#2348
Pauline
🇫🇷 France ·built by Unknown builder· from 1931· series of French self-propelled railcars
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Jean-Raoul Paul à côté de la Pauline prototype le 27 octobre 1931: Photographe inconnu pour La Petite Gironde· Public domain
- 2. Pauline, aménagement intérieur: Photographe anonyme pour La Journée industrielle· Public domain
- 3. Pauline, poste de conduite: Photographe anonyme pour La Journée industrielle· Public domain
- 4. Pauline 1N: Photographe inconnu pour Le Génie civil· Public domain
- 5. Pauline 2 bis Midi: Photographe anonyme pour la RGCF· Public domain
- 6. Pauline 2 bis État en gare Saint-Lazare: Photographe inconnu pour Science et monde· Public domain
- 7. Pauline 3N Est, vue de côté: Photographe inconnu pour Le Monde colonial illustré· Public domain
- 8. Pauline 3N Est: Photographe inconnu pour la Revue de l'aluminium· Public domain
- 9. Pauline 3N assurant la liaison Dijon-Langres: Photographe inconnu pour Le Progrès de la Côte-d’Or· Public domain
- 10. Pauline 4: Photographe anonyme pour le journal de la Société des ingénieurs de l'automobile· Public domain
what is it?
Pauline or Charentaise were the nicknames of the railcars series built in 1930s by The Entreprises Industrielles Charentaises in Aytré. Initially developed on the initiative of the Chemins de fer du Midi, these railcars were subsequently ordered by various French railway companies, some of them joining the SNCF. They were the first series of French diesel-powered railcars. Several series were produced, each with technical and structural differences, but all based on a very light body design using riveted aluminum and duralium sheet metal.
who runs it
base stats
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 95 years ago, in 1931.
- 15.4 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 19 years (1933–1952).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1931
- in service from
- 1933
- retired
- 1952
- status
- retired
- number built
- 19
- kind
- 1 Diesel engine
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- builders
- Unknown builder
- operators
- Société nationale des chemins de fer français, Chemins de fer du Midi, Chemins de fer d'Alsace et de Lorraine, Chemins de fer de l'État, Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi
- top speed
- —
- power
- 60 kW
- length
- 15.4 m
- capacity
- 61 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q110795698, Wikipedia: Pauline (railcar) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.