The FS E.625 and E.626 are two classes of Italian
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 produced for the
Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...
. They were introduced in the course of the 1920s and remained in service until the 1990s. The E.626 was the first locomotive fed by 3,000 V DC
overhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
in Italy.
History
The E.626 class is the result of a requirement issued in 1926 by the
Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...
(FS, Italian Railways) for a new locomotive to be used under the new 3,000 V DC line being built between
Foggia
Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...
and
Benevento
Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...
.
[The previous electrified lines of Italy used 15 kV, 16.7 Hz AC. The 3,000 V is currently the standard system in service, apart some High Speed lines fed at 25 kV AC.] The design was carried out by the team of
Giuseppe Bianchi, the "founder" of modern Italian railways, at the FS Traction and Material Service in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
. The requirement specified the locomotive should have six traction axles, to improve adhesion on steep lines. The E.626 series totalled 448 units in three series, each with only slight electro-mechanical differences. It was old-fashioned, but reliable, and it became the mainstay of the new FS lines at 3,000 V DC, which gradually spread to the whole peninsula.
Trials
The firsts tests occurred on the Foggia-Benevento line in the September 1927, using three prototypes built by
Savigliano
Savigliano (Savijan in Piedmontese) is a ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy, in the Province of Cuneo, about south of Turin by rail.
It is home to ironworks, foundries, locomotive works (once owned by Fiat Ferroviaria, now by Alstom) and s ...
, with the electrical equipment provided by
Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. The first 14 prototypes (eight E.625 with lower gear ratio, for freight services, and six E.626) proved powerful and reliable, and entered service the following year. The only teething problem encountered was with the six 32R motors mounted on the axles, hanging laterally over transverse beams, a system devised to avoid the complicated side rods of the contemporary steam and three-phase locomotives. After a series of breakdowns, it was decided to limit the speed to . Traction control was provided by three different motor combinations (
series, series-parallel, parallel) through banks of resistor-based
rheostat
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
The measuring instrume ...
s. The transmission was rather noisy, but at the time, the crew's comfort was not a high priority. The carbody was in a single steel piece, mounted on an articulated chassis. The large bonnets at the ends limited the visibility of the rails, and they were reduced in size from the third series.
Mass production
In 1930 the mass production was started, with a first series of 85 units. In the meantime the E.625 were re-converted to E.626. In 1934-1938 a record number of 308 units was built, while in 1939 the last series, with low gear ratio, was shipped (they were later standardized). The new
E636 of the 1940s initially shared the motors and some of the electro-mechanical devices with the E.626.
After the destruction of
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 opposin ...
, in 1946 an updating and repair programme was launched. Some other units remained in the countries previously occupied by Italy. Seventeen locomotives were ceded to the
Yugoslavian Railways (Class E626, from 1957 Class E61 and from 1962 finally classified as Class 361) and, in 1958, four were given to Czechoslovakia (Class E 666.0). Now inadequate for the passenger role, the E.626s were transferred to freight service, apart from working commuter trains in some areas of Italy.
In the 1970s, the E.626s fell out of favour, partly because of complaints from trade unions about poor working conditions for the crew. Fourteen units were sold to private railways and the remaining units were gradually replaced by more modern classes, and scrapped. The last unit to be decommissioned was E.626.194, which was used for rescue trains, in 1999.
Preservation
Seven units survive today in museums, while 11 refurbished locomotives are used for historical trains.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Giuseppe Bianchi, Sebastiano Elena, I locomotori a corrente continua a 3000 volt gruppi E.625 ed E.626, in Rivista tecnica delle ferrovie italiane, (1930), n. 5, pp. 189–250, (1930), n. 5, pp. 13–55 e tavv.
* Felice Corini, Trazione elettrica, Torino, UTET, 1931, v. 4, pp. 432–433
* Giuseppe Bianchi, La unificazione delle locomotive a corrente continua a 3000 volt. Locomotive gruppo E.424 - E.326 - E.626 - E.428 e Automotrici gruppo E.24, in Rivista tecnica delle ferrovie italiane, a. 23, 45 (1934), n. 4, pp. 187–203 e tavv. IX-XII; n. 5, pp. 256–329 e tavv. XIII f. t.; n. 6, pp. 410–417.
* Giuseppe Bianchi, Sebastiano Elena, Le locomotive elettriche a corrente continua a 3000 volt gruppo E.626, in Rivista tecnica delle ferrovie italiane, a. , 48 (1935), n. 6, pp. , a. , 49 (1936), n. 1, pp. e tavv.
* Felice Corini, Trazione elettrica, Torino, UTET, 1950, v. 2, pp. 193–260, 335-407, 532-533 e tavv.
* Erminio Mascherpa, Le locomotive elettriche F.S. del gr. E.626. Primi passi delle continua a 3000 volt in Italia, in Italmodel ferrovie, (1969), n. 147, pp. 4778–4785, n. 148, pp. 4829–4837, (1970) n. 149, pp. 4883–4886
* Claudio Pedrazzini, E.625-E.626, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli, 1981
* Giovanni Cornolò, Locomotive elettriche FS, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli Editore, 1983, pp. 151–163.
* Tiziano Croce, E 626, le locomotive "tuttofare", fascicolo fuori testo Locomotive elettriche in Tutto treno, 5 (1992), n. 40, pp. 1–8
* Giovanni Cornolò, Dall'E.626 all'Eurostar. 1928-2008: ottant'anni di locomotive elettriche FS, Parma, Ermanno Albertelli, 2008, pp. 101–142
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fs Class E626
E.626
Bo′BoBo′ locomotives
Bo-Bo-Bo locomotives
3000 V DC locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1928
Standard gauge locomotives of Italy
CEMSA locomotives