loco-info.com
The reference for locomotives and railcars
Navigation
Random
Search
Compare
Settings
Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée 161 AE and 161 BE
French State Railway 1ABBA1 3500 and 3600
France | 1927
11 produced
161 AE
161 AE

One of the four trial locomotives on the Mont Cenis line was the 161 AE 1, supplied by Schneider and Alsthom. It shared the total number of eight axles with the 242 BE 1 and 242 AE 1, but the body was divided into two parts, as with the 242 CE 1. In contrast to all the others, however, six axles were powered and only two axles were used as carrying axles. This was realized by mount each half of the locomotive on two bogies, of which the outer one consisted of a carrying and a driving axle. The power came from axle-mounted motors with spring-loaded gears that allowed 110 km/h. It was later reclassified as 1ABBA1 3500 and remained in service until 1967.

The 161 AE 1 was the only one of the four locomotives from trial operation that was reordered in a total of ten units as a direct development. The production locomotives were designated differently as 161 BE, since they were intended for use in front of freight trains. In return, they got simple axle-mounted motors without spring-loaded gears and a different gear ratio, which only allowed a maximum speed of 80 km/h. The hourly and continuous output was increased by 90 and 110 kW, respectively, and the weight also increased. The SNCF used the locomotives until 1973 and named them 1ABBA1 3601 to 3610.

Variant161 AE161 BE
General
Built1927
Manufacturermechanical part: Alstom, electrical part: Schneider et Cie
Axle config1A-B+B-A1 
Gauge4 ft 8 1/2 in (Standard gauge)
Dimensions and Weights
Length67 ft 6 1/4 in
Wheelbase57 ft 2 1/4 in
Rigid wheelbase9 ft 7 3/4 in
Service weight267,861 lbs286,049 lbs
Adhesive weight217,816 lbs231,044 lbs
Axle load36,303 lbs38,508 lbs
Boiler
Variant161 AE161 BE
Power Plant
Power
Power sourceelectric - DC
Electric system1,500 V
Hourly power2,293 hp (1,710 kW)2,414 hp (1,800 kW)
Top speed68 mph50 mph
Calculated Values
electric locomotive
third rail
passenger
freight
two-section
last changed: 04/2022
loading...

We use cookies to save the following settings:

  • selected navigation structure
  • selected language
  • preferred units
  • spelling of railway company names

If you refuse the use of cookies, the settings will only be retained for the current session and will be reset to the default values the next time you visit the site.

Display of units

Here you can set the desired unit system for the technical data.

  • Metric: Lengths in meters, weights in tonnes, and volumes in cubic meters
  • Imperial (UK): Lengths in feet/inches, weights in long tons and volumes in imperial gallons
  • Imperial (US): Lengths in feet/inches, weights in pounds, and volumes in US gallons
  • Individual: Depends on the country of origin of each locomotive
Operator names

Here you can set the display of railway company names.

  • Short: Abbreviation or short form of the name
  • Standard: commonly used name, partially translated to English
  • Complete: full name in local language