Alioth Electric Company
The electricity company Alioth (EGA), based in Münchenstein, was a company in the electrical industry in Switzerland .
history
Rudolf Alioth founded an electrotechnical company together with Emil Bürgin in Basel in 1881 , which initially dealt with the manufacture of arc lamps , generators and electric motors . After disagreements with the city of Basel over the construction of an electrical supply network, the company moved its headquarters to nearby Münchenstein; after Bürgin's resignation, it has operated as the electricity company Alioth AG (EGA) since 1895. The design and manufacture of electrical equipment for railways quickly developed into their main subject . After Rudolf Alioth had gradually withdrawn from day-to-day business, the EGA merged with Brown, Boveri & Cie (BBC) in 1911 , which used the Alioth site in Münchenstein as a locomotive assembly facility until 1970.
meaning
The opening of the Gotthard Railway temporarily rounded off the Swiss long-distance network in 1882. However, important tasks arose in the area of the narrow-gauge branch lines. Unlike MFO and BBC, for example , Alioth did not undertake any experiments with high-voltage alternating current , but instead concentrated on further developing direct current railways. The decisive step was achieved from the weak two-axle tram car to a four-axle vehicle - with a mass of around 25 t, as it was understood at the time - which could not only serve as a passenger railcar but also as a replacement for locomotives .
The electric traction broke the restrictions of the steam train ( minimum radii of 100 m for meter gauge, maximum gradient 45 per thousand ) and opened up undreamt-of possibilities for economical, off-road routing with curve radii under 50 m and 70 per thousand incline. Such railways were now being built in all parts of Switzerland. Together with partner companies from the wagon construction industry , Alioth manufactured practical, reliable railcars. For many railways, EGA not only equipped the vehicles, but also planned and delivered all of the electrical systems: contact line , rectifier stations and, if necessary, the power station required to supply the railways .
BBC acquired this know-how by taking over EGA in 1911. BBC itself had only recently delivered its first direct current narrow-gauge railway, the Blenio Valley Railway, and the lack of experience was evident in some construction details. With the outbreak of war , the narrow-gauge railway boom ended abruptly; only a few projects that had been started were still completed. BBC was therefore unable to benefit from the takeover as expected.
See also: traction current
Manufacturing list
The Alioth electricity company supplied electrical systems and vehicles to the following railways. Unless otherwise stated, these are meter gauge railways in Switzerland. The series designation , manufacturer and year of construction are given for the vehicles .
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This list is probably incomplete, especially for trams. Additions are welcome. |
- Ce 2/2 1–7, MAN / Alioth 1897–1898
- Châtel-St-Denis - Palézieux (CP, today tpf )
- BCFe 4/4 1–2, SWS / Alioth 1901, later renumbered: CEG 8–9
- Montreux - Les Avants - Montbovon - Château-d'Oex - Gstaad - Zweisimmen - Lenk im Simmental ( MOB )
- BCFe 4/4 1 + 2, SIG / Alioth 1901
- BCe 4/4 3, SIG / Alioth 1901
- BCFe 4/4 4, SIG / Alioth 1903, originally a summer car
- BCFe 4/4 5 + 6, SIG / Alioth 1903
- BCFe 4/4 7-20, 1904 to 1906, SIG / Alioth number 11 as operable historical motor car in Blonay-Chamby get
- BCFe 4/4 21 + 22, SIG / Alioth 1908
- BFZe 4/4 23–26, SIG / Alioth 1912, number 26, not operational, today serves as a club for the Obersimmental-Saanenland model railway group in Saanen
- Ce 2/2 1-4, Bautzen / Alioth 1902
- Ce 2/2 5-6, SWS / Alioth 1905
The Birseckbahn served the EGA as a test and reference route with a works connection.
- Châtel-St-Denis - Bulle - Montbovon (CEG, today tpf)
- BCe 4/4 1–2, SWS / Alioth 1903
- BCFe 4/4 6-7, SWS / Alioth 1903
- CFe 4/4 11-12, SWS / Alioth 1903
- CFZe 4/4 13-14, SWS / Alioth 1904
- BCe 4/4 415–17 SWS / Alioth 1905, number 115 (ex 415) received several modifications
- Ge 2/2 501, CEG / Alioth 1913, with a spare bogie for the railcars, today number 12
- Ge 4/4 502–03, CEG / Alioth 1927–1933, with electrical equipment from discarded railcars, today number 13–14
- Tram Basel (B.St.B., today BVB )
- Ce 2/2 101-136, SWS / Alioth 1905-1908
- Ce 2/2 137, SWS / Alioth 1911, sample car for the following series
- Ce 2/2 138–151, SWS / BBC 1912
Siemens supplied the electrical equipment (550 V direct current) for the Basel tram, which opened on May 5, 1895 . With the wagons 101-136, the BStrB did not procure vehicles for the first time from “house suppliers”, which was a particular success for Alioth.
- Basel - Flüh ( BTB , today BLT)
- BCe 4/4 1–5, SWS / Alioth 1905
- BCe 4/4 6, SWS / Alioth 1908
- Tramway Altdorf - Flüelen (AF)
- Ce 2/2 1–4, MAN / Alioth 1906
- Aigle - Ollon - Monthey (AOM, today TPC )
- CFZe 2/4 1–3, Rastatt / Alioth 1907
- CFZe 4/4 11, SIG / Alioth 1909
- Munster - Col de la Schlucht ( MSchB )
- 3 BCFeh 4/4, SIG / SLM / Alioth
- 1 Ceh 2/2, SIG / SLM / Alioth
- Langenthal - Oensingen (LJB, today ASm )
- CFe 4/4 1–2, Ringhoffer / Alioth 1907, number 116 (ex 1) rebuilt 1978, nostalgic railcar
- Ce 2/2 11-12, Ringhoffer / Alioth 1907, number 12 in Blonay-Chamby get
- Fe 4/4 51, Ringhoffer / Alioth 1908
- Monthey - Champéry (MCM, now TPC)
- BCFeh 4/4 1–3, SIG / SLM / Alioth 1908
- BCFeh 4/4 6, SIG / SLM / Alioth 1909, today at Blonay – Chamby
- BCe 4/4 1–14, SIG / Alioth 1908–1909, later rebuilt, see RhB ABe 4/4 I
- BCFe 4/4 21–23, SIG / Alioth 1911, later rebuilt, see RhB ABe 4/4 I
- Fe 2/2 51 , SIG / Alioth 1909
- Ge 2/2 61-62 , SIG / Alioth 1911
- Lauterbrunnen - Grindelwald ( WAB )
- He 2/2 51-62, SLM / Alioth 1909-1910
- He 2/2 63, SLM / Alioth 1912
Locomotive 55 is a memorial in Münchenstein, numbers 51–54 are still with the WAB, 56–63 with the SPB , there also replicas 11-14 supplied by the BBC.
- Lugano - Tesserete ( LT )
- BCFe 4/4 1–3, SWS / Alioth 1909
- Dermulo - Fondo - Mendola ( FEAA , branch line of Ferrovia Trento-Malè )
Trentino , at the time Austria
- CFe 4/4 4, Nesselsdorf / Alioth 1910, 1934 to Rittner Bahn , where it was kept operational as railcar 105 "Alioth"
- Tram Lugano (TEL)
- Ce 2/2 1–9, SWS / Alioth 1910
- Altstätten - Gais (AG, today AB )
- CFeh 3/3 1–3, SIG / SLM / Alioth 1911, number 2 (later 17) kept running (Verein AG2), gear drive removed, number 3 on display in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
- Lugano - Ponte Tresa ( FLP )
- BCe 4/4 1–3, SWS / Alioth 1912, number 3 obtained from SEFT-FM
Although the delivery was carried out by BBC after the company merger, the vehicles had "Alioth" factory signs.
PLM Paris – Lyon – Mediterranée (Cannes – Grasse route)
- 1910: 2-part test locomotive (standard gauge) for alternating current 12 kV / 25 Hz, Auvert & Ferrand system with rotating converters alternating current / direct current (2 × 600 kW, 136 t)
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Projects not executed
- Aigle - Sépey - Diablerets (ASD, today TPC)
Alioth had planned the electrical systems for this runway. After the merger that took place in 1911, however, BBC showed no interest in carrying out the contract; AEG Berlin finally got it .
The concession for an electric Furka train, which was granted to Alioth and Roland Zehnder, the directors of the MOB, in 1908 did not come to fruition because the French investors changed the plans massively. Instead, the Furka Railway was built as a steam train for mixed operation, adhesion and rack abt.
Web links
- Kaspar Birkhäuser : Alioth, Ludwig Rudolf. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Electricity Museum Münchenstein
- Alioth In: Online archive catalog of the State Archives Basel-Stadt
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data from
- Peter Willen: Locomotives and railcars of the Swiss railways. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Wiesbaden, 1976ff.
- Hans G. Wägli: Swiss Rail Network . AS-Verlag, Zurich 1998, ISBN 3-905111-21-7 .