Locomotive depot
A locomotive depot or depot in Switzerland is a facility for the operation, maintenance, overhaul and accommodation of locomotives . For a long time, the locomotive drivers were based there.
history
In the days of steam locomotives, which required a supply of coal and water and additional locomotives on mountain routes, the locations of the depots had to be chosen so that the machines there could supplement their supplies for a long journey up the mountain. The Gotthard locomotive SBB C 5/6 , for example, required 18 tons of water and eight tons of coal.
Fewer depots were needed for the electric locomotives; they were built where the locomotives were needed. These were the endpoints of the routes, the terminal stations . The depot and its size had to match the route. The Gotthard Railway with the Immensee – Chiasso line with a length of 206 km had three depots, the Lötschberg Railway with 84 km had two depots.
The depots are located in the immediate vicinity of a train station, but are separate facilities. The large depots that manage themselves are known as depot inspections, the smaller ones as secondary depots. The small depots often only consist of a locomotive depot , a garage for the locomotives. Small maintenance and simple repairs are carried out here. At the larger depots, there are also washing facilities for the locomotives and railroad cars, workshop and service buildings.
Maintenance systems are depots built according to modern standards. They are often considered a service station . The multiple units travel as a whole train to the maintenance facility, which means that access is accelerated. The previous washrooms therefore had to be lengthened to form long washing lines.
For heavy maintenance, there are industrial plants where major damage is repaired or a general overhaul is carried out. An industrial plant can be compared to a locomotive factory, it is capable of building new locomotives. Because used machines are overhauled here, it is maintenance and not new construction.
A major overhaul is due every 600,000 to 800,000 kilometers on a locomotive. The main revisions are as follows: R1 is the first and smallest scheduled revision. R2 (traction motor revision) takes place in the scope of an R1 revision with an additional drive revision. R3 is a heavy maintenance after 3,200,000 kilometers or 25 to 30 years. The vehicles are dismantled and reassembled.
Gotthard Railway
The Gotthard Railway depots were built in Erstfeld , Biasca and Bellinzona . Their location was determined at the time of the steam locomotives. They are located near steep sections. Additional locomotives were provided there for the ascent. There is a main workshop in the Bellinzona locomotive depot. A secondary depot was built in Lucerne based on the principles of the flat railway.
Arth-Goldau
The Arth-Goldau train station is a junction on the Gotthard axis, where the lines from Lucerne - Basel and Zug - Zurich meet, and since 1875 the cog railway to the Rigi and the Südostbahn (SOB) via Sattel . Because the Gotthard Railway originally planned its station in Arth-Sonnenberg, the Arth-Rigi-Bahn built the station building, depot and workshops in Oberarth. With the development of Goldau into a railway junction, the ARB depot and workshops were relocated to Goldau.
In 1882 the first junction was created with the Gotthard Railway, which came from Immensee and went south. In 1891 the Saturday line was added. Three railway companies, the ARB, the SOB and the Gotthard Railway, were involved in these three railway lines. In 1897 the line came from Zug. The Gotthard Railway was given a secondary depot in Goldau, which included a coach house with three stands and a turntable .
Bellinzona
The Bellinzona railway station was the nerve center of the Gotthard railway in Ticino. With its main workshop, the depot played a special role and was comparable to the Erstfeld depot. In the 1970s, a new depot with modern maintenance facilities (long hall for shuttle trains) was built, which could maintain entire trains. The most modern SBB locomotives were repeatedly stationed in the Bellinzona depot inspection. In 1988 these were: 18 SBB Re 4/4 I , four SBB Ee 3/3 IV , three SBB Bm 6/6 , one SBB Tm IV , 46 SBB Re 6/6 , three SBB Eem 6/6, four SBB Em 3 / 3 , nine SBB Ee 3/3 , nine SBB Bm 4/4 , one SBB Tm III (depot) .
Biasca
The Ticino valley railways were opened in 1874 . The depot of the Biasca train station was able to take over operations before the one in Bellinzona. The depot at the northern end of the valley railways was able to cover the routes that were already in operation.
For the Gotthard Base Tunnel , SBB has set up a maintenance and intervention center (EIZ) each in Erstfeld and Biasca. In the event of an incident, the fire and rescue trains leave the two locations.
Chiasso
When the Gotthard Railway opened, no depot was created at Chiasso station , although it was its terminus and here the Gotthard Railway changed locomotives for those of the Italian Railway . Later Chiasso got a secondary depot with a turntable, coach house, warehouse and service building, which was managed from Bellinzona. As a border depot to another electricity system, its justification is not likely to be in question in modern freight traffic.
Erstfeld
The depot (turntables, depot, service building, small workshop) at Erstfeld station has existed since the Gotthard Railway was founded and has been repeatedly adapted to meet requirements. With the conversion to electric locomotives in 1922, the remise hall that still exists today was added to the old steam locomotive cremise. The main task of the Erstfeld depot to provide the locomotives for the additional pushing or pre-tensioning service was eliminated in the early 1990s due to today's block trains.
The most modern and powerful locomotives were stationed in Erstfeld. In 1988 these were: 17 SBB Re 4/4 III , six SBB Ee 3/3, 28 SBB Re 6/6 , one SBB Bm 4/4 , 27 SBB Ae 6/6 , four Rotary snow blowers . The first rotary steam blower from 1896 is still in working order in the Lucerne Museum of Transport .
With the division of SBB into the three units of infrastructure, passenger transport and cargo, the Erstfeld depot went to the Cargo division. In 2004 the cargo depot was relocated to Arth-Goldau. With the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel , the depot was closed as a deployment point for train drivers.
A new hall was built for the tunnel rescue and maintenance vehicles of the maintenance and intervention center (EIZ) stationed there. The large locomotive hall of the depot was designated in 2002 by SBB Historic as the outdoor station of the Lucerne Museum of Transport. The SBB Historic Team Erstfeld association looks after the rolling stock of the historic Erstfeld depot.
Lucerne
The first train trains arrived at Lucerne station in 1859. As a terminus, he received a first depot. With the opening of the Gotthard line, the Gotthard trains came to Lucerne, where their locomotives were replaced with those of the Swiss Central Railway . The narrow-gauge route of the Brünigbahn also led to Lucerne. Because Lucerne is the only SBB depot with different gauges, two separate depots (service building, depot, workshop, turntable) were built for the Lucerne depot inspection. The washing facility for trains could be used by narrow-gauge and standard-gauge vehicles. The assigned locomotives were in 1988: 35 SBB Re 4/4 II , 13 SBB Ee 3/3, 21 SBB RBe 4/4 , three SBB Em 3/3 , seven SBB Re 4/4 I , one SBB Tm IV .
Lötschbergbahn
The BLS Lötschbergbahn emerged from several railway companies that still used steam locomotives. The Spiez station became a hub in the Bernese Oberland, therefore, a depot was created here. The first electric locomotives were already on the road when the Lötschberg mountain line was built. Therefore, in Brig, the end point of the Lötschbergbahn, a depot with a round shed for the steam locomotives was built.
Brig
With the opening of the first Simplon tunnel in 1906, the character of the Brig depot changed. The trains from Italy needed additional locomotives because of the steep ramps. Since the line was operated by the SBB, the trains, like the Orient Express , were pre-tensioned with a Brig locomotive for the tunnel. With the start of electrical operation in the Simplon Tunnel, there was a change in traction in Brig . The Depot Inspection Brig was assigned the Domodossola and Sion locations as secondary depots . Over time, the mainline locomotives disappeared from Brig, only the shunting locomotives and locomotives for assistance remained there. In 1990 the SBB Depot Brig had 169 employees. The locomotive personnel were deployed through the Simplon Tunnel and on the Rhone Valley Railway in the direction of Lausanne and on the Lötschberg Railway to Thun or Bern.
Spiez
The Spiez station has become a hub station after the Spiez-Erlenbach Railway SEB went into operation. Therefore a depot was created here. The line to Frutigen, which was already being built with the Lötschbergbahn in mind, joined this depot. The depot with the attached workshop and service building became the BLS control center for the Bernese Oberland and later the BLS locomotives drove through to Basel . With the liberalized rail traffic, the express trains with the SBB were exchanged for the routes to Lucerne and Friborg.
Transport hubs
In addition to the mountain routes and terminal stations, there was always a larger depot at the most important train stations and junctions in Switzerland. These are the train stations in Basel , Bern , Lausanne , Olten , St. Gallen , Winterthur and Zurich . The large depots and main workshops have upstream or internal transfer platforms .
Olten
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Since the beginning of Swiss railway history, Olten station has been a central location in the route network of the Swiss Central Railway ( SCB). The main workshop built there by the SCB around 1855 was transformed by the first workshop manager, Niklaus Riggenbach , from a workshop with the usual maintenance work to an industrial plant that also produced new locomotives and freight cars. Today's SBB industrial plant emerged from the main workshop.
Zurich
With the Vorbahnhof built in 1868, the first freight yard, the locomotive depot and workshops were created. The latter successfully specialized in locomotive construction in the 1860s, which was tailored to the requirements of the Swiss rail network. In 1897 the front station was replaced by the freight station to the west. The workshops moved to the main workshop in Altstetten.
In 1898/1899 the locomotive depot F was built by the Schweizerische Nordostbahn NOB on Remisenstrasse ( Aussersihl , District 4). The depot built at the freight yard in the middle of the track field was expanded in 1953/1954. Around 50 locomotives with tenders or tank locomotives found space on the seven continuous tracks in the approximately 200-meter-long Remisenhalle. Before electrification, the transverse transfer table was moved with steam power. The maintenance system with offices will continue to be used by SBB.
The main workshops of the SBB (also SBB central workshops) were put into operation from 1905 to 1911 on Hohlstrasse in Altstetten. In 2017 the 130 meter long repair hall was renovated. The SBB repair center Zürich-Altstetten is waiting in the renovated maintenance hall for passenger coaches . A rotary shifting device specially developed for the repair center for locomotives and passenger coaches up to 30 meters is considered unique in the world.
The locomotive depot G was built from 1925 to 1927 (opposite the depot F) on Neugasse ( industrial quarter , district 5). 16 tracks were laid for the repair, revision and remediation of up to 46 electric locomotives. The two flanking halls each have a transfer platform with 150 tons of load capacity ( foundry Bern ). In 1959 and 1963 an attached hall with three and nine tracks was built. The maintenance facility / depot is expected to be used by SBB until at least 2020.
In 2014, SBB put the Herdern parking and maintenance facility in Zurich-Altstetten into operation with a new, 420-meter-long service facility for long-distance trains. The hall, the size of four football fields, is considered the longest workshop in Switzerland.
Service locations, repair centers, industrial plants
The depots and the main SBB workshops have been modernized, adapted to technical developments and new requirements. SBB (as of 2013) has eight service locations for preventive maintenance (Basel, Bellinzona, Biel, Brig, Geneva, Lucerne, Oberwinterthur, Zurich-Herdern), a repair center (Zurich-Altstetten) and four industrial plants (Bellinzona, Biel, Olten, Yverdon).
The areas of the old depots, like the SBB areas in the track area between Zurich main station and Altstetten, are among the last major urban development areas. The transformation of the SBB workshops is intended to transform an industrial facility into a place for “innovation companies” and start-ups as well as culture on the 42,000 square meter site under the name “Werkstatt Zürich” .
In St. Gallen, the former Lokremise houses a cultural center.
literature
- E. Egger: The new locomotive draw system in Switzerland. Northeast Railway in Zurich. Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 35/36, Issue 14, 1900. [1]
- Daniel Ehrsam et al .: Basel locomotive depot through the ages . EK-Verlag, 1995.
- Othmar Birkner: SBB building in Zurich. Langstrasse track area to Altstetten station. Special inventory . Building Department of the City of Zurich, Office for Urban Development (archeology and preservation of monuments) in cooperation with the preservation of monuments SBB, Zurich July 2005. [2]
- Liana Ruckstuhl: Lokremise St. Gallen (= Typotron booklet, 28). Typotron, St. Gallen 2010, ISBN 978-3-908151-58-6 . (With memories of retired train drivers)
- Neugasse depot. Railway and urban development in Zurich. New Year's Gazette 2019 of the City of Zurich Homeland Security.
Web links
Trivia
Comparable institutions of rail operations in Germany and Austria as depot designated.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lokifahrer: Depot inspection
- ↑ Service stations take on organizing functions in a system with many routes and stations. Example: Gütsch service station as a sorting point for Lucerne main station
- ↑ Lokifahrer: Industrial plant
- ↑ Tagblatt dated July 7, 2018: Relocation of the SBB industrial plant on track
- ^ Association SBB Historic Team Erstfeld
- ^ Industrial culture : Locomotive depot Winterthur
- ↑ Photo factum: Riggenbach Hallen, SBB Werkstätten Olten
- ↑ Tagesanzeiger from May 22, 2010: SBB secret passage under the tracks
- ↑ NZZ from February 22, 2017 world premiere at SBB in Altstetten
- ↑ The Landbote of February 22, 2017: The turntable is unique in the world
- ↑ Neugasse depot. Railway and urban development in Zurich . New Year's Gazette 2019 of the City of Zurich Homeland Security
- ↑ Tagesanzeiger from May 17, 2014: The longest workshop in Switzerland
- ↑ NZZ of October 2, 2002: The main workshop as SBB industrial plant
- ^ SBB: Olten industrial plant
- ^ Zurich workshop
- ↑ City Council of Zurich, June 2011: Areas of the “SBB Lokomotiv-Remisen F and G”, medium and long-term usage options