Petite Ceinture 0-6-0 Locomotives in France

Class 030 T 21 Boer (Locobase 20144)

Data from "Le materiel roulant du service metropoliain de la Petite Ceinture", presented at [], last accessed 15 January 2017.

The first trains set out on Paris's Petite Ceinture suburban rail system on Bastille Day, 1862. When it opened, the line served the newly annexed, less urbanized, centuries-old villages surrounding Paris,

At first, tractive power came from locomotives delegated to the service by the Ouest and Nord railways. But as traffic increased near the turn of the 19th century, the Ceinture looked ahead to Paris's Universal Exposition in 1900 and ordered a new, more powerful, and dedicated set of six-coupled tanks. Because of the tight deadlines, the Compagnie du chemin de fer du Nord produced all fifteen engines in its own ateliers (shops). The first seven locomotives were produced at Nord's La Chapelle shops in Paris; the latter eight came from the Hellemmes shops in Lille.

The all-adhesion layout of three axles was dictated by the length of certain turntables (5.25 m/17 ft 3 in) and the ability to adapt and enlarge the pre-existing Ouest 3500 design to handle the heavier traffic. Described as "Ouest renforce", the class entered service in 1900. (They were also nicknamed "Boers" in support of the South Africans of Dutch origin resisting British rule in the Second Boer War.) The sturdy, even burly locomotives carried full length side tanks with small bunkers just ahead of the cab and flanking the Belpaire firebox. (See the excellent photo coverage at the above-referenced [] site.)

All of the class was available for both passenger and goods (marchandises) trains. One of the class served the transfer station at La GlaciFre-Gentilly to serve passengers headed for the intercity station at La GlaciFre-Gentilly.

A need to decrease travel time on the PC led to development of larger locomotives with leading bogies; see Locobase 8913.