Paul Arzens

Paul Arzens (28 August 1903 – 2 February 1990) was a French industrial designer of railway locomotives and motor cars.

Arzens was born in Paris, at an address along the on the northern side of the city. This gave him enough time to pursue other interests in the realms of engineering and design. As his life progressed he accumulated a large collection of his own paintings and gained a reputation for an acute reluctance to sell any.

Cars In 1935, Arzens turned his interests to automobile engineering. He designed and constructed a six-speed automatic transmission that he installed in an old Chrysler and which worked.

Rail locomotives In 1947 Paul Arzens was placed on the payroll of the French National Railway Company (SNCF) and his first commission for them dates from that same year. Arzens was behind the designs of the BB and CC locomotives and their numerous derivatives which would together dominate the French railway network during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

One of his earlier designs was for the smooth fronted CC7100 series. It was one of these, the CC7107, which broke the electric train speed record in 1955. The record would stand until broken by a TGV in 1981. Arzens was also behind the reverse sloping front window characteristic of the "Nez Cassé" series of locomotives, which he said had been inspired by the form of a "sprinter on the starting block".