SNCF Class X 3800


The SNCF X 3800 class are diesel railcars with an elevated off-center control cabin. It is often said that they were nicknamed “Picassos” because the off-center cabin was reminiscent of paintings by Pablo Picasso featuring faces where the eyes and nose were completely offset. The nickname may though have come from the number of early paint schemes applied to the class.
The X3800 served on secondary lines all over the French rail network. The elevated control cabin allowed the railcars to operate in forward and reverse modes, allowing for ease of operation. One example is preserved at the Cité du Train.

Technical Details

The X 3800 featured a mechanical transmission with a truck-type clutch and gearbox. The units had a long carbody that rested on two bogies, and weighed 34 tonnes. They ran at speeds of up to . They could haul unpowered trailers and could be operated singly or twinned with other units. The direct mechanical engine controls required each powered unit to have its own driver so they could not be operated as true multiple units. Units were built with two types of diesel engines: Renault 517 diesel-powered units 3801 to 3835 and a Saurer BZDS diesel units 3836 to 3856.
The units were designed to be robust and simple, often parked outside in the winter. The driver sat facing sideways in a raised cabin above the engine compartment, accessed from the baggage compartment. The main mechanical controls were directly connected by levers to the diesel engine, clutch and gearbox. The units were widely used from the 1950s to the 1980s, particularly on secondary lines with often poorer quality track than the main lines, at a lower cost than comparable steam trains of the era. The units were reliable and, from the end opposite the engine compartment, offered passengers a wide-open view of the track. The diesel engines produced 300 hp and were water-cooled. The X 3800 burned 50–55 litres of diesel fuel per 100 km, giving the unit a range of about. The car bodies were of welded construction.
The X 3800 were built from 1950 to 1961. 251 units were built, given unit numbers X 3801 to X 4051 by the SNCF. Each X 3800 could hold 62 passengers, with smoking and non-smoking compartments, a toilet, and a baggage area located behind the engine compartment

Routes Served

The X 3800 units were used on the majority of non-electrified lines across the entirety of France. Some of the routes served include:

Base Depots

  • Bordeaux
  • Chalindrey
  • Châlons-sur-Marne
  • Chalon-sur-Saône
  • Clermont-Ferrand
  • Douai
  • Evreux
  • La Plaine
  • La Rochelle - Bongraine
  • Laroche-Migennes
  • Le Mans-Pontlieue
  • Limoges
  • Longueau
  • Lyon-Perrache
  • Lyon-Vaise
  • Marseille-Blancarde
  • Marseille-Saint-Charles
  • Mohon
  • Nancy-Heillecourt
  • Nantes
  • Narbonne
  • Nevers
  • Nice-Saint-Roch
  • Noisy-le-Sec
  • Rouen-Orléans
  • Rennes
  • Rouge-Barres, près de Lille
  • Saintes
  • Sotteville
  • Tours-Saint-Pierre
  • Vesoul
  • Vitry-le-François

Notable Units

  • X 3823 was seen in the film Les Vacances du petit Nicolas
  • X 3953 was renumbered to X 93953 blue and white for the ligne de Bréauté - Beuzeville à Fécamp, then renumbered back to X 3953.
  • X 3896 was rebuilt on the 23 of July, 1976, by the "Ateliers de Périgueux" into a rail inspection vehicle, replacing the X 42511. As a result, it received a green livery, underlined by grey lines. Since 1988, this unit has been used by the Service de la Recherche for work on the "ASTREE" project, an early iteration of the ERTMS signalling system.
  • X 3900 underwent the same rebuilding as X 3896 in 1976. In 1993, it was purchased by "l'Autorail Touristique du Minervois", held at the Clermont-Ferrand depot before operating on behalf of the "Chemins de Fer de la Haute Auvergne" in 1997. Since then, it has been stationed at Bort-les-Orgues and is undergoing an exterior refurbishment.
  • X 3997 was rebuilt into a SNCF maintenance vehicle, and received a green & grey livery with orange bands. Initially, it was used for signalling maintenance/installation, later being equipped with special rail resistance-detecting wheels. In the 1990s, it was used for shunting tasks.
  • An engine of this class was seen in the movie ''Le Corniaud''

Preserved Units

Operating

  • X 3814 :
  • X 3817 :
  • X 3823 :
  • X 3824 : Association des Trains du Sud de la France, on loan from
  • X 3835 : Train touristique de Puisaye-Forterre
  • X 3837 :
  • X 3850 :
  • X 3853 : Chemin de fer touristique de la vallée de l'Aa
  • X 3867 :
  • X 3890 :
  • X 3898 : Chemin de Fer Touristique du Sud des Ardennes
  • X 3926 :
  • X 3943 : Chemin de Fer Touristique du Sud des Ardennes. Allowed to run on main lines at.
  • X 3944 :
  • X 3953 :
  • X 3959 :
  • X 3976 :
  • X 3998 : Chemin de Fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées
  • X 4001 :
  • X 4039 : Autorails de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Allowed to run on main lines at .
  • X 4046 : Autorail Lorraine Champagne Ardenne, at Chemin de fer de la vallée de l'Eure

Non-operable or preserved for parts

  • X 3801 : Chemin de Fer Touristique des Hautes Falaises in Tourville-les-Ifs
  • X 3818 :
  • X 3825 : Cajarc train station, sold in 1998 to Quercyrail
  • X 3838 : Chemin de Fer Touristique du Sud des Ardennes
  • X 3847 : Cité du train, front third preserved - front compartment, engine and driver's cabin
  • X 3866 :, on loan from
  • X 3886 : Autorails de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  • X 3968 :
  • X 3871 : Train touristique de Puisaye-Forterre
  • X 3876 : Private property in Lanester
  • X 3900 :
  • X 4042 : Carreau Wendel Museum

Scrapped

  • X 3810 : Train touristique du centre-Var
  • X 3846 : Autorail Touristique du Minervois
  • X 3865 : Train touristique de l'Ardèche méridionale.
  • X 3897 : Association du Chemin de Fer Touristique de l’Aubois - stationed at Montmirail
  • X 3907 : Train Touristique Étretat-Pays de Caux
  • X 3934 : Agrivap
  • X 3937 : Association de modélistes Rambolitrain, Rambouillet
  • X 3971 : private property, sold in 1995 to Chemin de Fer de Vendée - stationned at Elbeuf
  • X 3989 : Train touristique de l'Ardèche méridionale
  • X 3997 : Rail inspection vehicle
  • X 4013 : Served as a locker room for a night club in the old Sancerre station
  • X 4025 : Autorails de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  • X 4028 : Autorail Touristique du Minervois - stationned at Narbonne
  • X 4051 : Société générale de chemins de fer et de transports automobiles in Carhaix

Model Renditions

This unit has been represented in HO scale by the Jouef, LS Models, Mistral Trains Models groups and the Editions Atlas, as well as N scale by Transmondia. In O scale, AMJL offered Picasso kits or assembled.

Anecdotes

X 4046 preserved by l'association Autorail Lorraine Champagne-Ardenne, served as the setting for the song by Laurent Voulzy, "Paradoxal Système" in 1992.