SBB Ae 4/6
| SBB Ae 4/6 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Numbering: | 10801-10812 |
| Number: | 12 |
| Manufacturer: | SLM Winterthur, BBC Baden, MFO Zurich, SAAS Genève |
| Year of construction (s): | 1941-1944 |
| Retirement: | 1981-1983 |
| Axis formula : | (1A) Bo (A1) |
| Length over buffers: | 17,260 mm |
| Height: | 4065 mm |
| Width: | 3000 mm |
| Service mass: | 105 t 111 t * |
| Top speed: | 125 km / h 110 km / h * |
| Continuous output : | 4080 kW (5540 hp ) |
| Drive: |
SLM universal drive BBC spring drive * |
| * 10807–10812: remodeling 1961–1966 | |
The Ae 4/6 was an express train locomotive of the SBB , which was mainly used on the Gotthard . The locomotives built during World War II were not particularly popular with the staff.
The noisy drive of the locomotive and the inferior material used during the war years resulted in a relatively short period of use for these locomotives. They were only used for four decades, from the 1940s to the early 1980s, mainly in front of express trains on the Gotthard.
prehistory
The high performance of the Ae 8/14 could only be fully utilized in front of freight trains on the Gotthard, so a more economical solution was sought for the express trains. The SBB therefore placed an order with the industry for a locomotive that was only supposed to have half the power of the Ae 8/14, but could be used in double traction if required. The "Landi locomotive" under the Ae 8/14 served as a prototype, so to speak. In 1941 four locomotives were initially commissioned, the remaining two construction lots of four locomotives each were ordered later. In 1944 all 12 locomotives were delivered.
construction
The Ae 4/6 essentially corresponds to half of the Ae 8/14 11852 (Landilok) delivered last, which was provided with a second driver's cab. By saving the weight of the drive motors and the electric brake, the running axle between the drive axles could be dispensed with. The locomotives were equipped with multiple controls right from the start , so that two locomotives could also be used together in front of freight trains.
mechanical construction
The Ae 4/6 were the last frame locomotives commissioned by the SBB . The running gear comprises four driving axles and the two running axles at the ends of the locomotive. These each form a Java frame with the adjacent drive axle . Each drive axle has two traction motors. The torque is transmitted to the axis via an SLM universal drive.
The locomotive body was made of lightweight construction. The weight saved meant that there was no need for a third running axle. At 19.5 kg / hp, the locomotives were very light for the time measured by their power.
The driver's cab was located on the left-hand side of a SBB locomotive for the first time, and the brake was the first to have a changeover device for the GPR positions . The locomotive was equipped with a type "RT" registration tachograph from G. Hasler AG, Bern.
Electric Construction
For the first time, the main compressed air switch and high-voltage tap changer were installed as standard . Because of the scarcity of raw materials during World War II, the main transformer and traction motors were made with aluminum windings.
The locomotives were equipped with an electric regenerative brake: A motor of drive axle 1 served as an exciter for the traction motors of axes 2 to 4. These worked as generators and fed the current back into the catenary when braking.
The locomotives were equipped with multiple controls, but this did not work reliably and was therefore rarely used.
Operational use
The Ae 4/6 were used in front of the Gotthard express trains after delivery in the 1940s. There they replaced the older Be 4/6 and Ae 4/7 . With a 375-ton train they could reach a speed of 75 km / h on a 26 - ‰ - slope. Their use before the express trains came to an end in the 1960s when they were replaced by the more modern Ae 6/6 . Until the beginning of the 1980s, the locomotives were still in lighter service and could be found as a leader in front of freight trains.
At the end of the 1970s there was a brief ray of hope. The former Schweizerische Südostbahn (SOB) owned a single Re 4/4 III as a powerful locomotive for its 50 ‰ ramps. For the heavy pilgrimage to Einsiedeln Abbey , she was looking for more powerful traction vehicles. In 1980, therefore, tests were carried out with the Ae 4/6 on the SOB. Because of bad adhesion behavior SOB broke off the tests and instead bought three Re 4/4 III by SBB.
Scrapping
The first locomotive was scrapped in 1965 after a fire, the others followed in the early 1980s. No locomotive has survived for posterity, which is not surprising in view of the fact that it was quite prone to failure: the drive wheels tended to skid during difficult approaches, and the plain bearings on engines, axles and gears tended to overheat. All Ae 4/6 ended up in the locomotive cemetery in Biasca . Only the driver's cab of an Ae 4/6 has been preserved and is now in the Verkehrshaus in Lucerne. Ae-4/6-like locomotives were delivered to the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; Dutch State Railways). There, too, the operating result was unsatisfactory. One of these locomotives, known as the NS 1000 , is now in the Railway Museum in Utrecht .
swell
- Roman Liechty: Electric express train locomotive Ae 4/6. In: New SBB locomotives . The Locomotive , 1921, pp. 89–90 ( ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online )
