SNCF X 2800

The X 2800 series is a French railcar model of which the first of 119 examples was delivered on 28 May 1957 to the Carmaux depot in the Tarn. It was the most powerful single-body, single-engine French railcar of its day, at 825 hp, designed especially to haul several trailers on mountain lines with a hard profile. Its robustness and longevity were exemplary, since it stayed in service from 1957 to 2009, notably on lines of the Massif Central, and the whole series had a major renovation programme from 1976 to 1980. Also called the U-825, the unified 825 hp type, it is the outcome of the Renault railcar design begun with the VH and continued with the ABJ and the ADP. It uses a single MGO diesel engine of great power with the Mekydro hydromechanical gearbox designed by Maybach. Two builders took part: Decauville built the X 2801 to 2816 and the Regie Nationale des Usines Renault the X 2817 to 2919.