France was a major user of the Pacific type locomotive which was popular there. A total of 1364 Pacific steam locomotives were built for the major French railway companies (Ref. 4).
The Paris à Orléans (PO) was the first to experiment with the 231 arrangement in 1907 and was the first railroad in Europe to employ the wheel configuration. One of the original locomotives - PO 231 4536 is preserved at the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, France. Of further interest is that the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) made many of the PO’s Pacifics including number 4546!
As shown in the photo below, with its clean, unadorned boiler and body and light grey livery, PO 231 4546 had a very sleek appearance for its time. After nationalization of the railroads, the PO became part of the SNCF and the locomotives were renumbered and provided with new liveries.
The PO Pacific 231 4546 preserved at the Cité
du Train in Mulhouse, France
(Photo source Wikipedia)
In 1989 AS produced a model of the original Pacific in two versions. The first was the grey PO 231 4546.
The AS PO Pacific 231 4546 locomotive. Note the
unique three axle tender.
(Photo courtesy of SAS Auctions)
The lack of boiler detail worked well for the tinplate construction and the AS model is as sleek as the prototype.
The AS SNCF 231A 560 locomotive
AS produced the SNCF version as well. The green SNCF 231A 560 is nearly identical to # 4546 with the exception of added smoke deflectors and pumps on the left side. Only 70 of each of these two model locomotives were produced and they are difficult to find today and expensive.
Next: The AS Pacific K8
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