Two were ordered by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and three by Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) In planning the launch of the TEE services, it was decided to use diesel-powered fixed sets for the new trains.

A third diesel engine of 300 metric horsepower (220 kW; 300 hp) provided power for heating, lighting, air-conditioning and the kitchen in the dining car.

Only one entrance vestibule was provided at the front end of the cars, doors were of the folding aluminum type, and windows were double-glazed with a passenger-operated venetian blinds between the panes.

Ownership of the sets was down-played in favour of the service – the restaurant cars having TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS lettering above the windows, while the owner (SBB or NS) and fleet number were only marked by small lettering on the power cars From 2 June 1957 to 30 May 1964 the five sets were used in a 3,532-kilometre (2,195 mi) four-day service pool as follows: One curious feature of this pool was the use of Swiss-Dutch stock on a Franco-Belgian route.

From 31 May 1964, the L'Oiseau Bleu went to permanently locomotive-hauled Inox coaches, whereupon the service pool became: The spare and maintenance sets were stationed ant Zürich and Amsterdam.

ONR never used the driving trailers as they preferred the weight of the power car at the front of the train in case of hitting snow or a crossing collision[1] Unfortunately the power cars proved unsatisfactory – they could not cope with the harsh Canadian winters, and the maintenance crews were unfamiliar with the European equipment.

Five cars were repatriated to Europe: They were loaded onto the Norwegian cargo ship MV Tampa and sailed from Saint John, New Brunswick on 19 October 1998, arriving at Hamburg on 5 November.

One of the trailer cars was repainted back into the TEE red and cream livery to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the trainsets introduction.