Dakar Niger
- Dahomey
Ethiopia:
- Chemin de fer Franco-éthiopien received in 1964 two automotive cars of 550 horsepower (410 kW), for the Djibouti – Addis-Abeba line^[1]

Several European networks

A Billard train for the Diakofto railway (Greece), made up of two cars with a motor van containing a generator to power the traction motors.

In Greece
In Spain
- A Micheline was built in the 1930s for the PO
- Three buses with bogies on a wide chassis worked on the Nord-Est.
- A series of railbuses with two axles were built for the CFD and the SNCF in 1949 and 1950
- A series of FNC railbuses were deployed by the SNCF

The solidity of the stock, and the simplicity of construction, means that many Billard engines are still working today.

Preserved Billard rolling stock

Locomotives

type T 50

type T 75, in several variants (with the series prototype, and some military examples) on the Tacot des Lacs, at the Train Touristique de Saint Trojan and later at APPEVA.

type T 100,

Railcars

Meter gauge

type A 150D

X153, Portes les Valence (bespoke).

type A 150D

type A 80D

type A 150D2 Articulated

222 Voies Ferrées du Velay.

Trailer R 210

Standard gauge type A 75D

X901, Tourist railway of La Sarthe, originally Chemin de fer Mamers-Saint Calais
X903, Trains à vapeur de Touraine with a trailing car

Rebuilt and modernised vehicles

Trailing car X 1337 of the Chemins De Fer de Provence, rebuilt by Établissements Garnéro

XR 1331 (Chemins de Fer de Provence), ex RL1, originally CP, rebuilt Garnero
XRD 1333 (Chemins de Fer de Provence), ex RL3, originally CP, rebuilt original mail van
XRD 1337 (Chemins de Fer de Provence), ex RL7, originally CFD Vivarais 33, rebuilt Garnero, mail van
XR 113 (Chemins de fer de Corse) ex autorail A 150 D1, N°113, rebuilt Carde
XR 104 (Chemins de fer de Corse) ex autorail A 210 D1, N°105, rebuilt Garnero, previously with CP
XR 105 (Chemins de fer de Corse) ex autorail A 210 D1, N°106, rebuilt Garnero, previously with CP
XRD 242 (Chemins de fer de Corse) ex autorail A 80 D, N°32, originally CFD Charentes
XR 526 (Chemins de fer de Corse) ex autorail A 150 D2, N°526, originally Tramways d'Ille-et-Vilaine

Gallery

Railbus n° 212 (metre gauge) of the Chemins de Fer de Provence line at the Nice terminus, July 1983.
Billard Draisine, preserved at the Belgian "Dendermonde - Puurs"
Locomotive type T75G N°232 preserved at the APPEVA museum (Chemin de fer de la Haute Somme), narrow gauge of 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in)
Railcar 214 preserved by the Chemin de fer du Vivarais, typical of many French secondary railways
Trailing car XRD 242 from the Chemins de Fer Corse.

Notes

Sources

Riffaud, Jean-Claude (1982–1984). "Les automotrice Billard". Magazine des tramways à vapeur et des secondaires ("Steam tramways and secondary railways") (in French). 24.

References

^ Jean-Pierre Crozet (2008). "Les autorails Billard-Soulé". Le chemin de fer franco-éthiopien de Djibouti à Addis-Abeba de 1900 à 1980 (in French). Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

External links

[1] Jean-Pierre Crozet (2008). "Les autorails Billard-Soulé". Le chemin de fer franco-éthiopien de Djibouti à Addis-Abeba de 1900 à 1980 (in French). Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

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