RhB ABe 4/4

ABe 4/4 is the type designation for four-axle electric multiple units without running axles with first and second class compartments in Switzerland. Until 1956, such vehicles were referred to as BCe 4/4. The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) and one of its predecessors, the Bernina Railway , procured different types, some of which were provided with an index with Roman numerals to distinguish them.

ABe 4/4 3, 6-8, 11

Berninabahn BCe 4/4

→ Section railcars of the Bernina Railway (BB) in article RhB ABe 4/4 I.

On the occasion of its opening, the Bernina Railway, operated with 1000 volts direct current , acquired the then very advanced BCe 4/4 1–14 and the Fe 2/2 51 baggage rail car in 1908 and 1909. Its electrical equipment corresponded to that of the rail cars, but had only two instead four drive motors on. Around 1921 the BCe 4/4 13 was given the new number 15 because it was not boarded by superstitious passengers.

When the RhB merged with the Berninabahn in 1943, it took over their now outdated vehicle fleet. In 1956 the BCe 4/4 were renamed ABe 4/4. Some of the railcars were modernized between 1946 and 1960 and renumbered in ABe 4/4 I 31–37 ( see below ).

ABe 4/4 23

In 1911, the Berninabahn put the BCFe 4/4 21-23 into operation. They corresponded electrically to the BCe 4/4 1–14, but had a longer car body that contained a luggage compartment in the middle. The railcars nos. 21 and 22 were modernized in 1949 and 1953 and designated as BCFe 4/4 38 and BCe 4/4 30 and from 1956 as ABDe 4/4 38 and ABe 4/4 I 30. The body of the remaining railcar No. 23 was renewed in 1956 and the second class was enlarged at the expense of the luggage compartment, so that it was given the designation ABe 4/4 23.

→ See also RhB ABe 4/4 I.

ABe 4/4 I 31-37

ABe 4/4 I 35

→ Main article: RhB ABe 4/4 I

The ABe 4/4 I 31–34 were created in 1946/47 by converting the ABe 4/4 1, 2, 5, and 4 from 1908 and 1909. The railcars received completely new electrical equipment, which they also used the Arosabahn , which was electrified at the time with 2400 volts direct current . The RhB mastered the summer traffic peaks on the Bernina and the heavy winter traffic to Arosa.

In 1949/50 the RhB modernized the ABe 4/4 10, 14 and 12 with new, even more powerful electrical equipment and designated it as ABe 4/4 I 35–37. They were only designed for the Bernina line with 1000 volts direct current, because there were now enough vehicles for the Arosa Railway.

ABe 4/4 II 41-49

ABe 4/4 II 41

→ Main article: RhB ABe 4/4 II

With the ABe 4/4 II 41-46 delivered in 1964/65, the RhB was able to streamline and accelerate operations on the Bernina line. The railcars, which were very modern at the time, were the first new railcars that the RhB procured for the Bernina line. The speed is regulated with an electropneumatic hopper control . In 1973 three more ABe 4/4 II of the same design were delivered.

ABe 4/4 III 51-56

ABe 4/4 III 55 and 56

→ Main article: RhB ABe 4/4 III

In 1988 and 1990, the RhB procured three ABe 4/4 III for the Bernina Railway in order to modernize the vehicle fleet and cope with the increase in passenger and freight traffic. You were the first RhB locomotives in inverter technology with three-phase - asynchronous and among the world's first direct-current locomotives with GTO thyristors .

ABe 4/4 487-488

CJ ABe 4/4 641

The ABe 4/4 487 and 488 for the Chur – Arosa line were delivered in 1973 by SWS and SAAS . In the mechanical part, the 16.97 meter long vehicles are leaning against the ABe-4/4-II railcars of the Bernina Railway. In order to avoid a collision with the roof rods , the single- spar pantographs are mounted with the joint pointing inwards instead of outwards. The electrical equipment with hopper control and its performance correspond to the ABDe 4/4 481–486, with which they can also be controlled multiple times . One railcar received the newly wound engines of the broken off ABDe 4/4 487, the other received the same engines replicated by the RhB. In order to be able to use the railcars on the main network outside of the winter season , the electrical equipment was prepared in such a way that use under alternating current with a transformer - rectifier - control car would have been possible.

After the overhead line voltage of the Arosa line was changed from 2400 volts direct current to 11,000 volts alternating current in November 1997, the RhB no longer had any use for the two railcars. They were taken over by the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ) in 1999 and adapted to the new area of application. Since April 2000 the ABe 4/4 641 in RhB paint has been transporting refuse container trains in the Jura. In 2001 the ABef 4/4 642 followed, which was equipped with a radio remote control. Railcar 641 was converted in 2002 analogous to the ABef 4/4.

ABe 4/4 501-504

ABe 4/4 501

→ Main article: RhB BCe 4/4

In 1939/40, the RhB procured the four BCe 4/4 501–504 for operation on the main network electrified with 11,000 volts alternating current . These are the first narrow-gauge railcars with relatively powerful AC equipment. With the abolition of the third car class , the four vehicles were given the designation ABe 4/4 501–504.

Technical specifications

RhB ABe 4/4
Type designation:	ABe 4/4		ABe 4/4 I.			ABe 4/4 II		ABe 4/4 III	ABe 4/4
Numbering:	1-12, 14, 15	23	30th	31-34	35-37	41-46	47-49	51-56	RhB: 487, 488 CJ : 641, 642	501-504
Manufacturer:	SIG , Alioth		SIG, SAAS		SIG, SAAS, MFO	SWS , SAAS, BBC		SLM , FIG	SWS, SAAS, BBC	SWS, BBC, MFO
Construction year:	1-10: 1908 11 ... 15: 1909	1911	1911	1908	35: 1908 36-37: 1909	41-45: 1964/65 46: 1965	1972	51-53: 1988 54-56: 1990	1973	1939/40
Modification:	-		1953	1946/47	35: 1949 36: 1950 37: 1951	-		-	641: 2000 642: 2001	-
Retirement:	from 1965	1969	-	from 2009 on	from 1976	2010	-	-	-	from 1998
Axis formula :	B 0 'B 0 '
Length over buffers:	14,660 mm			13,930 mm		16,450 mm	16,886 mm		17,190 mm	18,000 mm
Total wheelbase:	10,750 mm			10,000 mm		13,200 mm	13,530 mm		13,730 mm	15'10 mm
Service mass:	30 t	31 t		30 t		41 t	43 t	47 t	45.0 t	39 t
Top speed:	45 km / h		55 km / h			65 km / h				70 km / h
Hourly output :	338 kW		BB : 382 kW ChA : 419 kW		427 kW	677 kW		1016 kW	ChA: 500 kW CJ : 720 kW	441 kW
Starting tractive effort:	74 kN		102 kN			142 kN		178 kN	129 kN	78 kN
Hourly traction:	56 kN at 21.7 km / h		BB: 55 kN at 25 km / h ChA: 55 kN at 27.5 km / h		56 kN at 27.2 km / h	106 kN at 22.7 km / h		108 kN at 34 km / h	ChA: 72 kN at 25 km / h CJ: 74 kN at 35 km / h	38 kN at 41.8 km / h
Drive wheel diameter:	850 mm					920 mm			920 mm	850 mm
Power system:	1000 V = (Bernina Railway)		1000 V = (Bernina Railway) 2400 V = (Chur – Arosa)		1000 V = (BB)	1000 V = (Bernina Railway)			2400 V = (Chur-Arosa) 1500 V = (CJ)	11 kV, 16.7 Hz
Number of drive motors:	4th
Transmission ratio:	1: 4.5		1: 5.75			1: 5.75			1: 4.833	1: 6.07
1st class seats: 2nd class: Folding seats: Total:	12 31 43		12 29 41	12 27 39	12 31 43	12 24 4 40		40	12 24 2 38	12 28 40
Source:

literature

Peter Willen: Locomotives in Switzerland 2 - narrow-gauge traction vehicles. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1971.

Web links

Commons : Bernina ABe 4/4 I - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Bernina ABe 4/4 II - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Bernina ABe 4/4 III - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Hans Furgler: The new ABe 4/4 51-53 railcars for the Rhaetian Railway's Bernina line. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6/1988. Minirex, ISSN 1022-7113 , p. 226 ff.

↑ Franz Skvor: Chur – Arosa Railway - Development and DC Era . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 12/1998. Minirex, ISSN 1022-7113 , pp. 534-550.

↑ ^a ^b Theo Stolz: ABe 4/4 641–642. From: le-rail.ch , accessed on December 1, 2018.

↑ ^a ^b Peter Willen: Locomotives of Switzerland 2 - narrow-gauge traction vehicles.

[Furgler-1] Hans Furgler: The new ABe 4/4 51-53 railcars for the Rhaetian Railway's Bernina line. In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6/1988. Minirex, ISSN 1022-7113 , p. 226 ff.