Manufacturers' Plate: Allan

N. V. Allan was a Dutch company, located in Rotterdam, that produced the diesel electric railcars, known in Portugal as “Allan” or “Holandesas”, which started to work in Portugal in 1954-1955, both in the narrow tracks (10 units) and in the wide tracks (25 units).
The first official trip on this line took place in October 1955, between Tua and Bragança, starting the regular services ten days later. These railcars coexisted, on the Tua Line, with steam locomotives. From 1956 onwards, they began to provide passenger services on the entire line.
It was the beginning of the dieselisation process and steam replacement, and a time of great modernization to improve the quality of service in the narrow lane network and reduce the expensive costs with steam locomotives.
Allan railcars were quite modern for the time, in design and mechanics. They were more efficient in consumption and more comfortable for passengers. They were able to circulate in single or double units and even with trailers of the same model. They had two cabs, one at each end of the railcar.