UFR freight wagon | TrainsDepot.org

1933

March 14

Giving road carriers the possibility of having their vehicles transported by rail, this was the challenge that the French engineer and industrialist Rene Porte, victim of an accident caused by a crazy truck in the 1930s, set for himself. The idea is not new since it had already been tested across the Atlantic, notably in 1926 by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, but limited to its simplest expression.

Filed on December 2nd, 1932, his patent application on "Improvements in means of enabling the transport of rolling loads, in particular vehicles, by railroad cars" is officially registered on March 14th, 1933.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1934

In 1934, the Company for the Union of Rail and Road Transport (Société pour l’Union des Transports Ferroviaires et Routiers - UFR) is established with the support of:
- the French Railway Equipment Company (Compagnie Française de Materiel de Chemins de Fer - CFMCF);
- the Automobile and Commercial Transport Company (Societe des Transports Automobiles et commerciaux - STA);
- the Automobile Transport Industrial Company (Societe Industrielle de Transport Automobile - SITA);
- the Neuflize bank.

President and CEO of the UFR, Rene Porte is working to make his process operational. To do this, his company orders from the private industry 75 wooden road trailers of his design (with a payload of 3.6 t and 6 t) which it leases to carriers. These are road semi-trailers adapted for the rail gauge (reduced height) and are not intended for long haul journeys on the road, they are designed for short distance terminal services. They are fitted with auxiliary rims and a self-folding, balanced drawbar.

For their transport by rail, he obtains from the railways of the Eastern Railway Company - Est and the State Railways Administration - Ouest-État the "precarious" transfer, for a rent, of 40x bogie wagons which it ensures the transformation into carrier wagons (25x units) and loader wagons* (15x units). 18.5 m over the buffers, the carrier wagons (of the RRlyw type) can accommodate five small trailers (3.4 m long) or three large trailers (5.85 m long). In 1935, the UFR had 5 loader wagons built at its own expense which, placed at the end of the quay, provided an alternative to side loading and unloading. In 1938, it will also draw up the plans for a mobile footbridge allowing to operate directly from the road.

The flat cars are fitted with guide rails in order to center the trailer in the rail gauge. The guide rails support the trailer during rail transport thanks to auxiliary rims.

*With the development of the UFR system and the increase in trailers weight, the use of a loader wagon and side dock will later be limited to single-axle trailers with a total weight not exceeding 11 t. As a result, the most suitable installation for UFR trailers is an end quay fitted with centring guides or equivalent.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1935

May 1

The service is inaugurated on May 1st, 1935. UFR coordinates the routing of freight cars in agreement with the main French railway companies at the time, with the following routes available at the beginning:
- Paris - Bordeaux route managed by the Railways from Paris to Orleans and the Midi - PO-Midi;
- Paris - Lille route managed by the Northern Railway Company - Nord;
- Paris - Lyon route managed by the Railway company from Paris to Lyon and to the Mediterranean - PLM;
- Paris - Strasbourg managed by the Eastern Railway Company - Est and the Alsace and Lorraine railways administration - AL.

The initial schedule is at the rate of a departure every two days soon followed by a daily departure two weeks later. The trip takes 24 hours, for example:
- departure from Paris-Bercy at 23:29 (day 1), arrival at Lyon-Guillotière at 23:49 (day 2);
- departure from Lyon-Guillotière at 4:55 (day 1), arrival at Paris-Bercy at 6:15 (day 2).

The traffic is still limited for each shipment to a wagon loaded with three trailers. The pricing applied by the networks is inspired by the "wagon-kilometre rate" which came into effect in March 1933: the rental and transport of the wagon are invoiced between 2 francs and 4 francs per kilometre, whatever the nature and weight of the load.

Considering that the road transporters work during the day, the trailers are taken in the morning at the station by tractors for the distribution of their content. They are then brought back to the station in the evening after collecting the new load. For loading and unloading at the station, in addition to the constraints related to the FAR coupling, the road tractor used must have a width limited to 2.20m and have its rims fitted with discs intended for centering between the guide rails of the wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1935

June 27

On June 27th, 1935, in the Paris-Bercy railway station, at the time property of the Railway company from Paris to Lyon and to the Mediterranean - PLM, the UFR system is presented by the International Chamber of Commerce together with other intermodal solutions intended to offer a "door to door" service to shippers and recipients of goods not directly connected by rail:
- the "amphibious" Willeme-Coder wagon, designed to be able to circulate on both road and rail, tested by the Northern Railway Company - Nord since 1933;
- the wagon carrier trailer developed in Germany by Johann Culemeyer with the support of the German railways, the Deutsche Reichsbahn - DRG.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1937

November 17

Other trailer prototypes will subsequently attempt to compete with the UFR system.

But only the one developed by the Company for Studies and Mechanical Achievements (Societe d'Etudes et de REalisations Mécaniques - SEREM) will really hold the attention: a trailer whose body, after retraction of the rear wheelset, comes to rest directly on the floor of the wagon, thus resolving the wedging problem while increasing the trailer height.

SEREM, which filed its patent on November 17th, 1937, joined forces with the CODER establishments of Marseille-Saint-Marcel for the construction of the SEREM - CODER trailers and freight wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1938

As a stakeholder in the development of measures governing rail-road coordination, the SNCF has, from its creation, seriously considered “door-to-door” techniques likely to hinder the development of road transport. On November 8th, 1938, the entire SNCF managing staff thus went to Paris-Batignolles station, invited by its Commercial Department to a presentation of "home-to-home transport systems": safety devices. handling, rail-road equipment (including, of course, the UFR system).

In 1939, "in order to obtain a deflation of long-distance road transport", the SNCF reflected on the means of organizing mixed transport services by rail and by road. The use of UFR trailers is retained as the most suitable means for this purpose. But it is unthinkable to let UFR master the market. SNCF's position is clear: it will itself provide the trailers and wagons suitable for road companies who request them.

Approached, Rene Porte, ready to collaborate, transmits his conditions on August 10th, 1939. He agrees to return to the SNCF, as is, the 40x wagons given for hire and the 5x loading wagons built by the UFR for 1.030.000 francs. This sum, which represents barely two-thirds of the costs incurred by the UFR since 1935 for the fitting out and the construction of these materials, breaks down as follows:
- 640.000 francs for compensation for the 15x loading wagons (at a unit price of 36 000 francs) and 5 loader wagons (at a unit price of 20,000 francs);
- 150.000 francs for compensation for the 25x carrier wagons (at a unit price of 6,000 francs);
- 240,000 francs for carrier wagons that SNCF deems fit to equip in the future (at a unit price of 6.000 francs per wagon of three trailers, 4.000 francs per wagon of two trailers and 2.000 francs per wagon of three trailers).

Once the amount of 1.030.000 francs is paid, SNCF would be entirely free to fit out new wagons and operate them as it saw fit without having to pay any other fees to UFR.

SNCF accepts Rene Porte's proposal. But if the agreement settled the fate of the wagons, the 75 road trailers remained the property of the UFR. This time setting aside any idea of repurchase, SNCF decided to acquire on its own funds 300 trailers with the aim of reselling them on credit to interested road companies in order to obtain better financial conditions from manufacturers by grouping orders. To this end, the Board of Directors approved, in its meeting of December 4th, 1940, the opening of two credits, one of 30 million francs for the construction of 300 UFR type trailers, the other of 6 million to equip additional wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1941

March 4

The SNCF board of directors will give its approval to the signing of the treaty to be made with the UFR for the transfer of its wagons and the use of the patents attached to them on February 19th, 1941, with the final agreement with the UFR beeing signed on March 4th, 1941.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1941

June 20

The French National Railway Company - SNCF decision to favour the UFR system triggers a controversy. Worried about the growing interest shown by the public authorities in rail transport, several road carriers groups are trying to slow down the movement and denounce the sidelining by the national company of the SEREM - CODER system.

The French National Railway Company - SNCF protests and assures that it has established its conviction on the technical superiority of UFR trailers based on long experience and numerous adaptations to increase their solidity, which their rivals, in operation only since 1938, cannot take advantage of.

A compromise is found and the French National Railway Company - SNCF agrees to acquire 50 trailers for the SEREM - CODER system which roughly corresponds to the proportion of road carriers interested in this system

The decision is confirmed by the ministerial authorisation on June 20th, 1941 for the order of 250x UFR trailers and 50x SEREM - CODER trailers.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1941

July 9

The French National Railway Company - SNCF entrusts the Professional Organisation Committee for the Industry and Trade in Rail Transport Equipment with the task of finding the manufacturers for the new material.

In the case of the UFR system, the best proposal comes from the UFR company and a contract is signed on July 9th, 1941, for 170x metal trailers with a fixed roof, 36x metal trailers with an opening roof (both with a payload of 6 t) and 44x tanks for wine transport (with a capacity of 6.200 l).

Not having its own workshops, the UFR divides the construction of its trailers between four builders:
- the General Company for Construction and Maintenance of Railroad Material in Villefranche-sur-Saone for 100 fixed-roof vans;
- the Lagache and Glatzmann Establishments in Argenteuil for 106 van chassis and 44 tank chassis;
- the Million-Guiet Establishments in Levallois-Perret for 70x fixed-roof vans bodies and 70x open-roof vans bodies;
- the Digard d'Aubervilliers Establishments and Pinchard-Denis de Noisy-le-Sec Establishments for 44x tanks.

The trailers ordered are primarily intended for road carriers who have agreed to abandon part of their long-distance services in favour of rail transport. During the war, thirteen companies signed agreements to this effect: in exchange for handing over a quota of goods to rail transport, they are guaranteed to receive a certain number of these new trailers (either the UFR system or the SEREM - CODER system to choose from) in full ownership (the financing is covered for about 30% by the road companies and for 70% by the French National Railway Company - SNCF) and the insurance of having the platforms and wagons necessary for their loading / unloading and their transport. Amendments are subsequently made to take into account possible obstacles to movement by rail and destruction of equipment attributable to acts of war.

The first to sign is the Northern Automobile Transport Company (Société des Transports Automobiles du Nord - STAN), based in Pierrefitte (Seine), owner of 27 trucks and 10 road trailers representing a tonnage of 290 t and transport licences giving it the right to provide on-demand services throughout France, a status which it is ready to renounce against the promise of receiving 60x UFR trailers. Concluded in early 1941, the agreement is ratified by the Secretary of State for Communications on June 20th: by handing over 40x UFR trailers (75.7% funded by the French National Railway Company - SNCF), STAN undertakes to hand over to the French National Railway Company - SNCF at least 144,5 t of goods per trailer and per semester to be transported from Paris to Lille, Nancy, Rouen, Le Havre, Ponts-et-Marais (Lower Seine) and vice versa. In the event of non-compliance with the contract, SNCF is entitled to take back the trailers.

Among the other signatory companies, we can cite the Bourgey & Montreuil de Charnbery Company (agreement approved on September 22nd, 1941) which, with 13 open-top vans and 17 one-compartment tanks, has undertaken to provide a minimum traffic of 160 t (per semester and per trailer) between Chambery, Lyon, Marseille and Paris and between Chambery and the wine centers of the South of France.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1942

December 30

Due to lack of wagon availability, the French National Railway Company - SNCF is forced to use old two-axle Rzl freight cars. Of dilapidated and not very robust construction, these wagons can carry only one trailer, only at low speed and without being able to go through gravity yards.

The State Secretariat for Communications gives its approval on December 30th, 1942, for the acquisition of 15x new loader wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1945

The shortage of materials delayed the execution of contracts and deliveries of the new trailers are phased between 1943 and 1946.

As of December 31st, 1945, only 163x UFR-type trailers are in service.

But the French National Railway Company - SNCF anticipates an increase in demand after the war and even if the 1941 order is not completely delivered they do not hesitate to order 350x additional road trailers in the summer of 1945 and 200x carrier wagons in the winter if 1945. With two axles, 12 m long and able to accommodate two trailers of 10 t each, these wagons are intended to be included in the composition of fast trains and able to pass through gravity yards.

Confirmed in 1946, the new order is split between the UFR system (320x trailers, 175x wagons) and the CEREM-CODER system (30x trailers and 25x wagons).

The UFR materials will actually be delivered:
- between 1947 and 1949 for the trailers;
- in 1948 for the wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1945

October 1

From October 1st, 1945, thanks to the entry into service of a new postal train service, a first contingent of UFR trailers was the subject of accelerated routing tests on certain connections (Paris- Lyon, Paris-Marseille, Paris-Bordeaux, Paris-Lille, in particular), even before the official application, on January 1st, 1946, of the accelerated regime for this category of equipment. But it was not until the delivery, in 1948, of the wagons ordered two years earlier, that all the trailers could fully benefit from this measure.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1946

Slowed down by the circumstances (some of the road companies didn't receive any trailers during the war), road-rail traffic by trailers experienced a sharp recovery in the aftermath of the Liberation, going from 16.400 t in 1945 to 39.300 t in 1946, the largest contingents being represented by wines and spirits (6.039 t), paper and cardboard (1.810 t), glassware (1.422 t), mineral water, furniture, accumulators, rubber.

At this date, only seven stations had specific loading-unloading sites: Paris-La Villette, Nancy, Chaumont, Paris-La Chapelle, Lille-Saint-Sauveur, Paris-Batignolles and Le Havre.

The same year, as the new carrier wagons ordered in 1945 are not yet delivered (they will be delivered in 1948) and in order to deal with the pressing needs, the French National Railway Company - SNCF proceeds to the transformation of 200x flat units from its own fleet:
- 100x single carriers wagons registered 430000, 429501 - 429557 & 429958 - 429999 transformed from previous OCEM 29 freight wagons delivered to the Railway company from Paris to Lyon and to the Mediterranean - PLM and the Southern Railway Company - Midi between 1931 and 1934;
- 100x double carriers wagons registered 425801 - 425900 transformed from previous RRuw freight wagons delivered to the Eastern Railway Company - Est and NNuw freight wagons delivered to the Alsace and Lorraine railways administration - AL in 1931.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, Correspondances n° 16 (12.2004 - 01.2005)

1947

As their number is limited, road-rail trailers must have a quick turnaround according to a schedule established in advance. In addition, each sending or receiving station must have road tractors to provide terminal trucking. Indeed, in the absence of their own tractors, the companies turn to independent tractor-owners, some of whom are specialised in this service, such as, in Paris, the Paris Auxiliary Company for Mixed Rail-Road Transport. As such an organisation goes beyond the normal framework of its services, SNCF encourages the creation of adequate structures like the creation of the Technical Grouping of Mixed rail-road carriers (Groupement Technique des Transporteurs Mixtes rail-route - GTTM).

This association governed by the 1901 law brings together around their founding president Rene Mazeaud (1911-1986) consolidators, commission agents and road carriers. Its local branches play a role both commercially (relationship with customers) and technically (reception of trailers and wagons, monitoring and maintenance).

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1948

August 1

From August 1st, 1948, all carrier wagons (362x intended for the transport of UFR trailers and 50x for that of SEREM - CODER trailers), loader wagons (13x), loader wagonets (20x) and semi-fixed devices (38x) is transferred to the south-east fleet, their maintenance being ensured by the workshops of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (UFR) and Marseille-Prado (CODER).

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1948

October 5

On October 5th, 1948, the French National Railway Company - SNCF inaugurates in Ivry-sur-Seine the rail-road station of Champ-Dauphin where all the departures and arrivals of trailers to or from the Mediterranean, South-East and South-West regions are now concentrated.

This ceremony shortly precedes the major “door to door” exhibition held at the Paris-Batignolles station from October 11th to 16th.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1949

In 1949, the French Company for the development of Mixed rail-road transport (SOciété FRAnçaise pour le développement du transport MIXTE - SOFRAMIXTE), a public limited company whose capital is held in large majority by more than a hundred transporters, is created to manage the fleet of UFR wagons (monitoring, maintenance, distribution) leased from the French National Railway Company - SNCF.

NB: Subsequently, SOFRAMIXTE will also manage the UFR wagon fleet set up by SCETA. As it is also responsible for financing the purchase of new equipment, it will be led to own its own UFR wagons.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1949

December 31

As of December 31st, 1949, 653x trailers and 382x carrier wagons are in operation. 41x stations are equipped with loading and unloading sites*. The tonnage transported amounts to 158.000 t (compared with 59.500 t in 1947 and 91.000 t in 1948). In 90% of cases, the duration of transport by rail is equivalent, if not less than that of the road truck. In addition, an almost perfect regularity is obtained since the planned routings are respected in 97% of cases.

*At its peak in the 1960s, there are around 185 stations in France capable of handling UFR trailers. The system also covers the metric gauge (CFD Vivarais) as well as some key points of the German, Belgian, Dutch or Italian networks. The tonnage transported amounts to 890.000 t per year carried by over 2.500 semi-trailers (owned by 165 private companies) and 1,300 wagons (270 single-carrier and 1030 twin-carrier).

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10, https://docrail.fr/le-transport-intermodal/

1967

This management of the UFR wagons and trailers is taken over by Novatrans in 1967.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1968

Although served by a maximum load of 17 t, far below that of wide-body road vehicles which can reach 24 t, the UFR technique experienced continuous growth until 1968, when the number of trailers in circulation begins to erode (2.640 in 1968, 2.490 in 1969). This decline is explained in particular by the rise in power, since 1959, of the Kangaroo technique which, using wagons equipped with a pocket in which the wheels of the semi-trailer are housed, are able to accommodate larger trailers. It accelerated with the decision taken in 1971 by NOVATRANS to abandon handling by specialized tractor in favor of vertical handling. The last UFR trailer in operation disappeared in 1983.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

1983

The last UFR trailer in operation disappears in 1983, after five decades.

Sources: Les rails de l'histoire n° 4 - https://issuu.com/gayalanouvelleagence/docs/journal_4_site/10

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