ET40 is the name for

Bo′Bo′+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 ...

two-unit freight

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 ...

in service of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

national rail operator, PKP. The locomotive was produced by

Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...

in the

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

History

During the 1960s and 1970s, a massive increase in freight transport was seen in Poland, especially on the routes between

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s and Polish

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s. In the beginning of the 1970s, the whole Trunk Coal Line ( Pl: Magistrala Węglowa), which was the main route for exporting Polish coal, had been

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 ...

. This situation caused an urgent need for suitable locomotives able to pull heavy freight trains. As a result,` negotiations with

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...

started. Poland sent an order for 60 articulated freight locomotives, based on the EU05, which was currently in service at the time. As of 2007, ET40 locomotives work mostly for

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

, but in 2000 several units were sent to

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

in order to serve on the highland Wrocław-

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (pron. ; Polish: ; german: Hirschberg im Riesengebirge; Exonym: ''Deer Mountain''; szl, Jelyniŏ Gōra) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Low ...

line, where they are intended to replace

ET21 ET21 (also manufactured as Pafawag 3E) is a name for a Polish electric freight locomotive produced between years 1957 to 1971 in Pafawag. It was the first post-war Polish electric locomotive, designed in 1955. Besides being delivered for PKP, ET21 ...

locomotives.

Further innovations

One locomotive from the series - ET40-41 was rebuilt in 1990 into EP40 standard for high-speed passenger trains (up to 160 km/h), but as the result was not satisfactory, PKP resigned from further modernisations and the only EP40 was rebuilt back to ET40 standard in 1993.

Technical data

As a development of EU05 locomotive the ET40 technical features are in many ways similar to its predecessor, this refers mostly to the electric installation. The main differences are in the

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

and cooling system. The locomotive consists of two mechanically and electrically identical sections. Each part has a crew compartment on one end and doors on the other, which enable moving between sections. It is possible to drive sections separately after they have been disconnected. Sections are distinguished by an additional letter A and B added to the locomotive's designation. ET40 is a

locomotive, meaning it is an articulated engine with two cabs fixed to the frames placed on two

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

s. Each bogie has two driving axles and each axle is propelled separately by 7AL-484ZT

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric vehicle, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles (ele ...

with 510 kW constant power. Its parameters allow the machine to pull freight trains of approximately 4,000 t. weight. Crew compartments provide convenient driving of the machine in both directions. Entrance is possible through the doors on both sides of the locomotive. Crew compartments are heated with a fan powered electrically;

windscreen The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. Mo ...

s are equipped with de-freezers and wipers. On the rear side of the crew section a locker for clothes and electric devices is mounted. Entry to the mechanical compartment is possible through two doors. The right one leads to

high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spec ...

section, whilst the left provide access to the other crew compartment through a corridor running along the whole locomotive. The mechanical compartment is divided into three parts. Auxiliary fixtures, like

s cooling systems,

resistor A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active el ...

s and main

compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transp ...

are located in the rear part of the section.

Refrigerator A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

washbasin A sink is a bowl-shaped plumbing fixture for washing hands, dishwashing, and other purposes. Sinks have a tap (faucet) that supply hot and cold water and may include a spray feature to be used for faster rinsing. They also include a drain to ...

and

cooker Cooker may refer to several types of cooking appliances and devices used for cooking foods. Cookers * AGA cooker – a heat storage stove and cooker, which works on the principle that a heavy frame made from cast iron components can absorb hea ...

occupied the front part of the corridor. The ET40 locomotive is equipped with an electro-

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A central ...

device to level otherwise unequal load on the track. The machine is equipped with two pneumatic

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

s - one automatic Oerlikon and additionally, braking only one section. Locomotives numbered from 01 to 30 had one

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 ...

per section, whilst those numbered from 31 to 60 had two pantographs per section. Traction motors are connected with a

series connection Terminal (electronics), Two-terminal components and electrical networks can be connected in series or parallel. The resulting electrical network will have two terminals, and itself can participate in a series or parallel Topology (electrical cir ...

with voltage for each motor being 1500 V. They are cooled by two fans (one fan for two engines) with the air supplied by two intakes in the roof of the locomotive. Air for braking systems is provided by two compressors (one for each section) with nominal power of 140 m³/h.

Nicknames

*Bombowiec (''The Bomber'') *Bomba (''The Bomb'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pkp Class Et40 Škoda locomotives Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1975 Polish State Railways electric locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Poland