GCI Coach on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
GCI was a class of Belgian passenger carriage. GCI were introduced in the beginning of the 20th century. They had a metal frame but the body was made of wood. They are based on GC coaches, which stood for "Large capacity" conveniently in both French and Dutch, they were indeed larger than any previous NMBS/SNCB coaches; they were the first to have three axles but most of them had fully separate compartments, that could only be reached from outside. On GCI coaches, a side corridor was provided, at the inconvenience of reducing seating capacity; from 96 to 80 in 3rd class. Most of them had an open platform and a toilet at the other end but on some cars the toilet was omitted and replaced by a second platform and a few 3rd class cars had both a toilet and an enclosed platform (fitted with folding seats). The name I in the name GCI was indicating ''interconnection''.
While GC cars were withdrawn shortly before WWII, GCI railcars were used until 1966. The heritage
Wikiart
/ref>
GCI rijtuigen, ex NMBS
Railway coaches of Belgium {{Belgium-transport-stub
GCI was a class of Belgian passenger carriage. GCI were introduced in the beginning of the 20th century. They had a metal frame but the body was made of wood. They are based on GC coaches, which stood for "Large capacity" conveniently in both French and Dutch, they were indeed larger than any previous NMBS/SNCB coaches; they were the first to have three axles but most of them had fully separate compartments, that could only be reached from outside. On GCI coaches, a side corridor was provided, at the inconvenience of reducing seating capacity; from 96 to 80 in 3rd class. Most of them had an open platform and a toilet at the other end but on some cars the toilet was omitted and replaced by a second platform and a few 3rd class cars had both a toilet and an enclosed platform (fitted with folding seats). The name I in the name GCI was indicating ''interconnection''.
While GC cars were withdrawn shortly before WWII, GCI railcars were used until 1966. The heritage Dendermonde–Puurs Steam Railway
The Dendermonde–Puurs Steam Railway (''Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs'') is a heritage railway situated in the Belgian provinces of East Flanders (''Oost-Vlaanderen'') and Antwerp (''Antwerpen'').
It runs from the town of Dendermonde to the town o ...
in Belgium operates one fully restored GCI, and possesses more GCIs that are waiting to be restored. Also the Chemin de Fer à vapeur des Trois Vallées operates a few of these cars, as do some heritage railways in The Netherlands and Luxemburg.
In the media
These coaches were the mainstay of Belgian passenger rail traffic just after WW2; they can be seen in several comic books of the era. One example is thePiet Pienter en Bert Bibber
''Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber'' was a Belgian comic series, published between 1951 and 1995, created by Pom (Jozef Van Hove). It is a humoristic adventure strip about two friends, Piet Pienter and Bert Bibber and their female friend Susan.
It ...
album ''Het raadsel van de Schimmenburcht''; another is the Suske en Wiske story ''De Bokkerijders''.
Paul Delvaux
Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...
showed CGI carriages in his ''Station Forestière'' painting of 1960./ref>
References
External links
GCI rijtuigen, ex NMBS
Railway coaches of Belgium {{Belgium-transport-stub