Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: 39

Going back over 53 years to my first visit to France for this broadside comparison with the previous post. Between turns on the commuter trains SNCF 141TC 2-8-2 39 lays up in the siding at the platform end at Paris Gare du Nord. Note the hose pipe topping up the sidetanks. Built in 1934 these big ex-Nord 2-8-2 tanks were impressive machines & at this time they were working the very intensive push & pull suburban services smokebox-first out of Paris. All were withdrawn by August 1970 when steam finished in Paris and only one example was preserved.

French commuter steam at Paris Gare du Nord as 141TC39 (ex-ETAT 42.039) departs rapidly northwards. These big 2-8-2 tanks, built by Fives-Lille in 1922, were impressive machines & at this time they were working the very intensive suburban services push & pull, smokebox first, out of Paris. While my then girlfriend had lectures on her year ahead as a French assistant in Verdun I hung around Gare du Nord & Gare de la Bastille taking in the Gallic steam atmosphere. The girlfriend ended up married to a frenchman, steam disappeared & the TGV arrives at these platforms now. C'est la vie!