RHB BCFeh 2/4

BCFeh 2/4 / ABDe 2/4 / BDe 2/4
The BDeh 2/4 on the level crossing between the Rorschach and Rorschach Hafen stations
Numbering:	23 + 24
Number:	2
Manufacturer:	SLM, BBC
Year of construction (s):	1953, 1967
Axis formula :	(A'1) (A'1)
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Top speed:	25 km / h
Hourly output :	544 kW (740 hp)
Gear system :	Riggenbach
Power system :	15,000 volts 16.7 Hz
Power transmission:	Pantograph
Number of traction motors:	2
Coupling type:	UIC screw coupling
Seats:	57
Low floor:	0%
Classes :	see text

The two railcars of the Rorschach-Heiden-Bergbahn ( RHB ), which today belong to the Appenzeller Bahnen, are called BCFeh 2/4 . The vehicles were purchased in 1953 and 1967, have the company numbers 23 and 24 and are equipped for mixed use on adhesion and gearwheel routes. The railcars were renamed ABDeh 2/4 on the occasion of the abolition of 1st class and the introduction of the new two-class system in 1956 . The RHB decided to abolish 1st class in 1998, which means that the vehicles have been referred to as BDeh 2/4 since then .

The first railcars took over after his extradition in 1953 once most of the scheduled commercial traffic, he could not, unlike the DZeh 2.4 , which is always a Vorstellwagen needed, be used as individual drivers. This also made it possible to save on personnel, since it could be operated with one man. In 1967 a second identical railcar was bought. The ABt 142 control car was taken over from the Bodensee-Toggenburg-Bahn in 1985 and put into operation as the Bt 31 at the RHB. As a lightweight steel wagon, it has a low dead weight. For operation with this control car, a remote control was installed in both railcars in 1986 so that a two-part shuttle train can be formed with the control car . When the articulated multiple unit BDeh 3/6 went into operation in 1998, the two vehicles were withdrawn from the scheduled trains, but continue to serve as a reserve and for special trains.

Technical

The vehicles were manufactured by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Factory (SLM) in Winterthur. The electrical equipment is from Brown, Boveri & Cie. in Baden.

The railcars have a closed driver's cab on both sides to which the boarding platform is attached. The driver's cab on the mountain side has a front wall door that allows the staff to switch to the presentation car. The entry platform on the mountain side has been expanded into a large multi-purpose compartment. This is followed by a small compartment with eight seats, which was the 1st class compartment until 1998. This compartment was only downgraded and not rebuilt. This is followed by a 16-seater compartment in the middle and a 33-seater compartment on the valley side, the two former 2nd class compartments, divided into smokers and non-smokers. Today the entire railcar is a non-smoking vehicle with 2nd class seats.

The two vehicles each have a drive axle on the valley side of the bogie, while the uphill side is designed as a running axle. The adhesion drive is designed to be disengageable, which means that the gear drive runs along with the drive on the adhesion section, while the drive axle becomes the running wheel on the gear section.

The maximum admissible front load in the rack section is 65 tonnes as a passenger vehicle and 73 tonnes as an unoccupied vehicle in the freight train service. Originally 90 tonnes were permitted in freight train service, but this had to be reduced as a result of the tightening of the braking regulations. Since the braking regulations were tightened, freight wagons weighing 90 tons have been transported in a “sandwich” between the two railcars.

Due to the low-lying gear drive, the vehicles are only allowed to drive on the Rorschach Hafen – Rorschach-Heiden route, because only there are the train safety magnets lowered sufficiently.

literature

• Peter Willen: Locomotives and multiple units of the Swiss Railways, Volume 4 Private Railways, Central, Southern and Eastern Switzerland. Orell Füssli, 1983, ISBN 3-280-01301-1 , p. 160.
• Hans Hug, Stephan Frei: The Rorschach-Heiden mountain railway. In: Railway amateur. No. 9, 2009, ISSN  0013-2764 , pp. 452-456.