FO Ge 4/4 III

MGB Ge 4/4 III
MGB (ex-FO) Ge 4/4 III No. 81 "Wallis" in Realp
Numbering:	81, 82
Number:	2
Manufacturer:	BBC (technical part) SLM (locomotive body)
Year of construction (s):	1979
Retirement:	from 2017
Axis formula :	Bo'Bo '
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Length over buffers:	12,900 mm
Height:	3,870 mm
Width:	2,680 mm
Service mass:	50.0 t
Top speed:	90 km / h
Hourly output :	1,700 kW
Driving wheel diameter:	1,070 mm
Power system :	11 kV, 16.7 Hz AC
Power transmission:	Overhead line
Number of traction motors:	4th
Drive:	electric
Control:	Thyristor

As Ge 4/4 III the designated Swiss Furka-Oberalp railway (FO) its four-axle adhesion narrow gauge - electric locomotives . Its legal successor Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (MGB) only runs the locomotives as Ge 4/4 , although the cast plate with the type designation is still present on the locomotive.

In 1979, the FO procured two four-axle narrow-gauge locomotives to transport the car trains through the Furka Base Tunnel . The locomotives represented a further development of the Ge 4/4 II of the Rhaetian Railway . Therefore they were given the designation Ge 4/4 III, although the FO did not have any other Ge 4/4. The locomotives have an output of 1700 kW, a maximum speed of 90 km / h and are operated with a contact wire voltage of 11 kV, 16.7 Hz. The vehicles are the only MGB mainline locomotives that do not have a gear drive .

history

With the construction of the Furka Base Tunnel and the decision to also use it for car loading, the procurement of the car train compositions had to be evaluated. The detailed investigations began in 1973, based on the experiences of the BLS and SBB . In the end, for economic reasons, a conventional solution remained as a shuttle train with a locomotive and control car and transport cars lined up in between. The necessary transport capacity for peak times was assumed to be 100 cars per hour and direction of travel, which led to the procurement of two compositions and thus these two locomotives.

Several variants of the use of locomotives were checked, including the use of existing vehicles with and without modernization. It was concluded that a pure adhesion vehicle of the type RhB Ge 4/4 II was the most cost-effective solution in terms of maintenance, albeit the most expensive variant in terms of purchase.

In 1977 the FO asked the industry to offer two RhB Ge 4/4 II locomotives, but with a reinforced electric brake. The providers suggested a revised locomotive that was cheaper than the Ge 4/4 II had previously cost. The changes compared to the reference vehicle mainly related to the box design and the drive. The FO accepted this offer.

Between the delivery in 1980 and the commissioning of the Furka base tunnel, the locomotives were leased to the RhB, which used them with express trains on the Albula line. Since 1982 they have been used exclusively for the car trains between Oberwald VS and Realp UR.

Locomotive 82 was decommissioned in 2015 and used as a spare part donor for the sister locomotive. After it had been parked in Hospental for a long time, it was demolished in November 2017 at the Andermatt depot. Some parts were stored for the maintenance of locomotive 81. One of the two Uri coats of arms of locomotive 82 is now attached to the front of the sister locomotive 81.

Technical

The locomotive has a corrugated, self-supporting locomotive body. For static reasons, the entry door of the driver's cab had to be moved to the rear. The side walls do not have an assembly opening, but the entire electrical interior equipment is installed via the three roof hatches. The air intake openings are located on the roof and are designed to filter out brake dust and fine drifting snow. An SLM sliding bearing motor was used as the drive. This is an improved design of a pawl bearing drive , whereby the motor is not supported on a fixed, but a laterally movable bearing on the axle. The two sliding bearings allow the drive gear set to be shifted axially. This decouples the wheelset from the mass of the engine in the transverse direction. The circuit of the main circuit largely corresponds to the RhB Ge 4/4 II, although some simplifications have been possible in the traction converter due to technical progress. Only minimal adjustments were required in the control system. It is therefore also possible to operate the RhB Ge 4/4 II in multiple control.

The locomotive has an air brake for itself and the car train composition. This is equipped with an air drying device from the Lugart system, so that braking malfunctions due to the sometimes harsh climatic changes inside and outside the tunnel can be avoided. A vacuum brake is also installed so that it can travel with the other vehicles. A spring-loaded brake coupled to the compressed air is installed as a handbrake or parking brake.

List of Ge 4/4 III of the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn
Company number	Baptismal name	Installation	status
81	Valais	02/27/1980	in operation
82	Uri	02/27/1980	Demolished in November 2017

literature

• Peter Mauerer: The technical renovation of the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn in connection with the opening of the Furka base tunnel . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 3/82 . Minirex AG, March 1982, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 77-87 ( description of the locomotive: p. 81).
• Wolfgang Finke, Hans Schweers: The vehicles of the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn 1913-1999. Brig – Furka – Disentis. Schöllenenbahn. Furka-Oberalp Railway . Schweers + Wall, Aachen 1999, ISBN 978-3-89494-111-6 .

Web links

Commons : MGB Ge 4/4  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Rolling material directory, as of January 1, 2010 of the MGB
2. ↑ Picture of the parked locomotive on www.sguggiari.ch
3. ↑ Fabian Scheeder: MGB car locomotive broken off . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 1 . Minirex, 2018, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 8 .