The
FS E.424 is a class of
Italian railways
The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of of which active lines are 16,723 km. The network has recently grown with the construction of the new high-speed rail netw ...
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 g ...
s. They were built in 1943-1951 and have been decommissioned in 2008.
History
A design for a small multi-service Bo-Bo locomotive, with speed up to , had been devised by
Giuseppe Bianchi as early as in the 1930s, but the project had been halted by the introduction of the
E.326 and
E.428. After the realization of the 6-axle
E.636, it was however decided to revamp the project by adapting to it some solutions already in use on the E.636 (engines, bogies, suspension etc.).
Breda SpA workshop provided the three prototypes of E.424 in 1943-1944. Mass production, however, could begin only after the end 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 opposing ...
, part of the funds provided by the
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in November 1943, it was dissolved in September 1948. it became part o ...
program.
Series
The locomotives have been built in four series starting from 1943:
* 001-003, prototype units with 32R-200 motors, 21/65 gear ratio, max speed and 2 field shunts; unit 003 had 20/65 gear ratio, for a maximum speed of , and also had compound-type motors (model 92-250).
* 004-013, compound-type 92-250 motors (as unit 003), max speed , 19/65 gear ratio.
* 014-038 and 057-078: units from 017 to 020 plus unit 022 and 024 were identical to units 001/2; units 014, 023, 025, 057 and 060 had 19/65 gear ratio that enabled the locomotives to reach ; all the others had 92-250 motors, 2 field shunts, 16/65 gear ratio for a max speed of . Units from 039 to 056 and from 079 to 158 had the same motors and gear ratio as the latters, but 5 field shunts, except for unit 136 that had 19/65 gear ratio (max speed ). Unit 068 was transformed, from November 1954 to May 1974, into unit E434-068: this unit had 4 double 82-333 motors, 2 shunts and -able 20/69 gear ratio; they have been used as experiments for the following
FS Class E.646 locomotives.
* Series 200 units: Starting from 1986, to 1993, 105 units have received an automatic fire extinguishing system, anti-slip device, red and green lights and the 78-wire cable to permit remote control for use with commuter trains, and maximum speed was raised to . These units are also referred to as E.424N, where "N" stands for "''Navetta''" (push-pull); also, number 200 has been added to units' serial number (i.e. E.424.116 became E.424.316).
Technique
Class E.424, having
DC type motors like all the Italian locomotives of the time, is a rheostatic-type locomotive; on start, a
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 ...
is connected in series to the motors and is gradually excluded as speed builds up allowing more current to flow to the motors; unlike other rheostatic locomotives of that time, this is not achieved via the characteristic lever (''Maniglione''), but through an automatic system, called ''Avviatore Automatico'', derived from contemporary first-generation ALe 790/880/883 EMUs.
The driver simply selects the combination (series or parallel), and the relative rheostat contactors are automatically and gradually closed by this system; in case of failure, the driver can manually rotate an apposite wheel (that also usually rotates automatically as the system advances) to proceed with the exclusion.
When the rheostat is completely excluded for the series combination, field shunts can be inserted, or the driver can proceed to parallel combination, making a transition, which is handled by a device called "CEM" that automatically combines the motors (closing various contacts) accordingly.
Originally more than one unit could be coupled and be controlled remotely by the first locomotive using a system called ''Comando Multiplo''; on the central part of the cab there also was a door that enabled the crew to pass from one locomotive to another in case of problems. However, because of safety issues and the imperfect reliability of this system (there were no instruments indicating the status of the slave locomotive, so it was not certain if it correctly made a transition or not, for example), it was abandoned and then disassembled.
Eleven units received compound-type motors, enabling a very fine speed control, in a range included between in series combination, and in parallel.
See also
*
FS Class E.646
*
FS Class E.636
The FS E.636 is a class of Italian articulated electric locomotives. They were introduced in the course of the 1940s until the 1960s, and have been decommissioned since 2006. They have been one of the most numerous Italian locomotive group, and ...
External links
Detailed history of the group''(Italian)''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fs Class E424
E.424
Bo′Bo′ locomotives
3000 V DC locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1943
Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives
Breda locomotives
Reggiane locomotives
Scrapped locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of Italy
Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives of Europe