SNCF Class X 4900

what is it?

SNCF's X 4900 is a diesel multiple unit railroad car of the Caravelle family. They are derived from the two-car X 4630 DMU with which they share the same Saurer 330 kW (440 hp) engines as well as their hydraulic gear box. The railcars possessed more power than the other Caravelles as they are formed of two motor coaches and one intermediate trailer, this authorised them to run at a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph).

who runs it

Société nationale des chemins de fer français

base stats

• speed 140 km/htop speed
• power 591 kWpower output
• weight 104 tin working order
• built 13made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

• 🎂First built 51 years ago, in 1975.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗591 kW is about 7 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 17 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 📏63.2 m long: about 14 cars parked nose to tail.
• ⌛Served for 41 years (1975–2016).

multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.

spec sheet

built

1975–1979

in service from

1975

retired

2016

status

retired

number built

13

kind

Autorail

traction

diesel

origin

🇫🇷 France

builders

Alstom Crespin, Ateliers de Construction du Nord de la France

operators

Société nationale des chemins de fer français

top speed

140 km/h

power

591 kW

gauge

1,435 mm standard gauge

length

63.2 m

weight

104 t

nicknames

Caravelle

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.