Crocodile (German ''Krokodil'')
electric locomotive
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. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
(see also
Steeplecab). These contain the motors and drive axles, and are connected by an
articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were sometim ...
center section. The center section usually contains the crew compartments,
pantograph
A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...
s and
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
.
The name was first applied to
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
locomotives. Sometimes the term is applied to locomotives in other countries of a similar design.
History
Switzerland
Class Ce 6/8
A prototype locomotive,
SBB-CFF-FFS Ce 6/8 I
The ''Ce 6/8 I 14201 was one of four test locomotives ordered by the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (Swiss Federal Railways) (SBB) in June 1917. For gaining experience for ordering electrical locomotives this locomotive should – as its three s ...
number 14201, was ordered in June 1917. The production "Crocodiles" were the series ''SBB Ce 6/8 II'' and ''SBB Ce 6/8 III'' locomotives of the
SBB, Swiss Federal Railways, built between 1919 and 1927. There were 33 class Ce 6/8 II and 18 class Ce 6/8 III, 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
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
to
Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...
, including the
Gotthard Tunnel
, it, Galleria del San Gottardo
, other_name =
, line = Gotthard Line
, location = Traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif in the middle of the Swiss Alps
, coordinates =
, os_grid_ref =
, status =
, system ...
.
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
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, gear ...
between the drive axles farthest from the cab (SBB Ce 6/8 II) or farthest from the end (SBB Ce 6/8 III), with
side rod
A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer t ...
s carrying the power to the drivers. These locomotives, sometimes called the "Swiss Crocodile" or "SBB Crocodile", were highly successful and served until 1982.
The German model railway manufacturer
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...
published a book about their history in 1984. Nine out of 51 total produced have survived, but only three are still in operation as preserved historical locomotives in Switzerland.
Class Be 6/8
Between 1942 and 1947, thirteen members of class Ce 6/8 II were upgraded with more powerful motors, to allow a higher top speed, and these became class Be 6/8 II. 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 6/8 III were upgraded and became class Be 6/8 III.
Narrow gauge
![Ge 6-6 I 407 Krokodil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Ge_6-6_I_407_Krokodil.jpeg)
As well as
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
Crocodiles, there are also
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
versions. The best known are the
Rhaetian Railway
The Rhaetian Railway (german: Rhätische Bahn; it, Ferrovia retica; rm, Viafier retica), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB ...
(RhB)'s
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
locomotives of class
Ge 6/6 I, 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
The Bernina Railway (german: Berninalinie; it, Linea del Bernina; rm, Lingia dal Bernina) is a single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switze ...
(later merged with the RhB) also built a single Crocodile type, the Ge 4/4, nicknamed the "Bernina Crocodile". This locomotive survives and is being restored to operating condition.
Two other Swiss narrow-gauge railways also have locomotives nicknamed Crocodiles; the
BVZ Zermatt-Bahn (BVZ) (which merged with the
Furka Oberalp Bahn
The Furka Oberalp Railway (german: link=no, Furka Oberalp Bahn) is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is part of the Matterhorn G ...
(FO) in 2003 to form the
Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn) uses series ''HGe 4/4 I'', known as the Zermatt crocodile, while the
Chemin de Fer Yverdon-Ste. Croix owns a solitary class ''Ge 4/4'' #21. Neither of these locomotive types have an articulated body, which leads some railfans to nickname them "false crocodiles".
Austria
Very similar locomotives were used in Austria as
Austrian Federal Railways
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
(''Österreichische Bundesbahn'') classes ÖBB 1089 and ÖBB 1189, and are often known as "Austrian Crocodiles".
France
The French
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
25 kV AC locomotives of classes
CC 14000 and
CC 14100, used mainly for iron ore trains on the , 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.
Germany
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.
India
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
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
of 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm). The first 10 locomotives were built by
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
.
Vulcan Foundry
The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside).
History
The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...
of Great Britain constructed a further 31 examples for this line.
Spain
Ten locomotives similar to the ones operated in Switzerland and Austria were known as "cocodrilo" (). They were operated by
Ferrocarriles Vascongados and its successor companies from 1928 to 1999.
Other Crocodile-like locomotives
![Kukushka-borjomi-bakuriani-railway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Kukushka-borjomi-bakuriani-railway.jpg)
The articulated-body design was not unique to the Crocodiles. It was used in the United States on the
Milwaukee Road class EP-2
The Milwaukee Road's class EP-2 comprised five electric locomotives built by General Electric in 1919. They were often known as Bipolars, which referred to the bipolar electric motors they used. Among the most distinctive and powerful electric l ...
"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
The Yverdon to Sainte-Croix Railway (french: Chemin de fer Yverdon–Ste-Croix, YSteC) is a railway line and former railway company in Switzerland. The line connects the towns of Yverdon-les-Bains and Sainte-Croix, both in the canton of Vaud, a ...
was known as the "Crocodile", despite being an elongated
Bo-Bo
B-B and Bo-Bo are the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and British classifications of wheel arrangement for railway locomotives with four axles in two individual bogies. They are equivalent to the B′B′ and Bo′Bo′ classifications in ...
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 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, 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
Locomotion, previously known as Locomotion the National Railway Museum at Shildon, is a railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, England. The museum was renamed in 2017 when it became part of the Science Museum Group.
Overview
The museum was ...
.
The
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
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
Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
can be found on the
route between Borjomi and Bakuriani in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Notes
References
External links
How many "Crocodiles" are there?Short movie from 1923
{{Authority control
Electric locomotives of Switzerland
(1′C)(C1′) locomotives
1-C+C-1 locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1919
Standard gauge locomotives of Switzerland
Standard gauge locomotives of Austria
Standard gauge locomotives of Germany
Standard gauge electric locomotives of France
Metre gauge electric locomotives
5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives
SLM locomotives
2-6-6-2 locomotives