Single-phase alternating current test operation Seebach-Wettingen

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Test route Seebach – Wettingen
Locomotives of the trial operation: on the left No. 3 from Siemens-Schuckertwerke, then machines 1 and 2 built by MFO.
Locomotives of the trial operation: on the left No. 3 from
Siemens-Schuckertwerke , then machines 1 and 2 built by MFO
.
Route length: 19.45 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system : 15 kV 50/15 Hz  ~
Legend
Route - straight ahead
 from Winterthur
Station, station
 23.30 Seebach 442 m above sea level M.
Station, station
 26.32 Affoltern 456 m above sea level M.
Station, station
 29.49 Regensdorf - Watt 441 m above sea level M.
Station, station
 32.72 Buchs - Dällikon 424 m above sea level M.
   
 from Niederglatt
Station, station
 36.52 Otelfingen 427 m above sea level M.
Station, station
 39.05 Würenlos 420 m above sea level M.
   
 from Zurich
Station, station
 42.74 Wettingen 388 m above sea level M.
   
 to Basel

With the single-phase alternating current test operation Seebach-Wettingen , the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) demonstrated the suitability of single-phase alternating current with high voltage for rail operation over long distances. To do this, MFO electrified the 19.45 kilometer long SBB Seebach – Wettingen route with 15,000 volts single-phase alternating current at its own expense.

history

On the test track, rail engines were operated directly with single-phase alternating current for the first time , with the contact line being fed with 15,000 volts 15 Hertz . With this system, but with 16⅔ instead of 15 Hertz, the railways in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden were later electrified.

The test route was operated from 1905 to 1909 and provided evidence of the construction of an overhead line and a pantograph type that allow operation with overhead line voltages of 15,000 volts. Because of the high voltage of the overhead lines, the passenger cars , which were still wooden at the time, were fitted with a device that protected passengers from the consequences of touching overhead lines hanging down. However, the system of side contact lines favored by the MFO did not catch on.

Trial operation with 15,000 volts 50 Hertz

MFO locomotive no. 1 as an Umfomer locomotive with pantograph. The hoop pantographs were not installed at that time.
Locomotive No. 1 as a converter locomotive, covered and without transformers. The rotating converter in the middle of the machine can be clearly seen .

At the suggestion of the MFO, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) agreed on May 31, 1902 to set up a test operation on the Seebach – Wettingen line with a single-phase alternating current of 15,000 volts. This system allowed a higher overhead line voltage than was usual at that time and thus a greater distance between the substations as well as a single-pole instead of a two-pole catenary as on the lines in northern Italy, which were then successfully operated with three-phase current , and on the Burgdorf-Thun Railway . Even with direct current railways , the voltage could not be increased at will, which restricted the efficiency of the direct current system.

Since the traction motors could not be operated with single-phase alternating current with the technology of that time, the MFO initially built the four-axle test locomotive No. 1 with a rotating converter that converted the overhead line voltage of 15,000 volts alternating current into direct current for the operation of the traction motors. Even before the test section went into operation, the MFO completed the side contact line for the approximately 700 meter long connecting track between its factory site and the Seebach station , and then started the test drives with the converter locomotive.

On January 16, 1905, the regular test drives between Seebach and Affoltern began with a timetable set by the SBB. The converter locomotive No. 1 was used for these journeys until November 10, 1905.

Trial operation with 15 instead of 50 Hertz

Locomotive MFO No. 2, the first locomotive operated with low-frequency single-phase alternating current, with bow and rod pantographs.
Bogie of locomotives No. 1 and 2 with 250 HP engine.

However, the operation with the converter locomotive did not last long. As early as the summer of 1904, the MFO had the locomotive with the number 2 , whose motors are operated directly with alternating current, but with 15 instead of 50 Hertz . Thanks to the reduced frequency as well as the reversing pole and compensation winding , the single-phase series motor developed by Hans Behn-Eschenburg at MFO has similar properties to a DC motor , which means that the brush fire is no greater than with other rail motors .

Rail operations at 50 Hertz led to severe disruptions on the Zurich - Baden telephone line , which ran parallel to the railway line for a while. Just reducing the frequency to 15 Hertz led to an improvement. The replacement of the motor armature with large, open grooves by ones with closed and inclined grooves and the crossing or twisting of the wires of the telephone line made the impairments disappear.

In the mechanical part, the direct-engine locomotive No. 2 - apart from two driver's cabs instead of just one driver's cab - corresponds to the converter locomotive No. 1.

The power supply was switched from 50 Hertz to 15 Hertz on November 11, 1905, and locomotive No. 2 took over the train transport. So that the locomotive No. 1 could continue to be used, its engines were replaced for operation at 15 Hertz and the converter was removed. The two locomotives thus became the model for the low-frequency alternating current powered locomotives , as they were built in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden until the 1970s. The trial operation was extended to Regensdorf on June 2, 1906 .

For financial reasons, the MFO agreed to Siemens-Schuckertwerke's proposal to participate in the further tests with a third locomotive. The locomotive no. 3 was delivered on August 3, 1907, and on October 7, 1907 kollaudiert . The rail motors on this machine were cooled with compressed air , which was unusual in Switzerland at the time. In view of the limited power supply, only four traction motors were installed.

Power generation

Inside view of the converter station that converted the electricity from 50 to 15 Hertz.

A small steam power plant was built at Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon to supply the energy required for the Seebach – Wettingen route. The tubular boilers in which the steam for the turbine was generated had a heating surface of 300 m² each and an output of 18,000 kilograms of steam per hour. The three-stage steam turbine made 3000 revolutions per minute. The three-phase current generated had a voltage of 230 volts and a frequency of 50 Hertz, taking into account the factory's existing power station . The converter station with alternating current buffering was housed in a special building that was located near the steam turbine system. The two converter groups had an output of 700 and 500 kilowatts. The backup battery with 375 elements had a capacity of 592 ampere hours. Adjacent to the engine room was the transformer room, in which four transformers increased the voltage of the single-phase current from 700 to 15,000 volts.

Catenary

Rod contact line system MFO near Seebach
Transition from the rod and stirrup line. On the right the telephone line leading from Zurich to Baden , on which there were considerable disruptions in the 50 Hertz railway.

The MFO tested the simple and inexpensive side contact line (rod line) on the section from Seebach to Regensdorf. The pantograph attached to the roof of the locomotive, the so-called rod, consisted of a slightly curved tube with an exchangeable contact strip. The rod was pressed against the contact wire with spring force and could describe more than a semicircle, so that it was possible to brush the contact wire from above, from the side or from below. Usually the contact line was arranged to the side of the track. This developed lateral contact line was used on the Locarno-Ponte Brolla-Bignasco-Bahn (Maggia Valley Railway ). It did not prove itself at speeds over 50 km / h.

Siemens-Schuckertwerke equipped the section from Regensdorf to Wettingen with an overhead line , which has become the standard for railways and trams , so that operations could begin on December 1, 1907. When leaving the Regensdorf station, the overhead line ran around 400 meters parallel to the rod line so that the pantograph could be changed during the journey. The contact wire was six meters above the top of the rail above the center of the track. To test a low contact wire height in tunnels and underpasses, the contact wire between Otelfingen and Würenlos was laid just 4.8 meters above the rails over a distance of one kilometer. The pantograph could be used for both directions of travel and could follow differences in height of the contact line even at high speeds. The pantograph was raised with compressed air .

Cessation of trial operation

Engine shed in Seebach with engine no.1.

From July 4, 1909, the Seebach – Wettingen line was operated again with steam locomotives and the overhead lines dismantled. Because the low-incline branch line was not suitable for economical electrical island operation , the SBB could not decide to take over the electrical operation of this route. The two still existing locomotives No. 1 and 2 were initially parked and could be sold to the SBB in 1919. Later they came to the Bodensee-Toggenburg Railway or the Sensetal Railway . Machine no. 3 returned to Berlin and was converted into a direct current locomotive there. In 1944 it was destroyed in a bomb attack.

Despite the cessation of operations, the attempt was a success. As early as 1907, the Maggia Valley Railway started operations with the BCFe 4/4 multiple units for 5000 volts at 20 Hertz supplied by MFO . In July 1910, the Berner Alpenbahn-Gesellschaft Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon (BLS) opened its test route Spiez - Frutigen with 15,000 volts at 15 Hertz. In 1913, Prussia , Bavaria and Baden jointly set the traction current frequency to 16⅔ Hz, to which the BLS also adjusted its frequency. On July 15, 1913, BLS began continuous operation of Spiez and Brig with 15,000 volts and 16⅔ Hertz. In the same year, the Rhaetian Railway opened its Engadine route with 16⅔ Hertz, but with a voltage of only 11,000 volts. Since July 7, 1919, the SBB's locomotives have been running on their feeder line from Bern to Thun to the Lötschberg line with 15,000 volts at 16 ⅔ Hertz, and since May 28, 1922, the trains on the SBB's Gotthard line have been running continuously electrically.

See also

→ Article MFO Fc 2x2 / 2 for the test locomotives No. 1 and 2

swell

  • Emil Huber: Electric traction on normal railways: execution of a lecture. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung (SBZ). (Archived in E-Periodica of the ETH-Bibliothek):
    Part I. In: SBZ, Volume 39 (1902), Issue 10 (PDF, 1.6 MB)
    Part II. In: SBZ, Volume 39 (1902), Issue 11 (PDF, 6.8 MB)
    Part III and conclusion. In: SBZ, Volume 39 (1902), Issue 12 (PDF, 3.8 MB)

Web links

Commons : Single-phase alternating current test operation Seebach-Wettingen  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hans Schneeberger: The electric and diesel traction vehicles of the SBB, Volume I: Years 1904–1955 . Minirex AG, Lucerne 1995, ISBN 3-907014-07-3
  2. ↑ Leo Koch: The development of the electric locomotive from 1879 to 1987. (PDF) Retrieved on June 1, 2016 .
  3. ↑ The Valle Maggia Railway . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung (SBZ), Volume 51 (1908), Issue 6. (archived in E-Periodica of the ETH Library. PDF, 4.7 MB)