Railcar, Diesel, Renault ABJ

History: The Renault ABJ is a series of French railcars manufactured between 1935 and 1949 by Renault, and between 1936 and 1956 by MMC in Spain.

They were initially powered by a Renault 513 (12 V 140) diesel engine (265 hp).
They have been delivered in the following variants, mainly differentiated by their cooling system:

• ABJ1: original version delivered to the regional French networks: AL (4), Est (21), Nord (21), PO-Midi (12), PLM (19). Several have later been transformed into ABJ2 or ABJ3.
• ABJ2: very similar to the ABJ1, with additional cooling fans under frame. The Réseau de l'État acquired directly 21 of them.
  A total of 98 ABJ1/2 have been produced. They were all transferred to SNCF at its creation in 1938 and renumbered in series X-30xx (ex-PLM), X-31xx (ex-EST and AL), X-32xx (ex-Nord), X-33xx (ex-PO-Midi) and X-34xx (ex-État).
• ABJ3: powered by a Renault 517C (300 hp) engine. This model is recognizable by its oversized radiator intakes on top of the front cab, that led to nickname it the 'Bigouden' from the famous southern Brittany headdress. A total of 16 ABJ3 have been built for the SNCF in 1939 (series X-35xx).
• ABJ4: powered by a Renault 517J (300 hp) engine. A total of 35 ABJ4 have been built for the SNCF in 1948 and 1949 (series X-36xx). Thay all have been assigned to the South-West region.

12 ABJs were destroyed during WWII. All remaining ABJs have been retired in the middle of the 1970's in France.
Read more on Wikipedia (in French).

The ABJ has been exported to Spain and Tunisia (six ABJ2).
In Spain, the ABJ has been manufactured under license by M.M y C (Material Móvil y Construcciones, Zaragoza, Spain - now part of CAF).
- 12 ABJ2 have been built between 1936 and 1940 for MZA (WM-226 to 231) and Norte (WMD-401 to 406). They were transferred to Renfe at its creation and renumbered in series 92xx (9204-9208) and 93xx (9300-9306). Read more on www.ferropedia.es
- 20 ABJ7 (derived from ABJ4) have been built between 1949 y 1956 for Renfe (series 9313-9334). Read more on www.ferropedia.es

The above description has been created specifically for TroveStar N scale database by Alain LM, as summary in English of the following French publications:
Source: Le Train.
- Les archives Autorails. Les Renault construits de 1929 à 1937. ISSN 1296-5537. Olivier Constant. 2017.
- Encyclopédie du matériel moteur SNCF. Tome 3: Les autorails depuis 1938 (1ère partie). ISSN 1296-5537. Olivier Constant. 2006.

Railroad/Company: Groupe Renault (French: [ɡʁup ʁəno]) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches and railcar (autorail) vehicles. According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles, in 2016 Renault was the ninth biggest automaker in the world by production volume. The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance is the fourth-largest automotive group.
Headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, the Renault group is made up of the namesake Renault marque and subsidiaries, Alpine, Automobile Dacia from Romania, Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea, and AvtoVAZ from Russia.

The Renault corporation was founded in 1899 as Société Renault Frères by Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand. Louis was a bright, aspiring young engineer who had already designed and built several prototypes before teaming up with his brothers, who had honed their business skills working for their father's textile firm. While Louis handled design and production, Marcel and Fernand managed the business.

The Renault railcars were built by SAUR (Société Anonyme des Usines Renault), a subsidiary of the Renault car company, from 1922 onward.
The original factory was located on Seguin Island, in Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine department, close to Paris. The acquisition of a plant in Choisy-le-Roi in 1949 provided large premises branched to the SNCF network at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (15 km south of Paris), until 1962 that saw the end of Renault's railway activities with the delivery of the last X2919.

From Wikipedia
For more information about Renault railcars, visit RENAULTOLOOG.COM