Last Steam Push-Pull Trains in Paris

AS DESCRIBED in my articles in The Railway Magazine for July and August 2020, in mainland Britain steam-worked push-pull trains typically comprised an engine and, at most, a couple of coaches running along a rural branch line.

This method of working was however looked at differently on the Continent. In the 1960s huge MAV Class 424 4-8-0s propelled long commuter trains into Budapest's Kaleti station, while in West Germany a number of DB Class 38 (ex-Prussian Railways Class 'PS') 4-6-0s were also used on push-pull trains.

Until the mid- l 960s the practice was also widespread on the French SNCF, and steam-worked push-pull trains could be found at, at least four of the Paris termini: Gare de !'Est, Gare St. Lazare, Gare de la Bastille and Gare du Nord. These