By Northroader , February 1, in Overseas Modelling. Incidentally, Chimay had its own private railway, the local nobs having dreams of a fast link to Paris over the Ardennes.
Some general comments on old French goods wagons. Generally they were iron framed, and early ones could have very noticeable axleguards with the diagonal braces splayed very widely. Spring suspension was noteworthy in having the leaf springs ending in short swing links, rather than ending in plain shoes under the solebar like British wagons. Some extra clearance was allowed for between the axleguards and axleboxes, and this gave an easier ride. You could see a similar arrangement on GWR brake vans, for the same reason.
Plank widths could vary quite widely, some wagons having quite narrow planking. You can see it on the ETAT wagon drawing for just the side doors. Side doors on open wagons were normally cupboard type, rather than drop, as on English wagons. Vans were constructed with apertures in the upper part of the sides, which could be closed by shutters, either hinged or sliding, on the inside or outside of the body.
I would think this was to give dual purpose usage, either for general merchandise or cattle transport. The majority of wagons had no brakes of any kind. There is a video showing loose shunting in sidings where slippers were placed on the rail, and these were squeezed along the rail by the wagon wheel, retarding it. Fourgons had brakes applied by a screw, but these were marshalled at the head of the train, like a passenger train, rather than at the rear as in Britain. The rearmost vehicle was a goods wagon fitted with screw applied brakes, with a small box for the brakeman to shelter, and he would keep the train stretched to avoid snatching, and look after breakaways.
It would appear that brakes applied by a side lever appeared in the twentieth century, but were not universal. Air braking also started to be applied from roughly , and new wagons with airbrakes also had longer bodies, higher capacity, but also longer wheelbase, to improve track running for higher speeds.
