Renault Scemia RS

The Renault SCEMIA, named RS after the initials of its two associated builders, was a railcar produced through a collaboration between Renault and the Société de Construction et d'Entretien de Matériel Industriel et Agricole, SCEMIA, for the departmental railway networks of the 1920s. The first vehicle, the RS1 of type LY, was tested by the Chemins de fer secondaires du Nord-Est in 1923. Opinions varied by network, from a remarkable service of the RS4 on the grande banlieue railway until 1949 to many breakdowns on the Blanc-Argent line. The railcar sold for 95,000 francs, had a four-speed gearbox, cardan transmission and brakes on all four wheels, was 10.34 metres long and 2.40 metres wide, and weighed about 9 tonnes empty. It reached 40 to 50 km/h with 40 to 50 passengers, and production was 25 RS1, 8 RS2, 36 RS4 and no RS3.