MFO Fc 2x2 / 2
The locomotives Nos. 1 and 2 of the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon ( MFO ) were first electrical test locomotives for trial operation Seebach-Wettingen in Switzerland . On July 30, 1919, they came to the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) as Fc 2x2 / 2 12101 and 12102 , where they were mainly used as shunting locomotives . From 1920 they were called Ce 4/4 13501. Later they came to the Bodensee-Toggenburg Railway as Ce 4/4 33 "Eva" and to the Sensetal Railway as Ce 4/4 1 "Marianne" .
Locomotive No. 1 is the first alternating current locomotive with 50 Hz standard industrial frequency and the first converter locomotive in the world. Today it is on display in the Swiss Museum of Transport . Locomotive No. 2 is considered to be the first usable locomotive whose engines were operated directly with single-phase alternating current and is in the inventory of SBB Historic .
Test locomotive No. 1
| MFO locomotive No. 1 (converter locomotive) | |
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 Locomotive No. 1 on the MFO siding in Seebach
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| Manufacturer: | MFO , SLM |
| Axis formula : | B'B ' |
| Length over coupling: | 9500 mm |
| Service mass: | 48 t |
| Top speed: | 60 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 400 hp (294 kW ) |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1030 mm |
Mechanical part
The mechanical part supplied by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) with the driver's cab arranged on one side is characterized by the two two-axle bogies . In the middle of each bogie there is the traction motor at the top, which drives the drive wheels via a gear transmission , a jackshaft and coupling rods . The bottom frame of the car body carries the pulling and pushing devices on its front sides and is connected to the bogies with two resilient pendulums. Because the use of pivot pins was ruled out because of the motor in the middle of the bogie , the tensile and impact forces between the frame and the bogie are transmitted by two inclined rods. The locomotive, which weighed 48 tons at the time, could be operated with an eight-block brake by hand or with compressed air. The sand spreader, pantograph, and whistle were also powered by compressed air. The electrical equipment was housed in the front of the locomotive.
Electrical equipment as a converter locomotive
Since no direct motors were available when the locomotive was built, the machine was initially built as a converter locomotive. The single-phase voltage of 15 kV and 50 Hz was reduced to 700 V with two air-cooled transformers with an apparent power of 250 kVA each and fed to the Ward-Leonard converter located in the longitudinal axis of the car interior between the bogies . It consisted of an asynchronous alternating current motor with squirrel cage rotor , which was directly coupled to a direct current generator with an output of 400 kW. The generator voltage, which can be set from 0 V to 600 V, was fed to the two DC shunted traction motors . At the front of the converter was the exciter dynamo with an output of around 6 kW, which was also used to start the converter. Before the locomotive could start moving, the converter was started and slowly brought to its rated speed, with an increasingly loud howling being heard.
| MFO locomotive No. 1 (direct engine locomotive) | |
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 Locomotive No. 1 after being converted to an AC locomotive
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| Manufacturer: | MFO , SLM |
| Axis formula : | B'B ' |
| Length over coupling: | 9500 mm |
| Service mass: | 40 t |
| Top speed: | 60 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 500 hp (370 kW ) |
| Hourly traction: | 3400 daN |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1050 mm |
The purpose of the locomotive was to demonstrate the serviceability of single-phase, high-voltage alternating current. The locomotive fully met the requirements placed on it. Because the converter group was not switched off every time during the work breaks, there were relatively frequent idle times with a relatively high power consumption. For this reason, and because the construction of single-phase commutator motors for 15 Hz was successful, the MFO decided to convert the locomotive into a direct-motor locomotive similar to the now tried and tested machine no.2.
Locomotive No. 1 as a direct engine locomotive
In 1906 the No. 1 locomotive was converted from a converter to a direct-engine locomotive corresponding to the No. 2. The mechanical part was only changed to the extent that it was necessary to accommodate the new electrical equipment. The drive and the asymmetrical box with only one end driver's cab were therefore retained. The conversion reduced the weight of the locomotive from 48 to 40.5 tons.
Electrically, the machine had now almost assumed the classic form of a single-phase locomotive of the time. On the roof of the cab A was on a wooden framework in addition SSW - bow collector constructed so that the locomotive on the portion Regensdorf - Wettingen could operate with the bracket catenary. A pair of pantographs were still mounted on the box above the stem . All pantographs were powered by compressed air. On the roof there was a new so-called horn lightning protection device and an induction coil. The machine received a pneumatically operated main switch with two transformers . The voltage regulation was done by 16 electromagnetic contactors with switch-over choke coils , which were operated by a control controller in the driver's cab. The reversing switch was also operated with compressed air from the driver's cab. The same traction motors were installed as in the test locomotive No. 2.
A compressor and driver's cab heater were installed as auxiliary operations , but no fans. A battery was not present as with locomotive no. 2nd Thanks to the two petrol lamps , the locomotives remained visible at night when the power supply was switched off.
Use after the trial run
After the cessation of trial operation in 1909, the two locomotives No. 1 and 2 were initially not used, and they were shut down.
SBB Fc 2x2 / 2 12101 (later Ce 4/4 13501)
When the SBB started electrical operation on the Bern – Thun railway in 1919 , they were urgently dependent on locomotives and bought the two machines from the MFO. The SBB prepared the locomotives for the route service, and the two locomotives got batteries and electric light. Locomotive No. 1 was taken over on July 30, 1919 and was designated as Fc 2x2 / 2 12101 until May 1920, then as Ce 4/4 13501 "Marieli". When enough mainline locomotives were available, the former test locomotives were used for shunting . In 1922 "Marieli" was transferred to Biasca and a year later to Erstfeld . From 1938 to 1940 it was assigned to the Olten depot .
BT Ce 4/4 33
On December 18, 1940, it was sold to the Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn (BT), which used the vehicle as Ce 4/4 No. 33 with the appropriate nickname "Eva" mainly in shunting services in Herisau . "Eva" has been in the Lucerne Museum of Transport since 1955 and is a reminder of the pioneering days of electric traction .
Test locomotive No. 2
| MFO locomotive No. 2 | |
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 Locomotive no. 2, with bow and rod pantographs
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| Manufacturer: | MFO , SLM |
| Axis formula : | B'B ' |
| Length over coupling: | 9500 mm |
| Service mass: | 43 t |
| Top speed: | 60 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 500 hp (370 kW ) |
| Hourly traction: | 3400 daN |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1050 mm |
Locomotive no. 2 has AC motors as traction motors, which are fed with single-phase current of variable terminal voltage according to the required speed.
Mechanical part
The mechanical part of the 42-ton locomotive, which was completed in 1905, also came from the SLM. It differs from locomotive No. 1 only in the symmetrical shape of the box with two end cabs. The front windows could be turned off for cooling and had a central rotating bracket. Initially, there were front wall doors that were later installed from the inside using large step switches. In the middle of the side walls, a large door was installed on the left and right for installing and removing the transformer.
Electrical equipment
In contrast to locomotive no. 1, the electrical part was a completely new development. A pair of rods and a bracket are attached to the roof of locomotive no. To protect against atmospheric discharges, induction coils and horn lightning arresters are available. The high-voltage line runs through micanite tubes as roof insulators on the primary winding of the transformers. The two air-cooled transformers connected in parallel, each with an output of 250 kVA, are set up in the middle of the interior of the locomotive. They have 20 taps on their secondary sides, from which different voltages between 0 V and 700 V were taken to regulate the drive motors.
In order to gain experience with the controllability of alternating current, two different control systems were used. A cell switch operated with a crank from the driver's cab, with its spark extinction, can be regarded as a forerunner of later tap changers . The second system initially worked with an induction regulator, which did not work, and was replaced by a direct controller in the driver's cab and an auxiliary transformer, which worked reliably. Each of the two independent controls was followed by a pneumatically operated on / off switch. It interlocked the two control systems and served as a reversing switch.
The big news on this locomotive was the traction motors. The single-phase series motors in open design correspond to DC series motors except for a few details. The stator has a laminated iron body with eight pole cores and associated eight magnetizing coils. In addition, the stator has eight reversing poles , the magnetic axis of which is shifted by 90 ° with respect to the main pole axis. The armature reaction caused by the reversing pole winding also causes a distortion of the main pole field, which is corrected by a compensation winding . This circuit as a series motor with phase-shifted turning field was groundbreaking for single-phase traction. It became the standard for low-frequency alternating current powered locomotives , as they were built in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden until the 1970s.
A compressor, which was operated with 140 V from a tap on the transformer, supplied the brake, whistle, sander and various switches.
Use after the trial run
SBB Fc 2x2 / 2 12102 (later Ce 4/4 13502)
Test locomotive No. 2 also came to the SBB in 1919 as Fc 2x2 / 2 12102 and from 1920 as Ce 4/4 13502 and was assigned to the Bern depot for service on the Bern – Thun line. She was nicknamed "Karli", ran light passenger trains and performed shunting services. In 1922 "Karli" was transferred to the Biasca depot and was used in shunting services in Airolo and Göschenen . From 1923 to 1925, the locomotive was assigned to the Lucerne depot for use on the Seetalbahn after it received a transformer that could also be operated with 5.5 kV at 25 Hz. Afterwards it came back to Erstfeld, where it was also used for rail welding.
STB Ce 4/4 1
From January 30, 1938, the SBB rented the Ce 4/4 13502 of the Sensetalbahn (STB) because their railcars were delivered late. On September 26, 1940, the STB bought the vehicle, now called "Marianne", as a reserve vehicle. In 1964 a short circuit destroyed the transformer so badly that the locomotive could no longer be repaired. It was shown to the public in the Verkehrshaus Luzern until 1995. Since then, the museum piece has been drawn in various locations.
See also
Single-phase alternating current test operation Seebach-Wettingen
literature
- S. Herzog: Full line operation with single-phase alternating current . In: Electric Railways . tape 11 , no. 1 . Munich ; Berlin: R. Oldenbourg, 1904, p. 4-10 ( archive.org ).
- Hugo Studer: Electric traction with single-phase alternating current on the SBB Seebach-Wettingen line. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung (SBZ), Volume 51, 1908:
- General and power plant, doi: 10.5169 / seals-27407
- Contact line for rod pantograph, doi: 10.5169 / seals-27410
- Contact line for hoop pantograph, doi: 10.5169 / seals-27410
- Locomotive No. 1 as a converter locomotive, Locomotive No. 2, doi: 10.5169 / seals-27422
- Locomotive No. 3, Locomotive No. 1 as an AC locomotive, influencing the low-voltage systems, operating performance , doi: 10.5169 / seals-27423
- Hans Schneeberger: The electric and diesel traction vehicles of the SBB, Volume I: years of construction 1904–1955; Minirex AG, Lucerne; 1995; ISBN 3-907014-07-3