Description
Marc de Caso, designer of the 232U1 pictured here, likened the decorative metalwork on his engine to a stylized bird, in fact a ‘chant du cygne’ – swan song. There could have been no more appropriate epithet for this locomotive, which was one of the final high points of French steam. She was built in 1949 as a one-off, and is seen here leaving the Gare du Nord on an international express.
