The 241-P – career of the P9 at the SNCF – The last train (COPEF) – Transfert to Guîtres – A long sleep…
The « Société des Forges et Ateliers du Creusot (SFAC, formerly Schneider) » was entrusted with the study of the 241-P. This work was carried out in close contact with the D.E.L. (Locomotives study department of the SNCF), headed by the polytechnicien Georges Chan from the PLM, assisted by the centralien André Chapelon from the P.O.-Midi, who worked in perfect harmony.(1)
The reference model was the PLM 241-C-1 of 1930, the first French machine to be equipped with four driving axles with 2-meter wheels. It was very powerful, but not as powerful as the Pacific (231) designed by André Chapelon.
The main improvements were: increase of the steam passage sections in the cylinders, steam overheating, increase in the length of the furnace, increase in the robustness of the chassis, motorization of the coal supply, optimization of the lubrication, and standardization of the various components.
But the 241-P were not equipped with the latest technical innovations. These machines had to be produced in emergencies and in times of shortage in order to re-equip the SNCF fleet. It was not possible to subject the availability of these machines to the vagaries of research and experimentation, which was, however, the case of the prototype 242-A-1 that André Chapelon had successfully reworked in 1938 and which was born in 1946.
Other reasons for these limitations are also mentioned, such as old competition between engineers from the old companies, or the ambition of young engineers in a hurry to put an end to steam traction in favor of electric traction. The paradox being that the 241-P were as powerful as electric machines (since they took over from the express trains carried by them from the capital) and that Chapelon’s projects aimed at commercial steam-powered traffic at 200 km/h until 1980. But this is another story…
The 241-Ps were produced in 35 copies between 1948 and 1952. These machines were distributed over the South-East and North regions.
The electrification of Paris-Lyon pushed them back to Lyon-Marseille, then caused them to be transferred to Nevers, and finally their distribution to the East as well as to the West where they provided heavy trains to Brittany. The last machine in operation was reformed in the Western region in September 1969. Thus the 241-Ps were the last steam engines built in France.
They remain the most impressive series machines built in our country, and among the most powerful alongside the excellent 240-Ps (which did not survive). They are also the last ones to have aroused public admiration for the great line steam engines, both among amateurs and children, and among railway workers themselves, who proudly admired the ones they called in their jargon the « 2Ps ». The P9 has the construction numbers 4911 and FO 746. Its boiler was tested at 30 bar on February 6, 1948 in Châlon-sur-Saône.
1: from the Maurice Maillet and Marcel Chavy book, « Les Mountain françaises », 1979.
The 241-P – career of the P9 at the SNCF – The last train (COPEF) – Transfert to Guîtres – A long sleep…