Service
The 140 Cs were allocated to all the main État depots, Mézidon, Le Mans, Rennes, Brest, Nantes and Bordeaux, and were used to haul many of the company's express trains; Paris-Le Havre, Paris-Cherbourg, Paris-Granville and on the Chemin de fer de Grande Ceinture.
The 140 Cs, hired out to CFTA, were the last steam locomotives in regular day-to-day commercial use on the French railway network. Their final area of operation was the CFTA Réseau Franche-Comté, whose HQ was at Gray Gray, Franche-Comté. Operations were mainly centred on the line from Gray to Châtillon-sur-Seine and Troyes (in Champagne). After the end of SNCF operated steam in 1974, the 140 Cs became the last operating 'main line' French steam locomotives. 140 C 287 pulled the last ever commercial steam train on French railway metals on 24 September 1975 between and Sainte-Colombe.
Due to their prolonged use on parts of SNCF and on the CFTA, a total of eight engines were preserved; 140 C 22, 27, 38, 231, 287, 313, 314 and 344.
Read more about this topic: 140 C Ouest
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)