BLS F 2x3 / 3
| F 2x3 / 3 / Ce 6/6 | |
|---|---|
 Company photo MFO
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| Numbering: | 121 |
| Number: | 1 |
| Manufacturer: | SLM , MFO |
| Year of construction (s): | 1910 |
| Retirement: | 1968 |
| Axis formula : | C'-C ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over buffers: | 15,020 mm |
| Height: | 3'740 mm (top edge of the roof) |
| Width: | 2,950 mm |
| Trunnion Distance: | 5,200 mm |
| Bogie axle base: | 4,050 mm |
| Fixed wheelbase: | 4,050 mm |
| Total wheelbase: | 10,700 mm |
| Service mass: | 86 t / 90 t |
| Friction mass: | 86 t / 90 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 15 t / 15.5 t |
| Top speed: | 70 km / h, later 60 km / h |
| Hourly traction: | 13,000 kg (maximum value) |
| Continuous tensile force: | 10,000 kg |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1350 mm |
| Power system : | 15,000 volts 15 Hz, later adapted to the standard of 16.7 Hz |
| Power transmission: | Pantograph |
| Number of traction motors: | 2 (a 1000 hp) |
The F 2 × 3/3 , later also Fc 2 × 3/3, was an alternating current powered electric locomotive from the Oerlikon machine factory . In 1910 she was delivered with the address F 2 × 3/3 and the road number 121 to the Bernese Alpine Railway Company Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS). With the introduction of the new designations for electric locomotives , which was decided shortly thereafter, the designation was changed to Ce 6/6 . The locomotive kept road number 121 all the time, even after it was sold to the Bern-Neuchâtel-Bahn in 1928 .
The locomotive was delivered as a test locomotive from Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon for the test route Spiez - Frutigen in July 1910 and taken over after it had been tested. At the same time, it was the first AC locomotive capable of running on the main line in Switzerland . It was therefore the first locomotive in Switzerland that, in terms of power and speed, was intended to be used on a steeply inclined route designed for national and international through traffic, and not previously on branch lines like the first three-phase electric locomotives low performance requirements ( Burgdorf-Thun-Bahn ) or a route without significant gradients as in the Simplon tunnel .
General
In order to clarify which type of locomotive should be procured for the Lötschbergbahn , the management decided in the winter of 1907/08 to electrify the Spiez - Frutigen section (formerly Spiez-Frutigen-Bahn ) immediately in order to gain experience when the mountain line was completed of electric traction. In the spring of 1908, based on the offers received, it was decided to electrify the line with single-phase alternating current of 15,000 volts and 15 periods / second (Hertz). The system was later adapted to this frequency when the administrations of Prussia, Bavaria and Baden decided to use 16 2/3 Hz.
The systems were designed in such a way that no reconstruction work would have to be carried out as soon as the line could be used continuously to Brig . As a result, they were actually oversized for the trial operation.
The supply of electrical energy was transferred to the Bernese power plants . They expanded their existing plant in Spiez and, with a view to the opening of the mountain route, built a power station near Kandergrund , which was completed in 1911.
A catenary with chain suspension was chosen.
In addition to the MFO machine described, there was also an AEG type F 2x2 / 3 locomotive and three type Ce railcars from the Elektrischen Bahnen Zürich, a joint venture between Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon and Siemens-Schuckert-Werke in cooperation with the Schlieren wagon factory 2/4 involved.
Requirement profile
The locomotive was required to be able to travel at 42 km / h for one hour on a gradient of 27 per thousand with a trailer load of 310 tons and on 15.5 per thousand with a trailer load of 500 tons. The acceleration should still be 0.05 m / s² at this load. This results in a necessary hourly output of 2000 HP on the bike and a pulling force on the towing hook of 10,000 kg, or 13,000 kg when starting. The minimum curve radius that had to be negotiated without any problems was 180 meters, the maximum permissible axle pressure 15 tons. The locomotive was able to comply with these values or provide them during load test drives.
Technical
The locomotive was manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO), in collaboration with the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory (SLM) in Winterthur.
It was an electric locomotive that consisted of two three-axle bogies connected to the car body . The pull and bumpers were attached to the bogie, and there was a sturdy, low-slung side member between the two bogies. The actual car body was thus decoupled from pulling and pushing forces. It is therefore a hybrid between a frame locomotive and a bogie locomotive . That is why it was given the original designation 2x3 / 3, as it was also common for articulated steam locomotives with the wheel arrangement (C) (C) (a real bogie locomotive would have the wheel arrangement designation C'C '). Each bogie had a single drive motor. The SLM helical rod drive was used, which drove the three axes via a jackshaft and coupling rods. According to the construction newspaper of 1911, the locomotive weighed 86 tons, of which 42 tons were attributed to the electrical equipment, the remaining 44 tons to the mechanical equipment. The first and sixth axles had an axle pressure of 13 tons, axles two to five of 15 tons. However, there is also information about a weight of 90 tons, of which 46 tons are included in the electrical equipment, the remaining 44 tons in the mechanical equipment. This is likely to have increased the axle load by not quite 0.5 tonnes. This weight increase will mainly be related to the replacement of the controller and the transformer.
The maximum speed was subsequently limited to 60 km / h, as the locomotive was no longer sufficiently manoeuvrable in curves at high speeds. During the test drives, however, the planned 70 km / h were reached. The faster it drove, the stiffer it became, and the inherent resistance also increased. That was the weak point of the whole construction. This was mainly attributed to the lack of a moving leading running axle.
Mechanical part
The two bogies were designed like a frame locomotive with an inner frame. One side of the stiffened sheet metal frame carried the buffer beam for the normal pulling and pushing device. The two were connected by a pivot pin that could move in all directions with a longitudinal beam. The car body was screwed onto this side member and was also supported on two pans on each of the bogies. The heavy electrical components such as the transformers and auxiliary machines were also attached directly above the solebar. This meant that the actual car body could be implemented very easily. The entire car body was designed as a self-supporting sheet metal construction.
The car body consisted of two driver's cabs with a small upstream transition platform and an engine room. The driver's cabs each had four doors, three of which led outside, the fourth into the engine room. In the middle of the front side was the door that led to the transition platform, slightly offset from the center. There were also three windows, the two outer ones on the slightly sloping, but vertical, cab front. The third, with the window in the front door, formed the middle of the windshield. On both sides a door with a lowerable pane led to the three-step staircase with handrails. The engine room had six windows on each side, the middle four of which could be opened. In the engine room there was an easily accessible passage on one side, which was accessible from both sides via a door from the driver's cab; The opposite side was also accessible, but the side between the engine and auxiliary machine had to be changed. The accessible floor of the car was covered with pitch pine and linoleum . There were cutouts in the floor of the car for the two engines. The engines did not have a cover and were therefore accessible from all sides while driving. Only the transformers and high-voltage equipment were protected with iron grids. The doors mounted in it were locked so that they could only be opened when the pantograph was lowered. When these doors were unlocked, the high-voltage side was also connected to earth. The roof had three openings that could be closed by large flaps. These were arranged in such a way that the traction motors and transformers could be lifted out with a crane. The frame with the pantograph, which had to be removed to open, was located above the ceiling flaps for the traction motors. The engines were also accessible by lifting the box and pulling out the bogies.
After removing the upper half of the stator, the motor shaft could be extended upwards out of the bogie. The jackshaft could be extended downwards. The toothed piston, forged from one piece, weighing around 40 tons, was pressed firmly onto the motor shaft. The large gear on the jackshaft was on a cast steel star and was rolled as a bandage. A wave-shaped toothing was chosen. This consisted of three legs abutting at 45 ° with rounded apexes. The gears were made by the Citroën company in Paris. Such angular gears were the production focus of the later automobile manufacturer at that time. These teeth were milled with a so-called thumb mill. With the choice of angular gearing, together with the precise and rigid mounting of both axes, a very low-noise transmission that avoids force peaks was achieved.
The new wheelsets had a running circle diameter of 1,350 mm. The wheel tires were mounted on a wheel disc with spokes. The wheel disks each had a crank pin with the corresponding counterweight. They were drawn up offset by 90 °. The inner bearing was designed as a slide bearing and had leaf springs below. The middle ends of the spring were connected to a compensating lever.
The three wheel sets in each bogie were connected to each other on both sides with a coupling rod with a central joint. The innermost set of wheels was connected to the slotted bar and also to the jackshaft, which was 265 mm higher. The innermost wheel set was thus the actual drive wheel set, while the other sets were coupled wheel sets. The wheel sets had no lateral play, so the fixed wheelbase was 4,500 mm. The distance between the wheelsets was 2,250 mm between the first and second wheelsets under the engine and 1,800 mm between the second and third wheelsets. The two outer wheel sets had wheel flange lubrication . The middle wheel set had a sand spreader on the inside of the wheels . The four sand pipes obtained their sand from a shared heated sandpit.
The pivot was shifted inward off-center of the bogie so that the distance between the pivot pins was 5,200 mm, but the two innermost wheelsets were 2,600 mm away.
Electrical part
A twelve-pole, compensated series-wound motor was used, which transferred its hourly output of 1000 hp with a gear ratio of 1: 3.25 to the jackshaft. The stator was designed in two parts, so the upper half could be lifted off to remove the rotor . The cast steel housing was designed to be open because the engine was designed so that it did not have to be ventilated. Like the transformer, it could be operated even if the ventilation failed. With the ventilation switched on, the hourly output of 1000 hp (without ventilation) could also be achieved as a continuous output. The air duct was not connected to the engine during the test drives. It is unclear whether the planned ventilation of the engine was ever set up. The stator winding consists of the excitation and compensation windings, which overlap by half a pole spacing. Inside the compensation winding, there is the helical field winding on each tooth, the current of which has been shifted in phase by a non-inductive resistor connected in parallel. This resistor was installed in the bogie under the engine. The grooves of the stator iron are evenly distributed and half closed. They are set at a slight angle, by a partial step of the rotor, in order to prevent the generation of a harmonic in the voltage curve.
Two transformers with a continuous output of 1000 kVA were also installed. The circuit of the transformers was set up so that the locomotive could be operated either with transformers connected in parallel below 7,500 volts or with transformers connected in series below 15,000 volts. Although the transformers had artificial ventilation, they could also be operated without it.
The fan for the ventilation consisted of a 10 HP series motor that drove a Sulzer low-pressure fan. This sucked in the air from the engine room and drove it into a channel that ran along the wall on the floor. The two wide connection ducts led from these to the transformers. At both ends of the channel there were openings to which the motors could be connected if necessary. Seen in this way, it was more of an air circulation device in the engine room than a real forced ventilation. Especially before the fact that all ventilated parts could be operated without any real restrictions.
The automatic high-voltage oil switch is also the main switch of the locomotive. This is controlled by a release magnet. It can be controlled manually from the driver's cab or automatically from the two monitoring relays (zero and overvoltage). The lightning protection device and a choke coil are located between the pantograph and the main switch. The voltage selector switch was located between the main switch and the transformers. The actual motor control is located on the low-voltage side of the transformer.
The tap changer was remotely controlled from the driver's cab. A multiple control was not built in. The MFO roller step switch was switched up or down by a full turn of the crank handle. It took 15 turns of the crank to shift the rear derailleur. The fast switching down or switching off was only possible by turning off the main switch. The main switch could only be switched on if the step switch was in the zero position and a travel direction was set. The feedback was given by a pointer, which shows the activated level on a dial from 1 to 14 to the engine driver. The corresponding contactors are then activated and the traction motors fed in according to the respective roller position of the main switching roller . The direction of travel is set using a shift drum; this is controlled via a switch in the driver's cab. The set direction is indicated to the engine driver via a lamp. At the same time, the guide roller was also released. The travel direction switch was mechanically locked as soon as the guide roller left the zero position. The cumbersome MFO roller step switch was replaced by an SAAS hopper control as early as 1929 .
The locomotive was commissioned in the following steps. There was no control circuit switch, so the locomotive control was always under voltage. The first pantograph was lifted with a hand pump. When the zero voltage relay indicated sufficient voltage, the main switch could be operated using the switch on the driver's desk. This also activated the automatically operating auxiliary services such as the air compressor. Then the second pantograph could be lifted. Driving with two pantographs was common at BLS until the introduction of the double contact strip in 1940.
The locomotive had electrical heating for the two driver's cabs and the sandboxes. There were three 500 watt radiators in each driver's cab. The electric train heater was designed for a voltage of 300 volts and could transmit 100 kW. The train busbar could optionally be fed from one of the two transformers.
A converter group with an output of 1.2 kW generated the direct current that was required for control and battery charging. The two lead batteries each consisted of 18 elements and thus generated 36 volts. They had a capacity of 81 ampere hours . Switching between charging and discharging of the battery took place via an automatic switching device.
The locomotive had full electric lighting, and the headlights were also electric. Two petroleum signal lamps were carried along for emergencies.
Brakes
There was only a purely mechanical brake in the form of brake blocks and no electrical brake. This mechanical brake could be operated either by the automatic air brake or by hand.
Each wheel was braked on one side with a double brake block. This brake block was located on the side of the wheel facing away from the engine. All three brake triangles were pressed using the same brake linkage. The linkage was adjusted so that each brake block could generate a contact pressure corresponding to the effect of 4.5 tons. This was activated either by the brake cylinder with a diameter of 330 mm or by the handbrake in the driver's cab above. The brake cylinder was supported by a pneumatic brake of the type Westinghouse driven. Two compressors were installed to generate the air, an axle compressor and an electrically driven piston air pump. Both were designed so that they were able to cover the air requirements of the locomotive alone. The main air reservoir was located under the side member between the axles.
Conversions
The MFO roller step switch was replaced in 1929 by an SAAS hopper control. The two air transformers were replaced by a single oil transformer in 1931 because they were prone to flashovers. In 1959 a pantograph was removed without replacement and a new compressed air main switch installed. A new compressor was also installed.
Operational
The locomotive was used in regular train service until 1968. With the electrification of the other lines of the BLS Group, it was no longer often used on the Lötschberg mountain line, but mostly on the other, flatter routes, mostly as a freight locomotive, but also in front of passenger trains if necessary, as it has 15 tons of axle pressure could be used more freely than the more powerful Be 5/7 , which were the actual mountain locomotive motifs for the Lötschberg. Since it was also a unique piece, this change is understandable.
It was mainly used on the Thun-Interlaken route from 1920 and is said to have been used on the mountain route for the last time in 1924. In 1928 it came to the Bern-Neuchâtel Railway , where it was used as a freight locomotive.
The last trip, however, took them again over the Lötschberg. It led the SBB's superstructure measuring car from Spiez to Brig. On July 10, 1968, it was handed over to the scrap dealer. During her 57 years of service, she covered 1,698,262 kilometers.
Whereabouts
The locomotive was scrapped, but the complete bogie 2 has been preserved. This was included in the collection of the Verkehrshaus Luzern and is displayed in the permanent exhibition in the rail hall.
literature
- Claude Jeanmaire: The electric and diesel traction vehicles of Swiss railways. Eleventh part: Spiez – Frutigen railway (= archive . No. 59 ). Verlag Eisenbahn, Villigen AG 1992, ISBN 3-85649-059-0 , p. 119 ff .
- The electric locomotives of the Bernese Alpine Railway . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 55 , no. 15 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-28690 .
- Walter Trüb: 100 years of electric railways in Switzerland . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1988, ISBN 3-280-01760-2 , p. 103-104 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Electrification of Spiez-Frutigen Railway . In: Electric Railway Journal . tape 33 . McGraw Hill Pub. Co, New York June 1909, pp. 232 ( archive.org ).
- ↑ a b Walter Trüb 100 years of electric railways in Switzerland
