Sunday Streamline #39. The Iron Mask:

In 1935 such locomotives entered service of the Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée Railway (PLM), the pioneers of French streamlining. The locos were not new. In 1934, when the decision to establish fast streamliner service had been taken, the management’s choice were already retired Class 221A Atlantics, built in 1906-1907, close cousins of pre-WWI Class 220A “Big C’s”.

These 4-cylinder compound locomotives, taken out of service in 1933, were extensively modernized and fitted with streamline shrouding. In April 1935, 221 A11 and A14 were tested on Paris - Dijon route, one of them achieving top speed of 156 km/h.

They entered service the same year along with seven other similarly modernized Atlantics, all renumbered 221B.

A page from the PLM bulletin shows not only the loco but also streamlined tender and cars, the rear-end car bearing more than a passing resemblance to Flying Hamburger.

Such trains were employed for Paris Marseilles and Paris - Evian service, showing remarkable commercial speed: between Paris and Lyon, their average speed was 97.8 km/h, another national record. An amateur photograph shows one of the trains at the station:

The PLM Atlantics had fallen victims to their own success - compact and fast, they were too heavy, overall weight (with tender) approaching 350 tonnes. After the merger of all French railroads into state-owned SNCF they were replaced by Class 231G Pacifics, and during WWII their shrouding was removed.

Their design was influential, although: Belgian streamline Atlantics were clearly modeled not only after LMS streamliners but after their French cousins too.