SNCF 2D2 5500

The 2D2 5500 were electric locomotives operated by the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans, then SNCF in France, in operation from 1933 to 1980.

SNCF 2D2 5500
Type and origin Power type Electric Builder CEM - Fives-Lille[1] Build date 1926-1943 Total produced 50
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC 2′Do2′ Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) Length 17.78 m (58 ft 4 in) Loco weight 130 tonnes (130 long tons; 140 short tons)[2] Electric system/s 1,500 V DC Current pickup(s) 2× Pantograph Traction motors 4× 1000 hp motors
Performance figures Maximum speed 130 km/h (81 mph), later 140 km/h (87 mph) Power output: ​  • Continuous 2,625 kilowatts (3,520 hp)[3]
Career Operators Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans, then SNCF Number in class 50 Numbers E 500 series with the PO, then SNCF 2D2 500 and 2D2 5503-5537, 5538-5545, 5546-5550 Nicknames 'Nez de cochon' (Pig-nose), 'Femme enceinte' (Pregnant lady), 'Waterman' (after Waterman pens) Delivered 5503-5537: May 1933, 5538-5545: December 1937, 5546-5550: April 1942 Retired 1978 through 1980 Preserved 2D2 5516 at Cité du train, 2D2 5525 in excursion service

Design and operation

PO-Midi E 543, with the 'enceinte' nose

This class originated on the PO with the two E 501–2 class locomotives of 1925. These had four traction motors, one per axle, driving through Buchli drives and following Swiss practice. They were considered to be more reliable in service than other PO electric locos.[3]

The locomotives operated from a 1,500 V DC catenary with two pantographs, powering four 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) motors. Each locomotive had over 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) of wire for the series-wound electric motors. The driver would start the engines in series, with only ​¹⁄₄ voltage applied at 350 A. The resistance applied to the engines was progressively removed and the locomotive's speed increased, then switching to series-parallel operation and finally parallel only at 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). Rheostatic braking was also possible, with the rotors connected in series and shunt resistances across each field winding. Engineers watched the line ahead through a circular frosted lens in the windshield.[2]

2D2 5546 and the 'Waterman pen' nose[lower-roman 1]

2D2 5516 at the Cité du train museum, with side panels removed to show the traction motors

Thirty five units were ordered by the PO to run on its newly electrified Paris-Orleans-Toulouse/Bordeaux lines, numbers 503 to 537, delivered between 1933 and 1935. The next 15 locomotives were delivered until 1943 to the PO.[4]

The units travelled 220,000 km (140,000 mi) between overhauls. They were known to be very low vibration locomotives.[2]

Service history

A 1946 SNCF film shows 2D2 5550 travelling on the 211 km (131 mi) Paris-Le Mans line, noting that 2D2 units delivered before 1942 had over one million kilometres (620,000 mi) travelled, some over three million kilometres (1,900,000 mi).[2]

Post-war, the Paris-Lyon line was electrified and an improved 2-Do-2 class, the 2D2 9100 was ordered. 35 of these were delivered by 1950, but after this the rigid-framed electric locomotive was replaced by a Co-Co bogie design, the CC 7100.[3]

Preservation

2D2 5516 is preserved at Cite du Train. It was put in service in July 1933 and retired in 1978, having travelled over 7,800,000 km (4,800,000 mi).[4]

Notes

1. 
   From ahead, the nose was thought to resemble the shallow cone-ended body cap of a Waterman fountain pen

1. "Les 100 plus belles locomotives". La Vie du Rail, Supplemental issue (in French). April 1996.
2. Un film sur la locomotive électrique 2D2 [A Film About Electric Locomotive 2D2] (film) (in French). Section centrale cinématographique de la SNCF. 1946. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
3. Hollingsworth, Brian; Cook, Arthur (2000). "Class 9100 2-Do-2". Modern Locomotives. pp. 98–99. ISBN 0-86288-351-2.
4. "195 FOIS LE TOUR DU MONDE EN 45 ANS". Instagram post for Cite du Train. October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.