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Interesting shortcut through the history of French-Spanish sleepers. • Left: Talgo 6 formation, diagrammed on Trenhotel Elipsos 409/8 "Francisco de Goya" (Paris Austerlitz ---> Madrid Chamartin). This fleet had primarily been built to run on French-Spanish Talgo Sleepers (Paris <---> Madrid/Barcelona and Barcelona <---> Zurich/Milan), as from day one. • Right: 2nd-class Corail couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-84), diagrammed on Corail Lunéa 5709 "Tarentaise" (Paris Austerlitz ---> Bourg St Maurice), running jointly until Chambéry-Challes les Eaux with Corail Lunéa 5595 "Vallée Blanche" (Paris Austerlitz ---> St Gervais le Fayet). Actually, this car belongs to a fleet of 30, which would run on Paris <---> Madrid/Lisbon/Oporto/Vigo from 1985 until 1996, and change bogies in Hendaye. After those conventional services had gone (1993/1996), those 30 Bc10ux-VU 84 cars lost their RIC registration, and were thence confined to French internal services. Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr)

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2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-75 or 78), seen in the consist of Corail Lunéa 3730 "Paris-Côte Vermeille" (Cerbère--->Paris Austerlitz, with through-cars from Latour-de-Carol). Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

SNCF_Corail_Bc10ux-VU75-78_PAZ_2.jpg (52679 bytes)

2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-75 or 78), seen in the consist of Corail Lunéa 3730 "Paris-Côte Vermeille" (Cerbère--->Paris Austerlitz, with through-cars from Latour-de-Carol). Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

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2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-75 or 78), seen at the rear of EN Artésia 229 "Stendhal" (Paris Bercy--->Venezia Santa Lucia, with through-cars to Torino-Porta Nuova, Via Vallorbe and Domodossola). Paris-Bercy. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

SNCF_Corail_Bc10ux-VU84_1.jpg (57464 bytes)

2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-84), seen in the consist of Corail Lunéa 3730 "Paris-Côte Vermeille" (Cerbère--->Paris Austerlitz, with through-cars from Latour-de-Carol). This car is part of the 3rd and very last batch of Bc10ux cars (VU-84, 30 cars). It was specifically built for French-Iberic sleepers (Paris <-> Madrid/Lisbon/Oporto/Vigo, from 1985 until 1996), so as to cater for soaring traffic and to replace 18 antiquated DEV Bc8x (U-46) cars, adapted and refurbished in 1968/1973. Unlike older Bc10ux (VU-75 and 78), and as daytime VU-78 and all subsequent Corail compartment-cars (VU-80 and 84, including "convertible" AcBcux) these VU-84 Bc10ux have "super-wide" carbodies, with 2.867m in width, instead of 2.825m. These cars also have enhanced air-conditioning, comensurate with Iberic summer temperatures. From a technical point of view, this fleet bears a strong resemblance with Bc10x-9600 and 11600 of RENFE. Following the extinguishment of French-Iberic conventional sleepers (1992-1996), these cars lost their RIC registration, and are thence confined to French domestic services, although they have retained their original 4-voltage inverters. Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

SNCF_Corail_Bc10ux-VU84_PAZ_1.jpg (54414 bytes)

2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-84), seen in the consist of Corail Lunéa 3730 "Paris-Côte Vermeille" (Cerbère--->Paris Austerlitz, with through-cars from Latour-de-Carol). This car is part of the 3rd and very last batch of Bc10ux cars (VU-84, 30 cars). It was specifically built for French-Iberic sleepers (1985-1996), and is now confined to French domestic services. One can spot the newly-applied "Corail" logo. Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

SNCF_Corail_Bc10ux-VU84_PAZ_2.jpg (60210 bytes)

2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-84), seen in the consist of Corail Lunéa 5709 "Tarentaise" (Paris Austerlitz--->Bourg St Maurice), running jointly until Chambéry-Challes les Eaux with Corail Lunéa 5595 "Vallée Blanche" (Paris Austerlitz--->St Gervais le Fayet). This car is part of the 3rd and very last batch of Bc10ux cars (VU-84, 30 cars). It was specifically built for French-Iberic sleepers (1985-1996), and is now confined to French domestic services. Paris-Austerlitz. 1st September 2005. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).

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2nd-class Couchettes Corail car (Bc10ux), seen in the consist of a Corail Lunéa. Paris-Austerlitz. 7th July 2004. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr)

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SNCF couchette B10x on EN 227 "Galilei" (Paris-Florence-Rome) pulls out of Paris-Bercy behind BB26044 right on time at 19:09 on October 25, 2003 Digital photo (some rework in Photoshop 7.0) and upload by Yevgeny Kushnir (yk44@drexel.edu or falcon62@mail.ru).

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Destination sign on the door of an SNCF B9x couchette in EN 223 "Rialto" (Paris - Venice) seen at Paris Bercy. October 24, 2003. Digital photo (some rework in Photoshop 7.0) and upload by Yevgeny Kushnir (yk44@drexel.edu or falcon62@mail.ru).

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SNCF 2nd-class couchette B9x bringing up the rear markers of EN 223 "Rialto" (Paris-Venice) in Paris Bercy. October 24, 2003. Digital photo (some rework in Photoshop 7.0) and upload by Yevgeny Kushnir (yk44@drexel.edu or falcon62@mail.ru).

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French-German night encounter in Paris-Est: • Left: Nachtzug Couchettes-car (Bvcmz-248), seen in the consist of NZ 261 (Paris Est--->München Hbf, with through-cars to Frankfurt Hbf); • Right: 2nd-class Corail Couchettes-car (Bc10ux, VU-75 or 78), seen in the consist of Corail 469 (Paris Est--->Chur). Paris-Est. 2nd September 2005. Photo by Olivier Fischer (Acknowledgements). Posting and Comment by P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr).