FO
Multipurpose locomotive HGe 4/4 II
for operation on adhesion
and cog wheel lines
for operation on adhesion and cog wheel lines
In order to cope with the total traffic over the Brünig pass, the
SBB Brünig Railway had 16
Deh 4/6 901-916 traction units at its disposal at the beginning of
the eighties. These dated from the beginning of the electrification
era (years of manufacture 1941/1942) and could therefore not conceal
their weakness due to age in daily operation on the Brünig pass
up-grades of up to 120 o/oo.
Both of the mountain locomotives HGe 4/4 I 1991-1992 purchased in 1953
could never show really convincing performance due to their serious
deficiencies.
Therefore in the early seventies, the train development and workshop
department started design of a novel traction unit. Furthermore, the
BVZ Zermatt Railway (BVZ) and the
Furka-Oberalp Railway (FO) as well
as the Luzern-Stans-Engelberg Railway (LSE)
signaled their interest in new traction units.
The FO reckoned with a strong traffic increase because the opening of
the Furka tunnel was imminent (opened in 1982). High growth rates were
expected at that time especially with locomotive-drawn trains in transit
traffic. The six HGe 4/4 I locomotives built in the forties proved however
inadequate for these trains due to their low maximum speed and their susceptibility
to breakdowns. Therefore a decision was made to procure a new series of
locomotives together with the SBB.
At the beginning of 1983, the manufacture of a preliminary series of five
units was given in commission. Three units (101-103) were for the FO,
two for the SBB (1951-1952). It was also agreed at the same time that,
with the delivery of the eight SBB series locomotives in 1985/86, the
two SBB-prototypes would be handed over to the FO after corresponding
adaptations.
The locomotive body was manufactured in lightweight steel construction
and weighed alone only 5.8 tons! In order to minimize stresses resulting
from the rack-and-pinion and the traction wheels, a novel differential
drive developed by SLM was used. All four axles are each driven by a pulsating-current
traction motor. These are fed by two two-quadrant power converters of
the oil-bath type.
The locomotives have regenerative brakes independent of the overhead
contact wire, whose switching has been adopted by the local transit
shuttle trains. The traction control electronics base on ABB’s microprocessor
controlled MICAS-S system and consists of two identical units.
Since the vehicles' performance prooved satisfactory the FO ordered an additional number of three units. In addition to that the BVZ received five identical locomotives in 1990 so that a total number of 21 cog wheel locomotives of type HGe 4/4 II are in service in Switzerland.
Technical facts
| Vehicle designation: | HGe 4/4 II |
|---|---|
| Vehicle Nos: | 101 - 108 |
| Manufacturer - mechanical parts: - electrical parts: | SLM ABB |
| Wheel arrangement: | Bo'Bo' |
| Years of commissioning: | 1985/1990 |
| Number of vehicles: | 8 |
| Max. speed: | 90 km/h / 35 km/h (cog wheel, uphill) |
| Gauge: | 1,000 mm |
| Length over buffer: | 14,776 mm |
| Overall width: | 2,683 mm |
| Mass in running order: | 64.0 t |
| Hauling load: - ruling up-gradient: | 150 / 130 / 350 t 4 / 11 % / Furka-Tunnel |
| Nominal catenary line voltage: | 11 kV, AC 16 2/3 Hz |
| Number of traction motors: | 4 |
| Max. rating at wheel rim (1 hour): | 1,932 kW |
| Cont. rating at wheel rim: | 1,778 kW |
| Max. tractive effort at wheel rim (1 hour): - corresponding speed: | 149.6 kN 45,2 km/h |
| Cont. tractive effort at wheel rim: - corresponding speed: | 141.2 kN 45,6 km/h |
| Starting tractive effort at wheel rim: | 230 kN / 280 kN (cog wheel) |
| Bogie wheel base: | 2,980 mm |
| Diameter of wheels (new): | 943 mm |
Vehicle names
| Vehicle names | |
|---|---|
| - 101: | Sion / Sitten |
| - 102: | Altdorf |
| - 103: | Chur / Marceau de Cuera |
| - 104: | Furka |
| - 105: | Oberalp |
| - 106: | St. Gotthard |
| - 107: | Grimsel |
| - 108: | Nufenen |
Copyright © 1997
Author: Klaus P. Canavan, last change on 2001-08-10