RhB Ge 4/4 III

Ge 4/4 III
Ge 4/4 III 646 "RhBudget"
Numbering:	641-652
Number:	12
Manufacturer:	641–649 SLM / ABB 650–652 Adtranz
Year of construction (s):	1993/94/99
Axis formula :	Bo'Bo '
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Length over buffers:	16,000 mm
Width:	2,800 mm
Service mass:	62 t
Top speed:	100 km / h
Continuous output :	2 400 kW (max. 3 100 kW)
Starting tractive effort:	170 kN (max. 200 kN at 57.6 km / h)
Driving wheel diameter:	1,070 mm
Power system :	11 kV 16.7 Hz
Power transmission:	2 single-arm pantographs
Number of traction motors:	4 (type 6 FRA 5248)
Control:	Two-point GTO converter
Predecessor: RhB Ge 4/4 II

The RhB Ge 4/4 ^III are four axle narrow gauge - electric locomotives of Swiss Rhätischen web (RhB), which were placed in service in 1993 - the type designation of the locomotives is Ge 4/4 .

history

RhB Ge 4/4 ^III 651 "Glacier on Tour"

RhB Ge 4/4 ^III 652 "HCD" with Albula-RE above Bergün

RhB Ge 4/4 ^III 650 “UNESCO” on the Landwasser Viaduct, which is also shown on the locomotive itself

In order to cope with the increased traffic after the opening of the Vereina tunnel , the Rhaetian Railway developed a new generation of locomotives together with SLM and ABB in 1989 , the drive of which is based on three-phase AC technology with GTO thyristors . The original planning of a six-axle variant of the Ge 4/4 ^II , which would have had advantages on the almost straight tunnel route, was discarded in favor of a locomotive with four axles that could also be used universally on routes with narrow radii.

The result was the 100 km / h series Ge 4/4 ^III , which was designed for an alternating voltage of 11  kV at a frequency of 16.7  Hz . The locomotives weigh 62 tons and have an output of 2400  kW at 80 km / h. It is 16,000 mm long,  3,860 mm high and 2,800 mm wide. The control technology corresponds almost entirely to the SBB Re 460 series .

On December 7, 1993 the first machine , Ge 4/4 ^III 641, was officially put into service. Between 1994 and 1999, eleven more locomotives followed in three delivery series with the numbers 642–652. The first order in 1989 comprised six, the second from 1991 three and the third from 1996, which was supposed to cover the additional requirements resulting from the opening of the Vereina tunnel, three more machines. On the Albula Railway you can find them in front of almost all train sets, and the car trains through the Vereina tunnel are only carried through them. Almost all locomotives have colorful advertising paintwork .

The twelve locomotives were given the names of smaller towns in Graubünden , on whose cantonal territory the Rhaetian Railway operates its route network. Depending on the paintwork, the names are in different places on the right and left side of the vehicle, the road numbers 641–652 on the two front sides and on the lower side. In addition to the name, each locomotive has the coat of arms of the respective location.

Similar locomotives also run on the Bière-Apples-Morges-Bahn (BAM), ( French : Chemin de fer Bière-Apples-Morges), as Ge 4/4 No. 21 + 22 , and on the Montreux-Berner Oberland- Railway (MOB), ( French : Chemin de fer Montreux-Oberland bernois), as Ge 4/4 No. 8001-8004 . The BAM locomotives are electrically and mechanically practically identical to those of the RhB except for the additional side buffers for roll-head traffic . The MOB locomotives are constructed in the same way in the mechanical part, but the transformer and four-quadrant controller can be dispensed with in the electrical part; the direct current from the contact line can be fed directly into the intermediate circuit. In 2019, the RhB bought the 8003 locomotive from the MOB in order to equip it with new components, which will serve as a model for modernizing its own locomotives. The locomotive is to go into operation as number 653 at the RhB.

modernization

In 2016, the RhB began to modernize the locomotives, starting with number 644, and subject them to a comprehensive mechanical overhaul. The locomotives get a new braking system, the bogies are replaced and the on-board components for the new ZSI 127 train protection system are installed. Outwardly, the new, round LED front lights are particularly striking. This modernization was originally supposed to be completed in 2019, but will continue until 2021. This will be followed by a modernization of the power electronics so that the locomotives can be used for another twenty to thirty years.

List of Ge 4/4 ^{III of} the Rhaetian Railway

Company number	Baptismal name	coat of arms	Installation	modernization	Advertising lettering (as of February 2018)	Image link
641	Maienfeld		7th December 1993	with dual brake in operation	Coop
642	Breil / Brigels		January 24, 1994	with dual brake in operation	Integral Foundation (pension fund)
643	Vals		February 22, 1994	with dual brake in operation	Ems chemistry
644	Savognin		April 14, 1994	first modernized locomotive December 26, 2017	red with large RhB logo
645	Tujetsch		May 31, 1994		Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha
646	Santa Maria Val Mustair		June 27, 1994	(February 2020: under renovation)	Self- promotion BÜGA
647	Grüsch		September 20, 1994	with dual brake in operation	red with large RhB logo
648	Susch		5th November 1994	with dual brake in operation	Watson	[1]
649	Lavin		December 8, 1994		ARGE Second Hinterrheinbrücke Reichenau
650	Seewis in the Prättigau		September 7, 1999		Self-promotion UNESCO World Heritage
651	Fideris		September 28, 1999		Self-promotion Glacier Express
652	Vaz / Obervaz Lenzerheide-Valbella		November 5, 1999		HC Davos
653			(in work)	ex MOB 8003

literature

• Wolfgang Finke, Hans Schweers: The vehicles of the Rhaetian Railway 1889-1998 . Volume 3: Locomotives, railcars, tractors. Schweers + Wall, Aachen 1998, ISBN 3-89494-105-7 .

Web links

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

• List of RhB advertising locomotives

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fabian Scheeder: Locomotive revisions at the RhB . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 6 . Minirex, 2016, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 297 .
2. ^ Locomotive for Graubünden. Rhaetian Railway, December 12, 2016, accessed on January 8, 2018 .