ROCO 7310072 – Diesel locomotive 68540, SNCF

Diesel locomotive 68540 of the French State Railways.

■ Version as a museum locomotive with raised numbers
■ Finely detailed ventilation grilles
■ Triple headlights
■ With set of etched coat of arms included
■ In digital operation with switchable high beam and separately switchable headlights/taillights and driver’s cab illumination
■ Sound version equipped with two loudspeakers

Between 1963 and 1968, 29 locomotives of the A1A-A1A 68500 series were built for heavy passenger and freight transport for the French state railways (SNCF). They differed from the 80 units of the A1A-A1A 68000 series built in parallel only in their AGO V 12 DSHR engines from SACM, which, like their sisters with Sulzer 12 LVA 24 engines, had an output of 2,700 hp at the beginning of their service life.
Over time, the SNCF converted A1A A1A 68000 into A1A A1A 68500 in its workshops by replacing the diesel engine to counteract the maintenance difficulties of the Sulzer engine, resulting in A1A A1A 68530 to 68540.
The current locomotive with the running number 68540 was delivered to the SNCF in 1965. It was built by CAFL (mechanical part), CEM (electrical equipment) and CCM Sulzer (diesel engine) as A1A-A1A 68039. In December 2002, the Sulzer engine was replaced by an AGO V12 engine, which had an output of 2,150 hp compared to the Sulzer engine with 2,420 hp, and the locomotive was renumbered A1A-A1A 68540 accordingly.
In 2011, the locomotive was entrusted by the SNCF to the AAATV Centre Val-de-Loire association, which returned it to its historic blue livery. In this condition, the locomotive is still in use to haul special trains.