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Crocodile (German Krokodil) electric locomotives are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a crocodile (see also Steeplecab). These contain the motors and drive axles, and are connected by an articulated center section. The center section usually contains the crew compartments, pantographs and transformer.
The first evidence of the nickname crocodile locomotive refers to the green Märklin model railway locomotives in gauge 0, item CCS 66/12920, as well as in gauge 1, item CCS 66/12921, which snake through the curves like a reptile when running through switch roads and counter curves, and are first referred to as such in the Märklin catalogue of 1933/1934. They are a reproduction of the Ce 6/8II and Ce 6/8III freight locomotives of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), which were put into service starting in 1919.
Sometimes the term is also used for locomotives of a similar design.
Swiss "crocodile" locomotive Dimensions are for Be 6/8II version - an upgraded Ce 6/8II [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A prototype locomotive, SBB Ce 6/8I number 14201, was ordered in June 1917. The production "Crocodiles" were the series SBB Ce 6/8II and SBB Ce 6/8III locomotives of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), built between 1919 and 1927. There were 33 class Ce 6/8II and 18 class Ce 6/8III, making a total (excluding the prototype) of 51 locomotives. These locomotives were developed for pulling heavy goods trains on the steep tracks of the Gotthardbahn from Lucerne to Chiasso, including the Gotthard Tunnel.
The electric motors available at the time were large and had to be body-mounted above the plane of the axles, but flexibility was required to negotiate the tight curves on the Alpine routes and tunnels. An articulated design, with two powered nose units bridged with a pivoting center section containing cabs and the heavy transformer, met both requirements and gave excellent visibility from driving cabs mounted safely away from any collision. The two motors in each nose unit were geared to a jackshaft between the drive axles farthest from the cab (SBB Ce 6/8II) or farthest from the end (SBB Ce 6/8III), with side rods carrying the power to the drivers. These locomotives, sometimes called the "Swiss Crocodile" or "SBB Crocodile", were highly successful and served until 1982. [3] The German model railway manufacturer Märklin published a book about their history in 1984. [4] [ page needed ] Nine out of 51 total produced have survived, but only three are still in operation as preserved historical locomotives in Switzerland. [3]
Between 1942 and 1947, thirteen members of class Ce 6/8II were upgraded with more powerful motors, to allow a higher top speed, and these became class Be 6/8II. This required raising the jackshaft above the plane of the axles, necessitating a more complex system of side rods. In 1956, all eighteen members of class Ce 6/8III were upgraded and became class Be 6/8III. [5]
As well as standard gauge Crocodiles, there are also narrow gauge versions. The best known are the Rhaetian Railway (RhB)'s metre gauge locomotives of class Ge 6/6I, the Rhaetian Crocodile. Several of these still run on passenger trains on special occasions. They are also used on freight trains in busy periods.
The Bernina Railway (later merged with the RhB) also built a single Crocodile type, the Ge 4/4 No. 182, nicknamed the "Bernina Crocodile". This locomotive survives and was restored to operating condition by the CLUB 1889 preservation group during 2000-2010.
Two other Swiss narrow-gauge railways also have locomotives nicknamed Crocodiles; the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) (which merged with the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO) in 2003 to form the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn) uses series HGe 4/4I, known as the Zermatt crocodile, while the Chemin de Fer Yverdon-Ste. Croix owns a solitary class Ge 4/4 No. 21. Neither of these locomotive types have an articulated body, which leads some railfans to nickname them "false crocodiles".
Very similar locomotives were used in Austria as Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahn) classes ÖBB 1089 and ÖBB 1189, and are often known as "Austrian Crocodiles".
The French SNCF 25 kV AC locomotives of classes CC 14000 and CC 14100, used mainly for iron ore trains on the Valenciennes-Thionville line , have sometimes been called "crocodiles", although more commonly "flatirons". They are different from the Swiss crocodiles in that they are not articulated, but are a single long steeplecab or 'monocabine' with a bogie beneath each end.
The German classes E 93 and E 94, also used by the ÖBB as series 1020, are sometimes called "German crocodiles". They are sometimes nicknamed "Alligators", instead, because of their broader, shorter snouts.
Crocodile locomotives were also used in India. These locomotives, of series WCG-1, were used from 1928 between Bombay and Pune, and were all built to the Indian broad gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm). The first 10 locomotives were built by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works. Vulcan Foundry of Great Britain constructed a further 31 examples for this line. [6] [7]
Ten locomotives similar to the ones operated in Switzerland and Austria were known as cocodrilo ( Spanish for 'crocodile'). They were operated by Ferrocarriles Vascongados and its successor companies from 1928 to 1999. [8]
The articulated-body design was not unique to the Crocodiles. It was used in the United States on the Milwaukee Road class EP-2 "Bi-Polars", for example.
Many more locomotives adopted the design of long noses without articulation of the body. The single Ge 4/4 of the Yverdon–Ste-Croix railway was known as the "Crocodile", despite being an elongated Bo-Bo steeplecab with articulated bogies beneath, rather than an articulated locomotive. This extended to painting it with large crocodile heads on each side.
In the United Kingdom, the LNER Class ES1 featured a crocodile-like design and was built between 1902 and 1904, both locomotives remaining in service until 1966, when No.2 was scrapped and No. 1 (BR No.26500) was preserved, now on display at Shildon Locomotion Museum.
The Panama Canal uses double-ended locomotives, known as 'mules', to act as land-based tugs to steer ships through the Canal's lock chambers.
Furthermore, some examples of locomotives similar in design to the Crocodiles, which were manufactured by Škoda can be found on the route between Borjomi and Bakuriani in Georgia.
An articulated locomotive is a steam locomotive with one or more engine units that can move independently of the main frame. Articulation allows the operation of locomotives that would otherwise be too large to negotiate a railroad's curves, whether mainlines or special lines with extreme curvature such as logging, industrial, or mountain railways.
The Furka Oberalp Railway is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of 1,000 mm. It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is part of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn when it merged with the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn.
A Bo-Bo-Bo or Bo′Bo′Bo′ is a locomotive with three independent two-axle bogies with all axles powered by separate traction motors. In the AAR system, this is simplified to B-B-B due to the system only taking powered axles into consideration, not traction axles.
A jackshaft is an intermediate shaft used to transfer power from a powered shaft such as the output shaft of an engine or motor to driven shafts such as the drive axles of a locomotive. As applied to railroad locomotives in the 19th and 20th centuries, jackshafts were typically in line with the drive axles of locomotives and connected to them by side rods. In general, each drive axle on a locomotive is free to move about one inch (2.5 cm) vertically relative to the frame, with the locomotive weight carried on springs. This means that if the engine, motor or transmission is rigidly attached to the locomotive frame, it cannot be rigidly connected to the axle. This problem can be solved by mounting the jackshaft on unsprung bearings and using side-rods or chain drives.
Steeplecab is railroad terminology for a style or design of electric locomotive; the term is rarely if ever used for other forms of power. The name originated in North America and has been used in Britain as well.
For more than a century, the Swiss locomotive, multiple unit, motor coach and railcar classification system, in either its original or updated forms, has been used to name and classify the rolling stock operated on the railways of Switzerland. It started out as a uniform system for the classification and naming of all rolling stock, powered and unpowered, but had been replaced and amended by the UIC classification of goods wagons.
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I is a class of metre gauge C′C′ electric locomotives operated by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 III is a class of metre gauge Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 II is a class of metre gauge Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives operated by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 II is a class of heavy metre gauge electric locomotives operated by the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.
The Be 4/6 12302 was one of four test locomotives ordered by the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) in June 1917, along with the Be 3/5 12201, Be 4/6 12301 and Ce 6/8I14201. It was intended to be used on the Gotthardbahn, in order to gain experience in ordering and operating electric locomotives, However, the Be 4/6 12302 was never used for scheduled services on the Gotthard, because at its introduction it was already outperformed by the successor class Be 4/6 12303-12342.
The Ce 6/8 I 14201 was one of four test locomotives ordered by the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) in June 1917. For gaining experience for ordering electrical locomotives this locomotive should – as its three siblings Be 3/5 12201, Be 4/6 12301 and Be 4/6 12302 – have been used for services on the Gotthardbahn. The development of freight locomotives subsequently took a completely different way which was not conceivable at the ordering date. The Ce 6/8I came into service only after the first Ce 6/8II.
The Bernina-Bahngesellschaft Ge 4/4 82, later known as the Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 182, is a 1,000 V DC metre gauge B′B′ electrically powered heritage locomotive made in Switzerland.
Visp railway station is a junction station at Visp, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It has a modern station building completed in 2007, and is served by two standard gauge lines and a metre gauge line.
The Furka Oberalp Bahn Ge 4/4 III, now known as the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn Ge 4/4 III, is a two member class of metre gauge electric locomotives operated until 2002 by the Furka Oberalp Bahn (FO), and since then by its successor, the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, between the Cantons of Valais and Uri in southern Switzerland.
The DRG Class E94 is an electric heavy freight locomotive built for Deutsche Reichsbahn from 1940, with the bulk of deliveries taking place in that year. It was a major evolution of the DRG Class E 93. Railway aficionados still call the type "Grünes Krokodil" because of the resemblance to the Swiss locomotive nicknamed "Crocodile".
The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn Deh 4/4, now known as the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn Deh 4/4 21–24, is a four member class of metre gauge, rack rail, electric multiple unit power cars operated until 2002 by the Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ), and since then by its successor, the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB), in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland.
The HGe 4/4 II is a combined adhesion and cogwheel-equipped electric locomotive used on a number of metre gauge railways in Switzerland since 1985.
The Swiss locomotive class Ae 4/6 was a class of electric locomotives. They were intended as a powerful locomotive for the steep gradients of the Gotthard Railway, but smaller than the huge 'double locomotives' which had previously been tested there. They were built from 1941, during World War II, and although Switzerland remained neutral through this, material shortages led to some quality problems with these locomotives.
Rigid-framed electric locomotives were some of the first generations of electric locomotive design. When these began the traction motors of these early locomotives, particularly with AC motors, were too large and heavy to be mounted directly to the axles and so were carried on the frame. One of the initial simplest wheel arrangements for a mainline electric locomotive, from around 1900, was the 1′C1′ arrangement, in UIC classification.