SNCF Class BB 12000 SNCF Class BB 12000 The SNCF Class BB 12000 were electric locomotives operated by SNCF. The first examples arrived on the railway in 1953, operating on the 25 kV 50 Hz line to the coal mines of the "Houillères de Lorraine" in the north-east of France. BB 12001 arrived in Mohon on July 17, 1954. Tried first along the Valenciennes – Lumes line, specifications called for a locomotive capable of pulling 750 tonne trains along a grade of 10 ‰. The 12000 Class proved more than capable, pulling 1100 tonne then 1400 tonne trains. BB 12006 using a different system
SNCF Class BB 30000 BB 30001 followed in 1974. SNCF Class BB 30000 The SNCF Class BB 30000 electric locomotives were built by Fives-Lille, CEM and MTE in 1961. They were the tri-current version of BB 9400 "Vespa" locomotives, of which they were closely derived, and inherited much of the knowledge of the experiences of BB 20004. With electrification of the mayor European axes pending in the late-1950s, SNCF engineers dreamed of a locomotive type which could operate of all 4 major European currents: 1.5 kV DC, 3 kV DC, and . Unfortunately, the technology to develop such kinds of locomotives wasn't advanced enough