#1017
SNCF BB 1280
🇫🇷 France ·built by General Electric· from 1900· class of 13 French electric locomotives
what is it?
The SNCF BB 1280 class were a class of 600 V DC 4 axle Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives, formerly Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans machines (originally PO E.1 to E.13), initially built for an underground section of line connecting the Gare d'Austerlitz to the Quai d'Orsay in inner Paris. The locomotives were converted for 1500 V DC use in the 1930s, and renumbered PO E.281 to E.293. They were absorbed by the SNCF, and operated as shunters until the late 1960s.
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 126 years ago, in 1900.
- 680 kW is about 8 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 8 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 10.6 m long: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 67 years (1900–1967).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1900–1912
- in service from
- 1900
- retired
- 1967
- status
- retired
- number built
- 13
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- builders
- General Electric, Alstom Crespin, Blanc-Misseron
- 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
- 100 km/h
- power
- 680 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 600 V DC third rail*, 1500 V DC Catenary†
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 10.6 m
- weight
- 50 t
- nicknames
- Boîte à sel (Salt cellars)
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q2876798, Wikipedia: SNCF BB 1280 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.