SBB CLe 2/4
| SBB CLe 2/4 | |
|---|---|
| Numbering: | 201-207 (originally) then 601-607 |
| Number: | 7 (all rebuilt) |
| Manufacturer: | SLM , MFO , BBC , SAAS |
| Year of construction (s): | 1935 |
| Retirement: | (from 1944 conversion) |
| Axis formula : | Bo'2 ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over buffers: | 21500 mm |
| Trunnion Distance: | 16300 mm |
| Bogie axle base: | 2500 mm |
| Service mass: | 32.6 t |
| Friction mass: | 16.2 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 8.5 t |
| Top speed: | 125 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 404 kW |
| Continuous output : | 315 kW |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 900 mm |
| Impeller diameter: | 900 mm |
| Number of traction motors: | 2 |
| Seats: | 70 |
| Standing room: | 30th |
| Floor height: | 710 mm |
| Classes : | 3rd grade |
| SBB RCe 2/4 (RBe 2/4) (after conversion with buffer) |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Numbering: | 601-607 1003-1007 |
| Number: | 7 (2 conversion to RAe 2/4) |
| Manufacturer: | SLM BBC MFO SAAS |
| Year of construction (s): | (Remodeling from 1944) |
| Retirement: | 1967 1984 |
| Axis formula : | Bo'2 ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over buffers: | 22400 mm |
| Trunnion Distance: | 16300 mm |
| Bogie axle base: | 2500 mm |
| Service mass: | 38 t |
| Friction mass: | 21.2 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 10.6 t |
| Top speed: | 125 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 404 kW |
| Continuous output : | 315 kW |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 900 mm |
| Impeller diameter: | 900 mm |
| Power system : | 15000 V 16 2/3 Hz |
| Power transmission: | Pantograph |
| Number of traction motors: | 2 |
| Seats: | 70 |
| Standing room: | 30th |
| Floor height: | 710 mm |
| Classes : | 3rd class (2nd class) |
| SBB RAe 2/4 (conversion) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Numbering: | 1001 + 1002 |
| Number: | 2 (1 received) |
| Manufacturer: | SBB |
| Year of construction (s): | 1952 1953 |
| Retirement: | 1984 (1002) |
| Axis formula : | Bo'2 ' |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Length over buffers: | 25200 mm |
| Trunnion Distance: | 18000 mm |
| Bogie axle base: | 2500 mm |
| Service mass: | 41 t |
| Friction mass: | 21.2 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 10.6 t |
| Top speed: | 125 km / h |
| Hourly output : | 404 kW |
| Continuous output : | 315 kW |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 900 mm |
| Impeller diameter: | 900 mm |
| Number of traction motors: | 2 |
| Seats: | 60 |
| Floor height: | 710 mm |
| Classes : | 1st Class |
The electric « Red Arrows » of the SBB , which were delivered from 1935 onwards, were called CLe 2/4 . The first two differ in the design of the bogie and their suspension from the CLe 2/4 203-207 that were delivered later.
The first two electric railcars were delivered together with two CLm diesel railcars in 1935.
history
In 1933, the SBB decided to purchase new express railcars. These should be designed as a single vehicle without normal pulling and pushing devices. One-man operation was also required, as the omission of the assistant made considerable savings possible. At the same time, in addition to the two electric railcars, two diesel railcars based on the same concept were ordered. The first railcar was delivered on March 15, 1935, the second on June 6, 1935. As it became apparent immediately after commissioning that the railcars would be a success, four railcars were immediately reordered and delivered in the spring of 1936. In 1938 a seventh multiple unit was delivered.
Although the railcars were procured for the timetable service, they were soon used primarily for excursion traffic. Because for the planned express train service on less frequented lines and as a feeder to express trains, so-called tram trains, their success was fatal. Since they were designed as single drivers, the space problem that arose could not be solved by attaching a car. As a result, many trains for which a red arrow was actually intended had to be converted to locomotive-hauled trains, as otherwise not all passengers could have been transported. Another phenomenon was that many passengers arranged their travel plans in such a way that they could drive with the red arrow, which further exacerbated the problem. For this reason, too, the SBB came to the conclusion that demonstration drives had to be offered in order to give the population the opportunity to travel with the Red Arrow. During the demonstration drives, care was taken to ensure that all parts of the country were taken into account. Of course there were also inquiries from travel companies who wanted to rent the railcar for an extra trip. As a result of the Second World War , these extra trips came to a standstill, only to pick up even more after the war, so that in addition to the double multiple unit delivered in 1939 ( SBB RAe 4/8 1021 ) there were two more double multiple units ( SBB RAe 4/8 1022 + 1023 ) in 1953. were only purchased for excursion traffic (i.e. extra trips).
Designation and numbers
Designation and numbers were changed and changed very often. The first vehicles were supplied by industry as CLe 2/4 from 1935. As early as 1937, they were renamed Re 2/4, the railcar 207 had the designation Re 2/4 ex works. From 1947/48 onwards they were referred to as RCe and assigned the numbers 601 and 602. From 1956, all RCe were designated as RBe 2/4, the numbers were also changed. 601-607 became 1001-1007. The two extended locomotives were designated as RBe 2/4 after the conversion, from 1956 as RAe 2/4. It should be mentioned here that the numbers 1002 and 1006 changed in 1954 (so the RAe 2/4 1002 is the RCe 2/4 606 from before 1952.).
Technical
The car body is designed as a load-bearing structure. This is formed from a welded frame made of light steel profiles with welded-in wall panels, which is clad on the outside with aluminum sheets. A cranked girder made of steel profiles welded together stabilized the floor of the car. This made it possible to lower the floor of the passenger compartment to 720 mm above the top of the rails. Since the aim was to achieve as little air resistance as possible, the roof was designed as a double roof. The electrical brake resistors were built in between the two roofs. The necessary cooling air was fed in and out through ventilation slots that were fitted on top and on the side of the roof.
Initially, the vehicle only had auxiliary buffers and an auxiliary coupling under a cover, in the form that can still be found today on the «Churchill arrow» ( SBB RAe 4/8 1021 ). A special eyelet, similar to that found on construction vehicles, was subsequently attached to the 204-207 at the bottom of the front so that the ski cart can be attached.
The bogie frames of the first two vehicles were made of welded steel profiles and did not have a weighing beam. The car body was supported by four leaf springs on each bogie. Two were hung on each side of the bogie. There were eight coil springs between the bogie and the housings of the axle bearings, which were designed as roller bearings. Inside this coil spring there was a cylindrical bearing guide, which is why the vehicle did not need an axle holder. The pulling and braking forces were only transmitted via the pivot, which was justifiable for a single driver.
The bogies of the five vehicles that were subsequently procured were of a different, improved design. Because these already had hollow beams as longitudinal beams and were also welded. These side members were cranked in order to have space for the weighing beams. The weighing beam was supported on both sides on pendulous, suspended leaf springs and was connected to the bogie frame with two carriers. The weight of the car body was transferred to the weighing beam via two lateral support bearings.
Two different designs were used for the drive in the CLe 2/4 201 and 202. The 201 was still equipped with a pawl bearing drive , which was supplied by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon and had already proven itself in trams. The 202 received the from Brown, Boveri & Cie. newly developed spring drive with hollow shaft. The new thing about this spring drive was that the spring pots were in the gear itself. The advantages of this spring drive were immediately apparent, and the following five vehicles were also equipped with this drive. In the 201, it was retrofitted after a short period of operation.
The pantograph, which is designed as a pantograph , is above the driver's cab I, i. H. mounted above the bogie. The transformer, which was connected to the pantograph via a simple roof fuse, is located in this porch. So there was no main switch on the high voltage side. The transformer had a continuous output of 210 kVA and was based on the box construction and not on the bogie, otherwise a flexible high-voltage supply to the oil-cooled transformer would have been necessary.
The two self-ventilated drive motors each had an output of 202 kW and were connected in series for weight reasons. To compensate for their tendency to skid, a voltage divider was installed in the transformer tank.
The driver's cab was set up for seated operation and had a large handwheel for the control controller. In the footwell was the dead man's pedal that always had to be pressed. The brake valve for the direct brake is located to the right of it; the driver's brake valve was located above this during the conversion. Since the driver's cab was open and not locked from the passenger compartment, safety measures were in place. When the vehicle key was withdrawn, the control shaft from the controller to the cam switch was unhooked and all electrical and pneumatic switches were blocked in the Off position.
There is a control controller in every driver's cab, with which both the drive and braking levels can be set. This was connected to a cam switch that controlled the hops . There are five pneumatic hops for the speed levels and nine for the braking levels. The two pneumatic door openers next to the control controller were also blocked in the closed position. The locomotive whistle is operated by a cable.
The vehicle was normally braked electrically via the resistance brake. The resistance brake works independently of the overhead line. The required excitation current is first supplied by the battery until the braking current of 200 A is so high that it can excite the motors themselves. There are 11 electrical braking levels. The first eight are purely electric braking levels. The pneumatic brake was only used automatically in stages from the ninth braking stage. For the pneumatic brake, there is one brake block on each wheel in the drive frame and two brake blocks on each wheel in the bogie. The handbrake in each driver's cab only affects the bogie below.
Conversion (equipment with pulling and pushing device)
Since the lack of the normal pulling and pushing device quickly became noticeable, it was decided to equip all vehicles with a towing hook and buffers so that they could at least take one car with them or be given at the end of the train.
The first two vehicles (601 and 602) were converted in 1944. During the renovation, the box frame had to be reinforced so that the forces of the buffers could be diverted. The auxiliary coupling was exchanged for a light towing hook without a screw coupling. A normal automatic brake also had to be installed for the trailer load. An additional driver's brake valve was installed in the driver's cab. The modifications increased the total weight by around five tons. After the conversion it was allowed to add a trailer load of 30 tons to the vehicle up to a gradient of 12 ‰. It was forbidden to leave a trailer load above 18 ‰. Since the conversion was successful, it was carried out on all vehicles.
Five BCF4s (later ABDi) were purchased as trailer wagons in 1947, which only had a total weight of 22 tons.
Conversion to RAe 2/4
In 1952 the 606 was radically rebuilt. The aim was to get a vehicle with a high level of comfort. For this, the car body was lengthened by 2.6 meters and the interior was also renewed. Comfortable fabric seats with larger seat spacing were installed. As a result, he was classified (until 1956 RBe 2/4, then RAe 2/4). In 1954 he changed the number with the 602.
The most striking exterior change is the second side cab window, which only the two converted RAe 2/4 had.
In 1953 the accident 601 was converted in the same way.
Operational
The first two railcars were assigned to the Bern depot. When all seven were delivered, they were distributed among the depots in Bern, Lausanne and Zurich. As early as 1939 they were all withdrawn from the scheduled traffic, as no more meaningful operations were possible, because as soon as a red arrow led a scheduled train for a long time, it was hopelessly overcrowded. In order to at least alleviate the space problem due to the lack of luggage space in winter sports traffic, a single-axle ski trailer was purchased in 1937, which could be hooked into a special eyelet on railcars 204-207. The railcar number 205 was rented to the Oensingen-Balsthal-Bahn together with the ski trailer , as they did not have their own vehicles after the emergency electrification. It is unclear whether there was more than one ski car, as these had no numbers, but according to the BAV, the last one was only canceled in 1956, which suggests several. However, only one ski cart has been supplied by the industry, which does not rule out the possibility that one or more of them were replicated in an SBB workshop. With the emergency electrification of various branch lines during the Second World War, a field of activity opened up again for the railcars from 1943 onwards. Here the lack of the pulling and buffing device was so noticeable that it was decided to convert the railcars so that at least one car could be given. Initially, old two-axle vehicles were used, then the newly delivered lightweight steel wagons and, from 1947, the specially purchased BCF4 (later redrawn as ABDi). At the end of 1945 the railcars were assigned to the Lausanne, Lucerne, Winterthur and Zurich depots. After the delivery of the SBB BDe 4/4, all of the remaining scheduled trains were taken over. Only the bathing trains Zurich-Zurzach could be held by the RBe 2/4, which was run by a railcar from the Zurich depot. Between July and December 1960, a railcar ran from Lenzburg via Mellingen to Kilchberg on weekdays to transport workers to the Lindt chocolate factory. During EXPO 64 , all the Red Arrows were used again according to the schedule (actually everything that was still going was used during EXPO 64). The scheduled use of the Red Arrows ended in 1968 when the service as a bathing train was discontinued.
There were occasional trips to Germany and Austria, whereby the contact point at the border had to be exchanged for one of the DB / ÖBB standard.
Accidents
One was lucky in misfortune on May 14, 1937, when an axle broke in a CLe 2/4 in Brunnen. The railcar derailed, but no serious damage occurred. However, all Red Arrows were shut down after EMPA determined that poor steel quality was responsible for the breakage. The vehicles were not put back into operation until they were equipped with new axles made of Siemens-Martin steel .
The most serious accident happened on May 1, 1952 in Villeneuve . The RCe 2/4 606 was on the upper Lake Geneva as a company trip with members of the Sandoz company from Basel. Coming from Lausanne , the railcar hit the Ae 3/6 I 10687 that was maneuvering there head-on at 3:30 p.m. The leading front end was pushed in completely because the Ae 3/6 climbed onto the railcar. Two people died in the railcar; another 40 people were injured, some seriously. The heavily damaged railcar was rebuilt by the main workshop in Zurich, but converted into the RAe 2/4 at the same time.
The vehicles were scrapped as follows, (after the last number follows the first in brackets);
- 1002 (206), August 31, 1984 (termination)
- 1003 (203), January 1968 (drawn for the Verkehrshaus)
- 1004 (204), December 31, 1968 (abort)
- 1005 (205), November 30, 1966 (termination)
- 1006 (202), December 31, 1967 (abort)
- 1007 (207), January 1974 (sold to OeBB)
Received vehicles
- RAe 2/4 1001, as a historic vehicle at SBB Historic (drivable)
- RBe 2/4 1003, as a visually refurbished exhibition vehicle in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne (not drivable).
- RBe 2/4 1007, as a historic vehicle on the Oensingen-Balsthal-Bahn (operable).
The RAe 2/4 1001 was not roadworthy as a result of a transformer damage it suffered in 2008, but could be put back into operation with the help of the transformer of the RBe 2/4 1003, which was also damaged.
See also
literature
- Sandro Sigrist, Heinz Sigrist: Red Arrows, the legendary Swiss railcars. GeraMond, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-932785-26-6 .
- W. Müller: The Swiss CLe 2/4 light electric multiple units. Federal Railways .
Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Volume 107 (1936), Issue 4 (E-Periodica.ch, PDF; 3.6 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Swiss Railway Review 1/2009, page 4
Web links
- The SBB Red Arrows ( Memento from February 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) by Bruno Lämmli