The FS Class D.341 is a class of

diesel-electric locomotive 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 ...

used in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, introduced in the 1950s and still in service. Most of the remaining units are in service with La Ferroviaria Italiana (LFI).

History

The D.341 were part of a post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

effort from the Italian state railways FS to replace their steam locomotives on non-

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

lines. They were designed in collaboration with Fiat and Breda and were produced in two series with different engines, depending from the manufacturer. The second series had a slightly different appearance. Two prototypes were also built by Ansaldo and

Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Reggiane SpA (commonly referred to as ''Reggiane'') was an Italian industrial manufacturer and aviation company. Reggiane was founded during 1904 by its parent company Caproni, which was in turn owned by the aeronautical eng ...

Description

D.341 has two small

cabs C mathematical operations are a group of functions in the standard library of the C programming language implementing basic mathematical functions. All functions use floating-point numbers in one manner or another. Different C standards provide d ...

, one at each end, separated by a large compartment including the engine, the cooling devices and the transmission. The two engines were each

V-12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fir ...

s coupled to a DC 450/700 V generator provided by

Magneti Marelli Magneti Marelli S.p.A. () is an Italian developer and manufacturer of components for the automotive industry. The firm is headquartered in Corbetta, Italy, and includes 86 manufacturing plants, 12 R&D centres, and 26 application centers in 19 c ...

for the FIAT locomotives, and by Breda or Ocren in the others. Power is fed to four electric motors having a maximum power of each in the first series, and in the second one.

References

* {{FER rolling stock D.341 Bo′Bo′ locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1957 Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives Breda locomotives Reggiane locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Italy Freight locomotives