Born a few days before the BB 12000's with which they share the same bodywork, if one excludes some differences on the height of the louvres, the BB 13000's, were used in the same way but were confined to the east of France. Having a single cab and equipped with the Jacquemin bogies similar to BB 9004, these locos were divided into two sub-classes: one limited to 105 and the other to 120 km/h. It is interesting that the second sub-class was partly conceived in Switzerland by the famous Oerlikon company located in the suburbs of Zurich.

The first locos were delivered in 1954 to Mohon depot and from the start were assigned to freight traffic on the Valenciennes-Thionville line alongside the BB 12000, DC 14000 and 14100 with which they rid the route of steam traction. All the locos were quickly transferred to Strasbourg depot and then hauled lengthy express trains between the capital and Strasbourg.

Weight