Nord 2.121 to 2.180 were a class of 60 four-cylinder 4-4-0 compound steam locomotives of the Chemins de fer du Nord; they were used as express passenger train locomotives. They were placed in service in 1898 and all but four had been retired by 1933. At the creation of the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

in 1938, the surviving locomotives were renumbered 2-220.A.1 to 2-220.A.4

History

Two prototypes were designed by

Alfred de Glehn Alfred George de Glehn (15 September 1848 – 8 June 1936) was a notable English-born French designer of steam locomotives and an engineer with the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (SACM). His steam engines of the 1890s combined el ...

, of SACM and

Gaston du Bousquet Gaston du Bousquet (1839–1910) was a French engineer who was Chief of Motive Power () of the Chemin de Fer du Nord, designer of locomotives and professor at École centrale de Lille. Steam locomotive designer Gaston du Bousquet taught mechanical ...

of the Nord as an improvement from the No. 701 built in 1884. They were four-cylinder compound locomotives. One of them initially lacked a coupling rod, making it a

4-2-2-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, four powered but uncoupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. The arrangement beca ...

, but wheelslip issues quickly ended the experiment. In 1903, locomotives 2.121 to 2.123 and 2.126 were sold to the Compagnie du Nord - Belge who renumbered them 307 to 310.

Construction

SACM delivered two prototypes from their Belfort factory in 1891, and later delivered all the production locomotives:

References

* {{Reflist Steam locomotives of France 2.121 4-4-0 locomotives SACM locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1891 Passenger locomotives