Est 141.701 to 141.742 were a class of 42 suburban Mikado ( 2-8-2T) tank locomotives of the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est. The Est placed then in power class (''série'') 12s. At nationalisation in 1938, they passed to 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 ...

who renumbered them 1-141.TC.701 to 1-141.TC.742.

Origins

The Chemins de fer de l'Est needed more powerful locomotives to haul heavier suburban trains, and the introduction of heavier, safer, steel passenger cars meant the railway needed a locomotive capable of pulling at . Two prototype locomotives were built in the company's Épernay Worksops in 1930; they were followed by a batch of forty locomotives from

Société française de constructions mécaniques Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

delivered between May 1932 and February 1933

Description

The locomotives were three-cylinder, simple expansion type, with

Belpaire firebox The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and s ...

es.

Service history

The locomotives were used to pull suburban trains from Gare de l"Est until 1955, when electrification made them redundant. In May 1955, seven locomotives were transferred to the Batignolles depot on the ''Région Ouest'' where they were renumbered 3-141.TD.703, 709, 720, 736, 740, 741 and 742. They were then used on the same duties as the nearly identical 3-141.TD class locomotives, of which the État had bought forty as 42-101 to 42-140.

Preservation

One locomotive has been preserved: 3-141.TD.740, ex 1-141.TC.740, née 141.740. Since February 1982, it has been in the custody of the ''Chemin de Fer Touristique Limousin Périgord'', where it is used to pull special trains. In October 1987, it was designated a ''

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

Models

The 141.700 have been reproduced in

HO scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. The ...

as an etched brass kit by ''LocoSet Loisir (Artmétal-LSL)'', and by Fulgurex in 2005.

References

*{{Davies-EstLocoList3 Steam locomotives of France 2-8-2T locomotives 1′D1′ h3 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1930 Standard-gauge locomotives of France 141701 Passenger locomotives