AUX COMMANDES D’UNE LOCOMOTIVE BB 9200, L’ HISTOIRE DE CETTE MACHINE AUX BOGIES D’ANDRÉ JACQUEMIN

The BB 9200s are a series of French electric locomotives operating under 1,500 V direct current, built in 92 units by the companies Creusot-Loire, Jeumont-Schneider and CEM. They were delivered to the SNCF between 1957 and 1964. Their "BB" type architecture (four driving axles distributed in two bogies) is lighter than the "2D2" and "CC", while maintaining a fairly high power (3,850 kW). They take up the structure of the BB 9003 and 9004 and their bogies designed by André Jacquemin, while the motors are taken from those of Swiss origin of the BB 9001 and 9002. The BB 9200s quickly spread throughout the southwest to the foot of the Pyrenees and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. The South-East service from the Gare de Lyon further supplemented the number of trains operated. This series of locomotives began its prestigious career pulling major passenger trains from the south-east region from the Paris-Lyon station to Lyon and then Marseille, and the south-west from the Paris-Austerlitz station to Toulouse and Bordeaux. They hauled renowned trains such as the Mistral, the Train Bleu, the Simplon-Orient-Express, and the Rome-Express. Their greatest success remained the introduction of the first 200 km/h train in commercial service from 1967, "Le Capitole", between Paris and Toulouse. The arrival of the more powerful CC 6500s stole the show on Capitole and various major trains. Freight services and more refined services to the south-west and south-east enabled them to maintain sustained activity. It was the arrival of the BB 7200s, and especially the TGV Atlantique, that caused the greatest damage, with a shift to freight and regional trains. Following the withdrawal of these units from freight operations (due to their age and the decline in traffic) in 2003/2004, 48 of these units were still in service at the beginning of 2006, and only 29 a year later, namely those assigned to regional trains (Burgundy and Central France). The latter ended their service life in 2009.    / @commentcamarcheparmichelch8752