Otto Tschanz

Otto Tschanz

Otto Tschanz (born January 31, 1869 ; citizen of Sigriswil ; † February 18, 1919 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a Swiss mechanical engineer . He was a senior engineer in the service of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). The Tschanz drive is named after him.

resume

Otto Tschanz concluded in Bern , the grammar school with the Matura , and then completed an apprenticeship at Von Roll . From 1889 to 1893 he studied at the ETH Zurich and worked at Pümpin & Herzog during the holidays . After completing his studies, he initially worked as a fitter at SLM and in 1894/95 in the Gotthard Railway transport service . He briefly returned to Von Roll and in 1896 joined the design office of the United Swiss Railways (VSB) , where he was promoted to workshop director in Rorschach in 1901 . With the takeover of VSB by SBB, Tschanz became deputy head machine engineer in SBB District IV in 1903 and in 1906 deputy head machine engineer Keller in the general management of SBB in Bern. In 1918 he was promoted to senior engineer at SBB.

Tschanz died of appendicitis while on a business trip in Germany in February 1919.

activity

During his time at SBB, Otto Tschanz mainly dealt with the electrification of the Gotthard Railway and the development of large electric locomotives . He encouraged the testing of various drives in the Fb 2/5 and Ae 4/8 locomotives , using the Tschanz drive he had developed .

literature

• † O. Tschanz. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung , year 1919, half volume 73, no. 9 (from March 1, 1919), pp. 98–99. ( Digitized version )