SNCF Class BB 16000
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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 ...
BB 16000 are a class of 25 kV 50 Hz AC
electric locomotives An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...
produced by MTE. They are the AC version of the BB 9200.


Description

This class of 62 locomotives was ordered in 1958 in order to equip the north east network with high speed locomotives capable of running at under 25 kV-50 Hz single-phase catenary. They are part of the large family of locomotives nicknamed BB Jacquemin, of which the BB 9200 were the first versions produced for 1.5 kV direct current operation, and developed using the results of speed tests carried out on the prototype series BB 9001-9002 and BB 9003–9004. During the development of the BB 16000, test runs at were carried out to check the behavior of the AM 11 single-arm pantographs.


Design

The electrical power equipment is directly derived from the first machines using Jacquemin concepts, the BB 12000: 25kV / 15kV auto-transformer, auxiliary transformer and traction transformer, rectifiers with
ignitron An ignitron is a type of gas-filled tube used as a controlled rectifier and dating from the 1930s. Invented by Joseph Slepian while employed by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghouse, Westinghouse was the original manufacturer and owned tr ...
s, later replaced by silicon diodes, and smoothing chokes, shunt resistors on the inductors of the 4 traction motors, and Arno three-phase converter to supply hotel power. The interesting improvement concerns the replacement of the mechanical camshaft controllers, as used on the BB 12000s, by Jeumont-Heidmann servomotors. The first 34 BB 16000s had provisional support for the AM 11 single-arm pantograph, similar to that fitted to BB 9400, except that the insulators are different for a single-phase machine. From BB 16035, the new reinforced support was installed, as used by BB 16500. BB 16001 to 51 were delivered with a body similar to the first 21 BB 9200 locomotives, with short louvres. From BB 16052 the louvres were lengthened. There were some minor differences between the two sub-series, concerning the weight and the electrical equipment. BB 16012 had additional ventilation louvres, which were provisionally installed to test the new silicon diode rectifier blocks. These were retained after the tests were concluded. BB 16050 was the only push-pull fitted member of the class allocated to Corail never to have sported the Corail livery. It was fitted with the control cables and equipment while it was still in the mid-1970s green livery which it retained. 15 members of the class have been converted to class BB 16100 to operate
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sets in push-pull mode.


Service history

The BB 16000s during their very long career have hauled most of the fast and express trains of the north, east, and north-west networks. With the progress of the 25 kV electrification, they quickly supplanted steam locomotives on services, from prestigious TEEs to interregional trains, and to certain fast freight trains. Their versatility, their robustness, and their performance, have allowed certain members of the class to exceed 53 years of service and more than traveled, which remains exceptional. The arrival of more modern and more powerful machines, of the BB 15000, BB 22200, BB 26000 classes did not lead, to their downgrading, because they still met the needs very well. With the entry into service of the
LGV Est The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Est européenne (East European High Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Est, is a French high-speed rail line that connects Vaires-sur-Marne (near Paris) and Vendenheim (near Strasbourg). The line halved the tra ...
in 2007, the transport offer has refocused around TGVs, freeing up many locomotives and imposing a reorganization of operating diagrams. A large number of BB 15000s were transferred from Strasbourg to Achères to operate Corail and TER services from Paris-Nord and Paris-Saint-Lazare. Some were modified for push-pull operation, quickly leading to the withdrawal of the BB 16100 classes used before and greatly reducing the use of the BB 16000s. BB 16061 provided the last service of class to Paris-Saint-Lazare on 03/13/2010 with the haulage of a Paris - Le Havre train. The class, still managed by the Achères MPD, was assigned to Paris-La Chapelle for the operation of the Corail-Intercités (CIC), on diagrams common to the BB 15000s and the BB 22200s. Withdrawals of the class occurred between 2009 and 2012, some units being parked on the Sotteville-lès-Rouen branch, an antechamber for upcoming demolition. A celebration was organized by an association of retired drivers from the Aulnoye depot, on 24 November 2012, on the occasion of the 1637 Paris to Maubeuge train, hauled by BB 16029 decked out for the occasion. This involved a photoshoot at Paris-Nord and live entertainment at Aulnoye-Aymeries station. The last two locomotives kept in active service, BB 16029 and BB 16051, were regularly in use until 16 December 2012, hauling CIC services between Paris and Amiens and Paris and Maubeuge. The last six members of the class were withdrawn from service on 31 December 2012.


Route allocation

Principle routes served were:
From Paris Saint Lazare: *
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
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Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...
(last trip on March 13, 2010) *
Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...
- Trouville-Deauville *
Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
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Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
From
Paris Nord The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...
: *
Longueau Longueau (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueau is situated southeast of Amiens, a suburb just by the airport, on the N29 road. Longueau station has rail connections to Amiens, Crei ...
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Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
*
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
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Tourcoing Tourcoing (; ; ; ) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, Tourcoing is the chef-lieu of two ca ...
*
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Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
*
Aulnoye Aulnoye-Aymeries (; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was established in 1953 by the merger of the former communes Aulnoye and Aymeries. Before the opening of the high-speed railway line between Brussels and Paris, t ...
- Jeumont *
Tergnier Tergnier () is a commune in the department of Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France. Its location on the Canal de Saint-Quentin and the Creil–Jeumont railway ( Tergnier station) supported its development as an industrial centre in the second half ...
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*
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- Saint-Quentin -
Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and ab ...
(last trip on December 20, 2012) From Paris Est: * Nancy -
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
*
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Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...
Regional services: *
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
-
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
- Rouen (last trip 12 December 2004 - replacement by TER 2N) * Strasbourg -
Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...
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Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...
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(international service) *
Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
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* Thionville - Neufchâteau Freight services: *
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- Lille-Champ de Mars *
Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...
- Aulnoye


Depot allocations

* Initial allocation to La Chapelle from 1958, then transferred to Achères in October 1995) * Lens (in 1958, then transfer to La Chapelle) * Achères (from 1995) * Strasbourg (from 1958 to 1962, then transfer to La Villette on June 1, 1962; return to Strasbourg on July 17, 1962, then transfer to La Chapelle from July 1973)


Modifications and liveries

The BB 16000 have successively worn various liveries and underwent the following modifications: * Original livery: light bluish green reinforced with a border at the bottom of the body and the louvres area in dark bluish green, as well as accessories in polished aluminum: "moustaches" in the shape of a wing under the bays and lamp surrounds connected from front to back by a line of grey paint; the coupling area is red; * In the 1960s, the reinforcement of the cabins led to the elimination of the corner windows; * Reinforced end cross members were installed at the expense of the coupling fairings and corner skirts were removed; * From the 1970s, the handles of the cabin access doors were moved on all BB Jacquemin models: initially in the high position near the window, they were relocated to the bottom of the door in a recess which was previously used to pull the door close; * End of the 1970s: installation of unified headlights and red lights; * Corail Livery, created in 1977 by Jacques Beffara, consisting of a dark grey with roof and body part between headlights and lamp housings in light grey and a coral orange dividing strip emerging under the headlight surrounds, most of them had kept their aluminum surrounds; * Concrete livery, introduced in 1985, without the aluminium detailing, grey with a moustache under the front windows and a band surrounding the body painted in chamois, then in TGV orange TGV; * The conversion to BB 16100 from 1991 is associated with a light grey livery with 3 areas in dark grey: the sill, the bay strip front and louvres and heavy low whiskers encompassing the front lights and overflowing onto the sides, finally an orange belt band between the side sills and whiskers. This livery was designed by Roger Tallon. * Multiservice livery in 1995, dark grey, replaced in 2001 by storm grey, with roof, whiskers under bay windows and part metallic grey lower body, with a red line at mid-flank forming on the front faces a trapezoidal apron descending to the cross members, including the windows; it is this apron which bears the vehicle number, the moustache displaying the SNCF logo; * Delivered with blue vinyl coating "En Voyage", from 2002. File:BB16024 tr sardo 1046.jpg, Original livery with aluminum ornaments. File:LivréeCorail.jpg, Corail livery File:SNCF BB 16037.JPG , Multiservice livery File:SNCF BB 16007 BB 16008 Gare du Nord (1).jpg , Two “en voyage” liveries, one blue, the other purple.


Fleet list


Preservation

* BB 16020 preserved by SNCF at Mohon. * BB 16113 (ex 16030): preserved by SNCF at Mohon.


In popular culture

* BB 16011 appears in the film '' Les Rois mages'' * An unidentified member of the class appears in the film ''L'Auvergnat et l'Autobus'' * BB 16020 was used in 1959 during the first live television broadcast from a train on the occasion of the inauguration of electric traction between Paris Nord and Lille. * BB 16665 appears at the beginning of the film ''
Deux Hommes dans la ville ''Two Men in Town'' ( a.k.a. ''Two Against the Law'') is a 1973 Franco-Italian film directed by José Giovanni. The film was remade in 2014. Synopsis Germain Cazeneuve left the police to work as a prison trainer, teaching inmates how to live on ...
'', directed by
José Giovanni José Giovanni (22 June 1923, Paris, France – 24 April 2004, Lausanne, Switzerland) was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French writer and film-maker of Corsican origin who became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1986. A former collaborationi ...
in 1973.


Models

This locomotive was reproduced by the firms HOrnby-acHO,
Jouef Jouef is a French brand and former manufacturing company specialized in scale model rail transport modelling, railroads. The brand name is currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby. Apart from model railroads, the company also produced model ca ...
and
Roco Roco may refer to: * Roco (model railroads), an Austrian manufacturer of model railway equipment * Roco (surname), surname * Roco Sandu Roco Sandu (born 30 July 1966) is a former Romanian professional footballer. He was part of one of the bes ...
.


External links


Liste des bb16000


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * Revue : . * Mensuel : . * Mensuel : . * Mensuel : . {{SNCF locos 16000 Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives MTE locomotives Standard gauge electric locomotives of France 25 kV AC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1958 Passenger locomotives