Diesel locomotive BB 68050, SNCF. ROCO 70460

Electric locomotive series BB 68000 of the French State Railways (SNCF).

Co'Co' wheel arrangement. Num er 68050, with era III livery.

For DC systems with PluX22 interface and LED lighting.

History of the BB 68000 SNCF locomotives

Between 1963 and 1968, 80 of the class A1A-A1A 68000 locomotives were built for the French National Railways (SNCF) for heavy services.

They had many similarities with the lighter BB 67000 delivered at the same time, but due to the use of a more powerful, heavier Sulzer LVA 24 diesel engine and it’s bigger generator, the bogies were designed with three axles to be able to run on some light tracks of ex Etat and PO Midi lines, with four motorised axles and the two other ones to distribute the weight. A boiler and water tanks for steam heating of passenger trains were also installed, with the additional load allowed by the two non-powered axles.

The six-axle, diesel-electric (DC transmission) locomotive had an operating weight of 106 tonnes. With its 12-cylinder diesel engine delivering 1,985 kW, and a power at the wheelrim of 1,660 kW, it reached a top speed of 130 km/h. In the original version, the locomotives had decorative lines imagined by famous rail designer Paul Arzens that made the locomotives unmistakable.

They were used for heavy passenger and freight transport. Their use in the western, northern, eastern and central regions of France also took the locomotives to the railway stations of Bantzenheim near the German border and Delle near the Swiss border, and as well as to Basel in Switzerland.