The CC 40101 locomotive presented at the Cité du Train-Patrimoine SNCF is part of a series of 10 SNCF four-voltage dual current electric machines manufactured between 1964 and 1969. The CC 40100s were designed for international services between France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Their small size was even intended to allow them to reach London via the planned Channel Tunnel. The new silhouette of the CC 40100 inaugurated the so-called “broken nose” profile with an inverted windscreen, designed by Paul Arzens, which was subsequently applied to several other series.