Mabar - 86809 - Locomotive, Diesel, SNCF A1A A1A 68000 - SNCF - 668537

Specific Item Information: Logo Carmillon
Prefix "6" of the road number indicates assignment to Infra - Maintenance of Way - (new numbering adopted in 1999).

Model Information: Model introduced in 2011 and re-released in 2016.

DCC Information: Accepts NEM 651 / NMRA 6-pin decoders.

Prototype History: The A1A A1A 68000 is a series of 6-axle A'1A'-A'1A' diesel-electric locomotives commissioned by the French state railway SNCF. Initially ordered in June 1961, they were delivered between July 1963 and August 1968. A total of 109 units have been produced. According to practice of that time, SNCF was the main designer and the locomotives were manufactured by a variety of sub-contractors, with final assembly at Compagnie des Ateliers et Forges de la Loire (CAFL) in Saint-Chamond, Loire, France. These are multi-purpose locomotives, that can be used for passenger service as well as freight. They can be coupled between themselves in multi-unit, as well as with BB 67000 locomotives, with which they share a number of components.

Power output: 2,700 hp
They were equipped with a steam generator for passenger heating.

There are actually 2 sub-series which differ by their diesel engine, and were manufactured in parallel:
- BB 68000 - (68001 to 68081) - with engine Sulzer 12 LVA 24
- BB 68500 - (68501 to 68529) - with engine AGO 12 cylinders
Due to spare engines availability, several 68000 have been transformed into 68500, and vice-versa, by replacing the engine type by the other one (68082 to 68085, 68529 to 68540).
All locomotives of this series have been retired as of 2014.

The above description has been created specifically for TroveStar N scale database by Alain LM, as summary in English of the following French publication:
Source: Le Train. Encyclopédie du matériel moteur SNCF. Tome 7: Locomotives, locomoteurs et locotracteurs Diesel (2e partie). ISSN 1296-5537. Olivier Constant. Septembre 2010.

Road Name History: SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français; "National society of French railways" or "French National Railway Company") is France's national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network. Its functions include operation of railway services for passengers and freight, and maintenance and signalling of rail infrastructure.

SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe. The railway network consists of about 32,000 km (20,000 mi) of route, of which 1,800 km (1,100 mi) are high-speed lines and 14,500 km (9,000 mi) electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily. The company has its headquarters in Saint Denis (93200), near Paris, 2 place aux Etoiles.

In 2010 SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list.

It is the main business of the SNCF group, which in 2014 employed 245,763 people and had 27.2 billion € of sales in 120 countries.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Mabar, a Spanish company located in Barcelona, was founded in 1952 by two train enthusiasts, Magda Sebastián and Bartolome Boada, parents of the current partner, Ramón Boada. It was a retailer shop and also produced small series of Spanish models in HO and N scale.
In 2005, the retail business was definitely closed and under leadership of the son of the original owners, Ramón Boada, and his partner Clotilde Villas, the company specialized in creation and manufacturing of HO and N scale models of Spanish prototypes, and thereafter French ones. Mabar has gradually expanded its market and it currently has distributors in France, Portugal, Italy, Benelux, Switzerland, Greece and United States.