| These sets were developed from the French SNCF (Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francias) T2000 RTG ("Rame A Turbine A Gaz") trainsets. Like the Amtrak Versions they had 5 cars with a gas turbine power car at each end. They were built for SNCF from 1972 to 1976 and many have seen 30+ years of service on SNCF with the last being withdrawn in April 2005. Some are preserved and some are now thought to be in Iran and North Africa. The SNCF T2000 RTG ("Rame A Turbine A Gaz") was itself developed from the SNCF T1000/T1500 ETG ("Element a Turbine a Gaz") trainsets first converted from an SNCF X4300 class DMU in 1967. The 1968-1973 production sets were 4 cars with the T1000 car containing the gas turbine and the T1500 car containing the diesel engine. The last SNCF T1000/T1500 ETG ("Element a Turbine a Gaz") sets were retired in January 2001. |