French inventor Heilmann's steam-electric locomotive from 1897

Heilmann's steam-electric locomotive looked surprisingly modern.

This is one of French inventor Jean Jacques Heilmann's two steam-electric locomotives built in 1897 for the French  Chemin de Fer de l'Ouest company. Although the trains did not reach mass production, they can be considered the precursors of later diesel-electric locomotives and other self powered locomotives which use an electric transmission.