SNCF Class BB 1600

SNCF Class BB 1600
BB 1617 at Montereau in 1954
Type and origin Power type Electric Builder CEF Build date 1922–1926
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Bo′Bo′ Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Length 11.85 m (38 ft 11 in) Loco weight 76 t (75 long tons; 84 short tons) Power supply 1,500 V DC Electric system/s Overhead Current pickup(s) 2 Pantographs Traction motors 4× DK 80
Performance figures Maximum speed 60 km/h (37 mph) freight 90 km/h (56 mph) passenger 50 km/h (31 mph) shunting
Career Operators Chemin de fer du Midi SNCF Number in class 50 Numbers E 4001–4050, Midi BB 4501–4550, SNCF BB 1601–1650, SNCF Nicknames BB Midi Withdrawn By 1984

The BB 1600 were a series of fifty electric locomotives from the Chemins de fer du Midi, operating under direct current at a voltage of 1.5 kV.

They constituted the first generation of BB Midi, delivered between 1923 and 1926. Numbered E 4001 to 4050 in Midi, they became Class BB 4500 at the creation of SNCF, then were reclassified as shunting locomotives under the numbers BB 1601 – 1650 in the 1950s. The last members of the class were removed from SNCF inventories in 1984.

Elements of BB 1501 and BB 1632 have been used to reconstruct a locomotive exhibited under the original Midi registration E 4002 at the Cité du Train in Mulhouse, this locomotive having hauled the inaugural train for 1.5 kV direct current electric traction in France between Pau and Lourdes on 30 October 1922.