This vehicle was built in part by the workshop of Benoît Poizat, a carpenter and cabinetmaker based in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, on a chassis manufactured by the Horme et Buire company. The Fourvière and West Lyon Railway Company commissioned these two cars from the manufacturer.

Initially operated by the FOL (Fourvière and West Lyon Railway), the line was taken over by the OTL in 1911.

When it first opened, the Fourvière funicular was powered by a steam engine that drove the traction cable.

It is worth noting that Lyon’s famous “ficelles” (funicular railways) used different power systems depending on the line and the period. Some, like other funiculars of the era, operated using a water-counterweight system (water ballast). However, on the direct Fourvière line, steam was indeed the original source of motive power, before the system was later converted to electricity.

• Capacity: 56 passengers (8 first-class passengers in a first compartment and 48 second-class passengers in a second compartment).
• Passenger access: via five side-hinged doors, locked while the train was in motion by a system of rods operated by the guard. The guard had a small cabin at the uphill end of the car.
• Lighting: the compartments were initially illuminated by oil lamps. In 1911, an overhead contact wire was installed above the track, and each car was fitted with a pantograph to collect electric current for lighting.
• Braking system: the cars were equipped with Bucher and Durer shoe brakes.