The steep 2.7% grades of the Gotthard Railway are challenging for the railroad operation. In the 1920s the trains became so heavy that the power and the traction of one locomotive became insufficient and so costly double-heading or splitting of the train over the mountain was required. The Multiple-unit train control was at that time emerging and not yet a reliable working system.
The idea was to introduce double-locomotives with eight axles and a weight of 250 tons. These locomotives could pull the trains directly from Zurich or Lucern over the Gotthard and Monte Ceneri to Chiasso. This eliminated the stops for adding and removing additional locomotives in Erstfeld or Biasca, so that shorter travel times would be possible.
First two prototypes with the numbers 11801 and 11851 were built to evaluate the best suited drive system. A few years later a third prototype 11852 was built, which was quite similar to 11851 but with increased traction power.
Design
All Ae 8/14s were double-locomotives with eight driving axles and six idlers. The running gear was built for 100km/h so that the locomotives could be used for passenger trains. At the beginning all locomotives had special devices fitted which could mechanically transfer weight from the idlers to the driving axles by slightly lifting the idlers with pneumatic cylinders. This equipment was removed in the 1950s. All engines originally had no driver's seats, that meant that the engineer had to operate the engine stand in an upright position.
11801
This 1931 built locomotive had one Buchli drive per driving axle very similar to the SBB Ae 4/7. The drive was installed on the right side of each car body when looking in the direction of the driver's cab. The locomotive had a traction power of 5,514kW and was used in revenue service till 1975. It is now a preserved, fully functional historic engine in the SBB-fleet. The traction power was reduced to 5,408 kW to avoid damages to the equipment.
11851
Builder's photo of 11851
The 11851 was built in 1932. The car body was similar to 11801 but the driving wheels were smaller and the axles were driven by double-motors with a Winterthur universal drive. The power was increased to 6,070kW. The locomotive was equipped with driver's seats during a refurbishment in 1961. The resulting cabs were now quite similar to those of SBB Ae 6/6. The locomotive was withdrawn from revenue service in 1976 and later scrapped in Biasca.
The 11852 was an improved version of 11851. The running gear and the drives were the same as in 11851 but the car body was built in new light weight technology and with a new futuristic streamline design. The locomotive became very famous in Switzerland since it was shown off at the Swiss National Exhibition of 1939[de], where it showed the capabilities of the Swiss industry and supported the spiritual defence of the Swiss Nation during World War II. The locomotive was therefore nicknamed Landi-Lok, where Landi stays for the short form of Landesausstellung (German for Swiss National Exhibition) and Lok as short form of Lokomotive (German for locomotive). The 11852 had 8,170kW traction power, and was therefore the most powerful locomotive in the world for some time after. In revenue operation, it quickly became obvious that the traction force could not be used completely since the couplers of the rail cars were at that time too weak.
In 1971, the locomotive was damaged in an electric fire while driving through the Gotthard tunnel. The damages were so severe that a repair would not have been economic. The outside of the locomotive was cosmetically refurbished and the locomotive was shown for years in front of the Swiss Transport Museum, but is now shown inside the museum.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to SBB Ae 8/14.
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the use of these self-propelled vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains, but rare for freight.
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels.
The UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements, sometimes known as the German classification or German system, describes the wheel arrangement of locomotives, multiple units and trams. It is used in much of the world, notable exceptions being the United Kingdom, which uses a slightly simplified form of UIC, and in North America, where the AAR wheel arrangement system is used to describe diesel and electric locomotives. In North America, Whyte notation is only used for steam locomotives.
Crocodile electric locomotives are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a crocodile. 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.
A control car, cab car, control trailer, or driving trailer is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartments with all the controls and gauges required to remotely operate the locomotive, including exterior locomotive equipment such as horns, bells, ploughs, and lights. They also have communications and safety systems such as GSM-R or European Train Control System (ETCS). Control cars enable push-pull operation when located on the end of a train opposite its locomotive by allowing the train to reverse direction at a terminus without moving the locomotive or turning the train around.
The Ae 6/6 is a heavy electric locomotive used by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS). It is sometimes also referred to as canton locomotive ("Kantonslokomotive"), because the first 25 locomotives were named after the cantons, and carried the canton's coat of arms on the side and chrome embellishments, and the Swiss coat of arms on the front, between the chrome stripes. These adornments made them internationally famous. The other 95 locomotives received the names of capital cities of Swiss cantons, and other towns and cities, but without the chrome embellishments. The namings were held as ceremonies in the respective cities. A less appealing moniker is Schienenwolf as the three axle bogie construction stresses heavily the tracks.
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The Buchli drive is a transmission system used in electric locomotives. It was named after its inventor, Swiss engineer Jakob Buchli. The drive is a fully spring-loaded drive, in which each floating axle has an individual motor, that is placed in the spring mounted locomotive frame. The weight of the driving motors is completely disconnected from the driving wheels, which are exposed to movement of the rails.
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 Ae 4/7 was a universal locomotive of the Swiss Federal Railways, employing the so-called Buchli drive.
The Ae 4/8 was a prototype locomotive of the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) for the testing of electrical operation. The locomotive was equipped with two different drives, therefore acquiring the nickname Bastard. Because of its three-part locomotive body it also acquired the nickname Tatzelwurm.
The Be 3/5 11201 was one of four test locomotives ordered by the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) in June 1917. Intended to provide experience with electric traction, the locomotive was intended, along with Be 4/6 12301, Be 4/6 12302 and Ce 6/8I14201, to be used on services on the Gotthardbahn. The Be 3/5 was something of a stopgap offered by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO) because they felt that the requirements required for the Gotthard Railway could not be fulfilled at the time. As the MFO did not feel that it could produce a freight locomotive with six drive-axles, a smaller version of the BLS Be 5/7 was offered. This meant that the locomotive did not fulfil the SBB specifications for the Gotthard line; it was too weak and, compared with the A 3/5 steam locomotives, too slow. However, due to a lack of available stock, the railway still took delivery of the locomotive, a decision later proved correct by the long operational life and reliability of the Be 3/5.
The Be 4/6 12301 was one of four test locomotives ordered by the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) in June 1917. For gaining experience for ordering electrical locomotives this locomotive should – as her three sisters Be 3/5 12201, Be 4/6 12302 and Ce 6/8I14201 – have been used for services on the Gotthardbahn. The Be 4/6 12301 was the alternative design of MFO for a fast train locomotive for the Gotthard railway line. She was designed and built according to the requirement specifications of the SBB. But – except for occasional trips to the maintenance shop of Bellinzona – did not appear on the Gotthard railway line. The design was intrinsically reliable. The locomotive operated for 44 years in very various services. The locomotive drivers liked the locomotive because her driving behaviour was very smooth even at top speed. But technically the locomotive was much more complicated than their sisters Be 4/6 12302 and Be 4/6 12303-12342.
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 Be 4/6 was a bogie locomotive operated by the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (SBB) on the Gotthard Railway along with the Be 3/5, The design was based on the prototype Be 4/6 12302.
A monomotor bogie is a form of traction bogie used for an electric locomotive or diesel-electric locomotive. It is distinguished by having a single traction motor on each bogie.
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.
Midi E 3301 was a prototype electric locomotive of Class E 3300 designed for the Chemins de fer du Midi, France. Because of poor performance, it was refused by the Compagnie du Midi and was re-deployed to Swiss railways. On 1 May 1919, it was classified Fb 2/5 11001 and, in 1920, it became experimental locomotive Be 2/5 11001 of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).
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.
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