Rb is an
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 ...
operated by
Swedish State Railways
The Swedish State Railways ( sv, Statens Järnvägar) or SJ, originally the Royal Railway Board ( sv, Kungl. Järnvägsstyrelsen), was the former government agency responsible for operating the state-owned railways in Sweden.
It was created i ...
( sv, Statens Järnvägar, SJ). Six locomotives were built by
ASEA
''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company.
History
ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås as ...
, in three series designated Rb1, Rb2 or Rb3.
History
During the 1950s SJ saw the need for a new universal locomotive, since the
D-series was aging. In 1955 the
Ra-series had proved successful with
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 ...
wheels. At the same time there was interest to make a locomotive that could be exported abroad. The result was an agreement between ASEA and SJ where six test engines were delivered. The testing of the Rb was successful, so it was sent to
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
for trials in 1965 for the
Brasov-
Predeal
Predeal (; hu, Predeál) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. Predeal, a mountain resort town, is the highest town in Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley at an elevation of over .
The town administers three villages: ...
mainline (at the time it was electrified since 9 June 1963 and 3 more manufacturers tested their locomotives there the previous years), and later in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in 1967, and based on this exports were made to the
Yugoslav Railways
Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...
(
JŽ class 441
The JŽ class 441 is an electric locomotive built for Yugoslav Railways. The units are now used by Hrvatske željeznice (HŽ class 1141), Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine, Željeznice Republike Srpske, Serbian Railways and Rail tran ...
and
461),
Căile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...
of Romania (
CFR Class EA
The Electroputere LE 5100, otherwise known as CFR Class 40/41/42 is a family of electric locomotives (separated by 3 classes) built for the Romanian Railways (CFR) for use on the Romanian electrified network. Over 1000 Class 40s were constructed ...
and EC) and for
Norwegian Railways
The Norwegian railway system comprises 4,109 km of ( standard gauge) track of which 2,644 km is electrified and 274 km double track. There are 697 tunnels and 2,760 bridges.
The Norwegian Railway Directorate manages the rail ...
(
NSB El 15
NSB El 15 is a class of electric locomotives which are now operated by the Norwegian company Grenland Rail. The locomotives were originally built for the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) in 1967 to replace the NSB El 3 and NSB El 4 engines on ...
, derived from the EA class of CFR). The result of the testing of the Rb1T unit was the
Rc locomotive
The Rc class is the most used electric locomotive in Sweden. Rc is a universal locomotive used both in freight and passenger trains. The largest operator is Green Cargo, although SJ, Tågab, Hector Rail and the Swedish Transport Administration ...
that was produced in 360 copies starting from 1967 and ending in 1988/1989 for SJ, in addition to export to
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
(
AEM-7
The EMD AEM-7 is a twin-cab four-axle B-B electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and ASEA between 1978 and 1988. The locomotive is a derivative of the Swedish SJ Rc4 designed for passenger service in the United States. The ...
),
Norges Statsbaner
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach s ...
(
NSB El 16
NSB El 16 is an electric locomotive which is used on the Norwegian railway system by CargoNet to haul freight trains. Until it was replaced by the El 18, the El 16 engines also pulled passenger trains on the Norwegian State Railways.
History
In ...
) and
Österreichische Bundesbahnen (
ÖBB Class 1043
The ÖBB Class 1043 is a class of thyristor-controlled universal electric locomotives operated initially by ÖBB. The ten members of the class were derived from the Class Rc operated by the Swedish State Railways (SJ).
The locomotives were the ...
). The Rb-series was in use on passenger and freight trains until the mid-1970s. Parts of unit 1005 were reused in a maintenance-of-way vehicle that was scrapped in 1996 or 2004.
Variations
Rb1 was equipped with
direct current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...
(DC) motors with higher efficiency and thus more economical. The utilization of
thyristor
A thyristor () is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating P- and N-type materials used for high-power applications. It acts exclusively as a bistable switch (or a latch), conducting when the gate receives a current ...
s could convert from the
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
(AC) used in the
railway electrification system
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply.
Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...
of Sweden, and one of the Rb1 locos was rebuilt to thyristor in 1965, getting the designation Rb1T. They were built by AB ASJ (AB Svenska Järnvägsverkstäderna or Swedish Rail Workshops).
Rb2 and Rb3 were equipped with conventional AC motors. Rb2 was built by
Nydqvist och Holm Aktiebolag whilst Rb3 was built by the
Motala Workshops.
External links
Järnväg.net on Rb
{{Swedish railway stock
Rb
ASEA locomotives
Bo′Bo′ locomotives
15 kV AC locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of Sweden