Établissements Billard Explained
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
These were designed for the French Military Railway. They were used, among other things, to service the Maginot Line.
Railbuses
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:
- Tramways d'Ille-et-Vilaine Company
- Overseas networks:
- French West Africa:
- Ethiopia:
- Chemin de fer Franco-éthiopien received in 1964 two automotive cars of 550hp, for the Djibouti – Addis-Abeba line[1]
Several European networks
- 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,
- RailcarsMeter 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
- 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
Sources
- Jean-Claude. Riffaud. Les automotrice Billard. 24. 1982–1984. Magazine des tramways à vapeur et des secondaires ("Steam tramways and secondary railways"). French.
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Les autorails Billard-Soulé . Jean-Pierre Crozet . 2008 . Le chemin de fer franco-éthiopien de Djibouti à Addis-Abeba de 1900 à 1980 . 21 April 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090101212147/http://www.train-franco-ethiopien.com/Autorail/Billard%20Soule/Billard.html . 1 January 2009 . dmy . fr.
