Description

A Whiff of the Côte d'Azur

Ligure, Mistral or Train Bleu:
“For decades, the beautiful and the wealthy traveled to the Côte d’Azur aboard these deluxe trains. In the 1970s, a new locomotive type appeared—one that quickly became as legendary as the trains it hauled. With its advanced technology and strikingly unconventional design, it made history on the rails of the SNCF.

The distinctive front end, created by designer Paul Arzens, earned the nickname Nez cassé (‘broken nose’) from railroaders and the public alike. It was nothing short of a revolutionary alternative to the plain, rectangular locomotive bodies common up to that time. The class BB 22200 fit perfectly into the unique and exclusive atmosphere of the world-famous Côte d’Azur.

Thanks to their multi-system capability, class 22200 locomotives could operate throughout France. This made it possible, for example, to run the legendary overnight Train Bleu on its 1,000-kilometer (625-mile) route from Paris via Nice to Ventimiglia. Until the arrival of the TGV high-speed trains, the 205 locomotives of the 22200 class were considered the stars of the SNCF fleet.

Today, many units remain in service, though mostly in more routine regional or freight duties. Their glamorous appearances on the Mediterranean routes have become a thing of the past. In miniature, however, the superb new Märklin model brings back the era when the Nez cassé drew admiring glances far beyond the blue waters of the Côte d’Azur.”

Prototype: French State Railways (SNCF) class BB 22200 electric locomotive. Stone gray basic paint scheme. Road number BB 22307. The locomotive looks as it did around 1985.

Highlights

• Completely new tooling in highly detailed metal construction.
• Many separately applied details.
• Newly designed pantographs with different contact strips.
• Cab lighting can be controlled digitally.
• mfx+ digital decoder with extensive operation and sound functions.
• Buffer height conforms to the NEM.
• Buffer capacitor included to bridge short areas without current.

Model: The locomotive has an mfx+ digital decoder and extensive sound functions. It also has controlled, high-efficiency propulsion with a flywheel, centrally mounted. All four axles powered using cardan shafts. Traction tires. Triple headlights and dual red marker lights change over with the direction of travel, will work in conventional operation, and can be controlled digitally. The lights at Locomotive End 2 and 1 can be turned off separately in digital operation. There is a double A light function. The cab lighting can be controlled digitally. Maintenance-free warm white and red LEDs are used for the lighting. A buffer capacitor is included.

There are many separately applied parts such as windshield wipers, vent grills, grab irons, and roof conductors. Detailed roof equipment includes newly designed pantographs with different contact strips. The buffer height adheres to the NEM. Brake lines, prototype couplers, and various plugs are included as parts to be installed separately.

Length over the buffers 20.3 cm / 8.