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The SNCF Class BB 9200 1500 V DC electric locomotives were built by Schneider-Jeumont/CEM between 1958-1964. 92 of them were built and 20 remain.
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History
These train engines are products of the Jacquemin product family of train engines (locomotives), offspring of the prototype BB 9004, and named after the engineer who designed their bogies.
The locomotives were designed for a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) and were the first such train engines in France. In the late sixties, a small group of train engines was converted for 200 km/h (120 mph) operation, hauling prestige TEE trains like the Capitole - these train engines were called the BB 9200 Capitole. These types were later superseded by the CC 6500 train engines. Some of these train engines have been in service for more than 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles) since they have been set to service.
Current service
The regular services of the remaining BB 9200 train engines are inter-regional trains between Paris Montparnasse and Le Mans, between Paris Austerlitz and Tours and between Paris Gare de Lyon, Dijon and Lyon. Some few are in service for freight trains.
Phasing out of the series of train engines was expected for 2007.
BB 9200 Capitole
The BB 9200 Capitole train was a train engine type variant of the SNCF Class BB 9200 train engine type specially constructed for high speed trains (faster than 160 km/h or 99 mph). Due to its special design they were also called the BB rouge. They also sported Capitole front plates and single-arm pantographs; the rest of the class had diamond pantographs. From 1967 to 1970 the SNCF started the high speed service with the Capitole between Paris and Toulouse. This train connection included some sections with a speed of more than 200 km/h (120 mph).
The BB 9200 rouges with their "Capitole" plates were also a model in rail transport modelling, especially the Märklin and Roco (Roco 43563) models, renowned by hobbyists. (The Märklin 3059, which reproduced the BB 9291, is especially prized.)