SNCF Class BB 16500

The SNCF Class BB 16500 was a class of electric locomotives operating at a supply voltage of 25 kV single phase 50 Hz, ordered from 1954 for the electrification of the radial lines from Paris to the north and east of France. A total of 294 were delivered between 1958 and 1964, making them the most numerous class of electric locomotives put into service by SNCF. Studies for a mixed traffic locomotive began in 1954 under Louis Armand and Fernand Nouvion, and Alsthom's design was chosen in preference to that of MTE, the maker of the BB 16000s. The machines were built in the Alsthom factories in Belfort with a continuous power rating of 2,580 kilowatts and a mass of 74 tonnes, with performance set at 100 and 140 kilometres per hour in the two gear ratios. They worked regional passenger and freight trains over the northeastern quarter of France, and competition from newer classes and the discomfort of their cabs led to all being withdrawn between 2001 and 2011.