200 mph in Europe 60 years ago?
Not quite.
Post WW II rail in Europe was dominated by express trains running between 90 and 110 mph. The legend of affordable, fast European rail was built on these trains.
The fastest and most widely used of the day were the A4s which ran until the mid 1960s. They had a top speed of 126 mph that left the record holding engine damaged. They could do 100 mph with a full train on a regular schedule. The last, the Perigrine, retired in 1966.
Many diesel/electrics built in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were capable of doing better than 120 mph, but none were verified faster than one that did 148 mph in 1987.
There was the electric French Jeumont-Schneider BB 9004 that did 206 mph in 1955 pulling only 3 cars. It was incapable of doing over 200 mph with a full size train. The 206 mph run was a publicity stunt. Only 2 were ever built.
200 mph was not broken by a train again until the first TVG in 1981 did 236 mph. It was the first train model that could do just over 200 mph on a regular basis.
