After the journey from Boulenouar (PK 96), the “Train du Désert” arrived in Nouadhibou and was shunted onto the site of the SNIM's main workshop. In the foreground is the double-decker “saloon car”, which was built in 1982 as diesel railcar A2n # 001 in Italy. The history of this vehicle, from Wikipedia: The A2n # 001 railcar was an experimental rolling stock built in Italy by the CaFiCi consortium in 1982. Tested and proven on several regional railways, this vehicle never entered regular service.
The railcar was conceived by exploiting the experience fine-tuned in the construction of double-decker towed vehicles gained in Italy by the Casaralta workshops (Bologna) under license from CIMT Lorraine, from whose trains in service on the Parisian “banlieue” had been derived similar trainsets, with a slightly more tapered outline, built first for Ferrovie Nord Milano and then for Ferrovie dello Stato.
The concept behind the experiment was research on a rolling stock, albeit lightweight, with a higher carrying capacity than the railcars used at the time. The goal set was to offer a relatively high transport capacity on lines with little traffic, estimated at about 40-50% more passengers than an equivalent conventional railcar, while at the same time having reduced fuel consumption and saving about 20% in investment and operating costs.
Thus an unusual motorized railcar on a single bogie was born, which in its outward shape recalled the aforementioned double-decker carriages. The specimen was built by a company called CaFiCi International, based in Geneva, from the initials of the three partners who formed it namely the aforementioned Casaralta and CIMT Lorraine together with the then FIAT Ferroviaria of Savigliano, a specialist in the construction of light equipment.
The motorization was supplied by FIAT (IVECO 828 SRI 4-stroke, 8-cylinder V-cylinder powerplant) and involved only one of the two bogies, themselves derived from those in service on the double-decker carriages then being delivered by Casaralta, with secondary air suspension and mixed braking with blocks and discs.
The layout of the spaces was such as to create in practice 4 distinct spaces: the two vestibules provided access to the end compartments, with a total capacity of 17, and to the two central decks, with a capacity of 60 seats the upper one and 48 the lower one, respectively. History: Leaving the factory in 1982, the vehicle was tested the following year on some Piedmontese lines, running several times on the Turin-Trofarello and Fossano-Limone Piemonte routes.
In 1984, after a few weeks of testing on the ACT network in Reggio Emilia and along the Suzzara-Ferrara (FSF) railroad,[1] the railcar moved again to Piedmont and the French Riviera, where on behalf of the SNCF it made several test runs on the Cuneo-Nice line; the low power of the single engine was put to the test by the ramps imposed by the Maritime Alps, showing less than brilliant performance.
FIAT later organized another series of test runs in 1986 on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo railway, then operated by SNFT, which in turn judged it unsuitable for the demanding services of the Val Camonica. During the same period, under a loan-for-use arrangement, the railcar was also used by SATTI for services on the Canavesana railway.
The first buyer for the A2n 001 came in 1988, when the Swiss association Vapeur Val-de-Travers purchased it and had it transferred to its depot in Neuchâtel, using it, moreover, on an occasional basis.
A new change of ownership took place in 1997, when the railcar was purchased by SNIM - National Industries and Mines Company of Mauritania, which, after installing air conditioning, intended to employ it once again in a tourist service, on the Nouadhibou-Zouérate route.
Due to its underperformance and its nature as a unique specimen, the railcar was eventually demotorized and from about 1998 was occasionally found to be employed as a trailer on the tourist service “the desert train.”
