The Columbia 121 locomotive

Victor Forquenot de La Fortelle, an engineer at the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans, developed around 20 very powerful locomotives. The Columbia 121 belongs to a series that entered production in 1876. It was probably intended to pull fast trains such as the Paris-Bordeaux or the Southern Express, which had an average of speed of 73.2 km/h, making it France's quickest train at the time. Forquenot's 121, recognisable by its boiler plated in polished brass, proved to be of remarkable longevity. This one has been partly cut away to show the boiler's structure.