Since the existing 2-8-0 locomotives were no longer sufficient for the heavy ore trains in Lorraine, the Est was looking for more powerful locomotives. The 031+130 T Du Bousquet type, introduced in 1905, could not quite convince with their boiler power in heavy freight service. Thus, a new single-frame tank locomotive was developed that had sufficient power.
Thus, in 1913, two prototypes were created in the workshops in Epernay, which had been developed based on the existing passenger tank locomotives with 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. By reducing the driver diameter, a fifth driving axle could be added, making it the first 2-10-2 locomotive and at the same time the heaviest tender locomotive in Europe. Known internationally as the Santa Fé, this wheel arrangement has since been referred to as the Lorraine in France. This is because these locomotives used in Lorraine were the first French locomotives of this type in France.
The locomotives had a Belpaire firebox, a Mestre-type superheater and a three-nozzle variable blast pipe. The leading and trailing axles were designed as Bissel axles, each with 150 mm of side play, while all five driving axles were fixed in the frame. Instead, the wheel flanges of the first and fifth driving axles were designed with a smaller depth, those of the second and fourth axles were thinner and the third axle had no wheel flanges at all. In addition to the two water tanks on the sides of the boiler, a third was integrated into the frame to get a water capacity of 13 cubic meters.
Both locomotives performed very well in test runs. With a train weighing 890 tonnes, 20 km/h could be reached on 1.5 percent, and the same speed was possible with 1,000 tonnes on one percent. Due to the First World War, no production locomotives could be procured for the time being. Only in 1925 and 1926 were 25 built, which received the numbers 5901 to 5925. Unlike the two prototypes, these were delivered by Schneider in Creusot. The changes were only a few, but the sandboxes were no longer on top of the boiler, but housed inside the smoke box. In addition, sanding now only took place in front of the leading wheels.
They were first distributed to several depots in Lorraine. In 1930 they received new numbers from 151-701 to 151-727. After the creation of the SNCF, they were also stationed at other locations. During World War II they hauled suburban trains in Paris, which were now fewer but heavier. As early as 1947 they faced competition in the form of the A1AA1A 62000 series diesel locomotives and in 1957 only twelve were still in use. From 1957, five and soon eight were leased to coal mines in northern France. The last ones were withdrawn by 1966 after they had been replaced by the BB 63500.
