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SNCF Class CC 7100

Class CC 7100
SNCF CC 7102 Pk42 Le Mee sur Seine.jpg
SNCF CC 7102 at Le Mee sur Seine
Type and origin
Power type Electric
Builder Alsthom
Build date 1952–1955
Total produced 58
Specifications
AAR wheel arr. C-C
UIC class Co'Co'
Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Driver dia. 1,250 mm (49.21 in)
Length 18.92 m (62 ft 1 in)
Loco weight 107 t (105 long tons; 118 short tons)
Electric system(s) 1.5 kV DC Catenary
Current collection Pantograph
Performance figures
Maximum speed 140 km/h (87 mph)
Power output 3,490 kW (4,680 hp)
Tractive effort 260 kN (58,000 lbf)
Career
Operators SNCF
Class CC 7100
Number in class None
Retired 1985–2001
Disposition 5 Preserved
Type and origin
Power type Electric
Builder Alsthom
Build date 1952–1955
Total produced 58
Specifications
AAR wheel arr. C-C
UIC class Co'Co'
Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in)
Driver dia. 1,250 mm (49.21 in)
Length 18.92 m (62 ft 1 in)
Loco weight 107 t (105 long tons; 118 short tons)
Electric system(s) 1.5 kV DC Catenary
Current collection Pantograph
Performance figures
Maximum speed 140 km/h (87 mph)
Power output 3,490 kW (4,680 hp)
Tractive effort 260 kN (58,000 lbf)
Career
Operators SNCF
Class CC 7100
Number in class None
Retired 1985–2001
Disposition 5 Preserved

SNCF's CC 7100 class are part of a series of electric locomotives built by Alsthom. The prototype 'CC 7000' (7001 & 7002) were built in 1949 and the production series locomotives CC 7101-CC 7158 followed during 1952–1955. Two of the class are notable for setting world rail speed records: CC 7121 reaching 243 kilometres per hour (151 mph) on 21 February 1954, and CC 7107 reaching 331 kilometres per hour (206 mph) on 28/29 March 1955.

CC 7100 were the first SNCF's speed locomotive where all the axles were motorized. At first they could run at 150 km/h.

During the 1950s, SNCF investigations into high-speed rail saw some CC 7100 class locomotives specially modified for operation at speeds far higher than their regular service speed. These experiments provided valuable test data for the SNCF to develop increasingly more rapid regular services, including the 200 kilometres per hour (124 mph) Mistral of 1967, and ultimately the TGV.

CC 7121 broke the rail speed record when it achieved 243 kilometres per hour (151 mph) on the PLM mainline between Dijon and Beaune on 21 February 1954.

Preparations for further high-speed tests proceeded, and in March 1955 CC 7107 and Bo-Bo locomotive BB 9004 both attained 331 kilometres per hour (206 mph) on separate high-speed runs between Bordeaux and Dax, Landes. CC 7107 hauled a three car train with streamlining modifications to reduce aerodynamic drag.

Although the rail speed record has since 1990 been repeatedly broken by high-speed trainsets such as the French TGV and the German InterCityExperimental trains, BB 9004 and CC 7107 retained the locomotive speed record for over 50 years until it was broken on 2 September 2006 by a Siemens Taurus locomotive, ÖBB No 1216 050, which attained 357 kilometres per hour (222 mph) hauling a single dynamometer car on the Nuremberg-Munich high-speed rail line in Germany.


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