In 1844, the first railway line from France reached Basel.

In 1844, the first railway line from France reached Basel. In 1957, the line was electrified. While the change in the power system did not pose a problem for passenger trains, freight trains between the marshalling yards of St-Lous and Muttenz had to be powered by diesel locomotives, resulting in complaints from residents living along the line about exhaust fumes. The SNCF subsequently purchased nine dual-current locomotives, C 20151 to C 20519, which were derived from the SBB Ee 3/3 II. From 1962 onwards, these small locomotives, with a maximum speed of only 40-60 km/h, were used in double traction for SNCF freight transport between St-Louis and Muttenz. The nine locomotives were replaced by the SNCF BB 20200 in 1971/1972 and sold to the SBB. On 9 May 1963, Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik Winterthur delivered the C 20188 to the SNCF and, as mentioned above, sold it to the SBB in 1971/1972, which used it as a shunting locomotive, most recently in Basel SBB until 2011. The locomotive then went to the Yverdon industrial works, where it moved ICN trainsets until 2019. In 2020, it was parked in Biel/Bienne and later transferred to Balsthal with the aim of putting the last remaining dual-current Ee 3/3 back into service.
As can be seen, ‘Team C 20155’ has done an excellent job, and the interesting locomotive, in its SNCF livery, is a particularly beautiful gem on Swiss tracks. The picture shows the locomotive in Balsthal during preparations for the open day on 8 November 2025.

Stefan Wohlfahrt http://klein-aber-fein---imagination.startbilder.de/ 09.11.2025, 447 Views, 0 Comments

EXIF: SONY ILCA-77M2, Date 2025:11:08 10:29:20, Exposure time: 1/80, Aperture: 63/10, ISO50, Focal length: 300/10