FAV Class E.440

Last updated
FAV Class E.440
E440-3pietrarsa1999-04-08.jpg
FAV E.440.3 preserved at the
National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa
Type and origin
Power type Electric
Builder 1-3, CEMSA
4, OM and TIBB
Build date 1932
Total produced 4
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  AAR D
 •  UIC D
Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electric system/s Three-phase AC
3,600V, 16.7 Hz
Current pickup(s) overhead line
Performance figures
Maximum speed 50 km/h
Power output 1,000 kW (1,340 hp)
Career
Operators FAV

FAV Class E.440 was a class of four electric locomotives built for the Italian Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV) in 1932 for the operation between Sondrio and Tirano.

Electric locomotive locomotive powered by electricity

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor.

The Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV) is a railway line in Italy which connects Sondrio, in Valtellina, to Tirano in Alta Valtellina. The railway company was established in 1899 and the line opened in 1902. Many railways in Italy were nationalized in 1905 but the Ferrovia Alta Valtellina escaped and was not nationalized until 1970.

Sondrio Comune in Lombardy, Italy

Sondrio is an Italian town and comune located in the heart of the Valtellina. As of 2012, Sondrio counts approximately 21,876 inhabitants (2015) and it is the administrative centre for the province of Sondrio. In 2007, Sondrio was given the Alpine Town of the Year award.

Contents

History

In 1928, following the experience acquired in the three-phase high-voltage (10 kV) AC operation on the Rome - Sulmona line of the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), a new locomotive, dual-voltage and dual-frequency, with a wheel arrangement of 1'D1' and a power output of 3,270 kW, was designed and registered as FS Class E.471. It was designed by the famous engineer Kalman Kando and was built in the CEMSA plant. Ten locomotives were ordered but the project was terminated prematurely and only one locomotive was completed. The early termination of the project caused severe economic difficulties for CEMSA so the company welcomed an order for four locomotives from FAV. It has been suggested that one of the FAV locomotives was a rebuild of E.471 but this seems unlikely because E.471 was a large 1'D1' machine while the FAV locomotives were relatively small D types. What is more likely is that some parts manufactured for the cancelled FS order were used in the construction of the FAV locomotives. The first three units, E.440.1-2-3 were delivered in 1932 but the fourth, E.440.4, had to be built by Officine Meccaniche (OM) and Tecnomasio Italiano-Brown-Boveri (TIBB) following the economic difficulties of CEMSA. The locomotives served on the line between Sondrio and Tirano until 1967, when they were withdrawn and replaced by diesel-powered trains.

Three-phase AC railway electrification

Three-phase AC railway electrification was used in Italy, Switzerland and the United States in the early twentieth century. Italy was the major user, from 1901 until 1976, although lines through two tunnels also used the system; the Simplon Tunnel between Switzerland and Italy from 1906 to 1930, and the Cascade Tunnel of the Great Northern Railway in the United States from 1909 to 1939. The first standard gauge line was in Switzerland, from Burgdorf to Thun, from 1899 to 1933.

Rome Capital city and comune in Italy

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country's most populated comune. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4,355,725 residents, thus making it the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Sulmona Comune in Abruzzo, Italy

Sulmona is a city and comune of the province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, Italy. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plateau once occupied by a lake that disappeared in prehistoric times. In the ancient era, it was one of the most important cities of the Paeligni and is known for being the native town of Ovid of whom there is a bronze statue, located on the town's main road, named after him.

Technical details

The E.440 locomotives were the only three-phase Italian machines to have the "D" wheel arrangement. Current collection was by trolley poles with dual spades. There was a single asynchronous motor of 1,000 kW (1 hour rating). The motion was transmitted to the wheels by articulated connecting rods using the Kando system with an idle jackshaft. Two fixed speeds of 33 and 50 km/h were available by pole-changing (Kando-Blathy system). The locomotive had a rigid frame and the axle at the cab end had side play of 40mm. The livery was black.

Jackshaft

A jackshaft, also called a countershaft, is a common mechanical design component used to transfer or synchronize rotational force in a machine. A jackshaft is often just a short stub with supporting bearings on the ends and two pulleys, gears, or cranks attached to it. In general, a jackshaft is any shaft that is used as an intermediary transmitting power from a driving shaft to a driven shaft.

Ottó Bláthy Hungarian chess player

Ottó Titusz Bláthy was a Hungarian electrical engineer. In his career, he became the co-inventor of the modern electric transformer, the tension regulator, the AC watt-hour meter.motor capacitor for the single-phase (AC) electric motor, the turbo generator, and the high-efficiency turbo generator.

Preservation

By the 1980s, three units had been scrapped. E.440.3, restored in the workshops at Tirano, was sent to the National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa where it is exhibited.

Tirano Comune in Lombardy, Italy

Tirano is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio in northern Italy. It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy boundary. The river Adda flows through the town.

National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa Railway museum in Campania, Italy

The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa lies beside the Naples–Portici railway, between the city of Naples and the towns of Portici and San Giorgio a Cremano. Pietrarsa is an area among these villages in the past known as “Pietra Bianca” but it was renamed Pietrarsa after the eruption of the Vesuvius in 1631.

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References

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