This locomotive, of 4-6-0 T type (one 4-wheeler leading bogie, 3 driving axles) was part of a class of 25 engines built in 1904 and 1909 for the Réseau Breton, a large network of meter gauge lines that served inland Britany.  Able to reach a speed of 55kph (34mph) thanks to their large 1,23m (4’) diameter wheels, they were mainly assigned to mixed (passenger/freight) services and to replacing railcars at peak periods.

Following closure of the Réseau Breton in 1967, E 332 was first preserved by the Blonay-Chamby heritage railway in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Ill-suited to steeply graded mountain lines, the engine saw little use and was sold to the CFBS in 2003.

E 332 is thus the second French steam locomotive repatriated from abroad by the CFBS, the first one being Cail 2-6-0 N° 2. Restoration work was carried out on E 332 in 2007 and 2008, and the engine was officially put into service for the 2009 Steam Gala.

This massive engine, among the largest ever built for French meter gauge lines, appears in Benoît Jacquot’s feature film “Le Journal d’une Femme de Chambre” (“The Diary of a Chamber-Maid”), released in 2015.

Some technical data:
- Empty weight: 33.500 t.
- Diameter of driving wheels: 1.230 m.
- Diameter of leading bogie wheels: 0.730 m.
- Boiler pressure: 12 kg/cm²
- Diameter of cylinders: 0.400 m.
- Piston stroke: 0.460 m.
- Surface of the grate: 1 m²
- Length: 9.450 m.
- Width: 2.700 m.
- Height: 3.400 m.
- Maximum commercial speed: 55kph (builder’s data)