Diesel railcar ABH "Micheline" ZZ # 6 of the association Groupe d’Etude pour les Chemins de fer de Provence (GECP) on the line of the Chemins de Fer de Provence (Nice-Digne) between Scaffarels and Annot. Following the successful entry into service of their first two railcars built by Renault in Billancourt (then in the Seine département) in the spring of 1935, Chemins de fer de la Provence decided to order four additional units to form the second series of the ABH 1 Renault type. Numbered ZZ 3 to 6 on the CP, they were delivered the following year, and were completed on November 12, 1936 with the arrival of ZZ 6 in Nice.
The railcar was powered by a 265 hp Renault 513 engine with four-speed mechanical transmission on both axles of one bogie, the other bogie being simply a carrier. It seats 44, with a toilet, luggage compartment and mailroom. During the Second World War, fuel restrictions led to the ZZ 6 being fitted with a gas generator by the Guidobaldi workshop in Antibes during the winter of 1941-42. This generator, which burns 486 kg of wood and 36 kg of charcoal per 100 km, supplies the diesel engine with gas. This was replaced in 1949 by a 300hp Renault 517. After a period in the garage, the railcar was modernized for the first time: it left the workshop in July 1965 with new seats, a “blue and cream” livery, enlarged windows in the driver's cabs and a new 330 hp turbocharged SSCM Poyaud engine. Decidedly devoted to experimentation, the ZZ 6 underwent another metamorphosis in the autumn of 1973. Its luggage compartment was removed to make room for additional bench seating, and its capacity was increased from 44 to 56. Following a derailment in 1981, it underwent a final refurbishment, from which it emerged in March 1984 with an electro-pneumatic gearbox, modernized bodywork and new fittings. From then on, she operated shuttle services in the Nice suburbs, special trains and occasional regular services between Nice and Digne. At the age of 65, she was not withdrawn from service until September 2001! The ZZ # 6 is operational again since 2023 and used for some public trains between Puget-Théniers and Annot.
