État 230-781 to 230-800 was a small class of

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s of the

Chemin de fer de l'État Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le Chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le Chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo a ...

. The series of 20 engines was built by the Belfort works of SACM in 1912 with 2.040 m diameter wheels. They were coupled with 21 cubic metre tenders. These machines, liked by drivers of the

, were nicknamed ''Jocondes''. The engines, numbered 230-781 to 230-800 with the Chemin de fer de l'État were renumbered 3-230.J.781 to 800 by the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

in 1938.

Modifications

Three locomotives (781, 783, and 793) received ACFI feedwater heaters. In 1933, two locomotives (788 and 793) were fitted with Kylälä exhausts. Between 1936 and 1937, six locomotives (783, 788, 792, 793, 796, and 800) modified with long-travel valves and

Kylchap The Kylchap steam locomotive exhaust system was designed and patented by French steam engineer André Chapelon, using a second-stage nozzle designed by the Finnish engineer Kyösti Kylälä, known as the ''Kylälä spreader'', with the com ...

exhausts. Two also received boilers uprated to , increasing the power output to . One locomotive (800) was also streamlined, but the streamlined casing was removed during World War II. These six modified locomotives had their class letter changed from "J" to "L". All except two were retired and scrapped between 1953 and 1954. The last two, 3-230.L.788 and 3-230.L.793 were scrapped in 1956. None are preserved. A main source for information on these steam locomotives is: "Railway Magazine for February 1938" from which the following is taken: As a result of test carried out on one-tenth scale models of a French State Railways Pacific locomotive in the Lafarge wind tunnel of the " Insitut Aérotechnique de Saint-Cyr", a number of modified 4-6-0 locomotives for use on light fast trains have been fitted with Huet deflector plates which serves the dual purpose of smoke lifting and maintaining a sheath-like air flow along the body of the locomotive, taking the place of a streamlined metal casing.

References

* 230-781 4-6-0 locomotives SACM locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1912 Passenger locomotives Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of France 2′C h4 locomotives {{steam-loco-stub Streamlined steam locomotives