Autorail De Dion Type ND HOm/HOe Q3 2025

The De Dion Type NC and ND were a small Metre gauge railbus which looked so much like a normal bus dropped onto a railway chassis - At the front there is a bogie with two un-powered axles for stability and at the rear there is a single axle which is connected via a drive-shaft to the motor at the front.  During operation the railcar always faced forward.  To achieve this there was a jacking mechanism in the centre of the vehicle and the crew would lift then turn the whole bus before dropping it back on the rails -  this would be great to see but I suspect too complicated for an HOm / HOe model.

The Type NC and ND were essentially identical - the only difference was the diesel engine specified by their owners.

Ten NC railcars were built for the CFDs: seven for the Charentes & Deux-Sèvres network (No. 301 to 307) and three for the Saône & Loire network (No. 401 to 403).  They all had the 95 HP UNIC M20 diesel engine.

Seven ND railcars (No. 201 to 207) were delivered to the CFDs of Vivarais and Lozère. They all had the 120 HP UNIC M26 diesel engine.

The railcars were built starting from 1935 and the last retired in 1968 with the closure of the CFD networks.

Five of the De Dion ND are currently preserved.

REE are designing the railcar so you can convert between 12mm HOm  and 9mm HOe running as they have done with the Billard Autorails.

The atmosphere of the CFD: