#2097
2BB2 400
🇭🇺 Hungary ·built by Ganz Works· from 1926· class of 2 early French electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. PO E 402: Unknown author Unknown author· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The 2BB2 400 class were two electric locomotives built in 1926 for the Paris Orléans (PO) railway of France. After wartime coal shortages during World War I, post-war reconstruction from 1919 focussed on electrification, powered by hydro electricity. In 1923 the PO began electrification of the 200 km section of the Toulouse main line from Paris to Vierzon using a supply of 1,500 V DC. The Ganz Works of Budapest, Hungary supplied these two locomotives, to the design of Kálmán Kandó.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 100 years ago, in 1926.
- 3.6 MW is about 42 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 22 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 12 years (1926–1938).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1926
- in service from
- 1926
- retired
- 1938
- status
- retired
- number built
- 2
- kind
- Electric, direct current
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- builders
- Ganz Works
- operators
- Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans, Société nationale des chemins de fer français, Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi
- top speed
- 120 km/h
- power
- 3.6 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 1,500 V DC overhead
- wheel arrangement
- 4-4-4-4
- weight
- 132 t
- nicknames
- Les Belles Hongroises
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2815765, Wikipedia: 2BB2 400 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.