FS class E.420 locomotive was a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

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 ...

built for the operation of the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to ...

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

railway in Italy.

History

The locomotive was ordered for the operation of the Milan - Gallarate - Varese railway line, electrified in 1901 by the

Rete Mediterranea Rete Mediterranea (RM) defines that part of the Italian railway network that, under the law of 27 April 1885 no. 3048, was assigned to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo for operation and development. These were mainly lines fro ...

(RM). It was registered by the RM as RM.01 and was used for both passenger and freight traffic. In addition, twenty

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

s were ordered. In 1905 the locomotive was taken over 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). In the late 1920s, the locomotive was transferred from the Varese line to the Naples subway, to be used for freight traffic from Naples Campi Flegrei station. With the electrification at 3000 V DC of the Neapolitan line in 1937, it was transferred to the

Cumana railway The Cumana railway ( it, Ferrovia Cumana, sometimes also known as Line 7) is a commuter railway in Campania, southern Italy, connecting Naples by two separate routes with Torregaveta, near Cuma in the town of Bacoli (about 15 km west of Na ...

, which had been electrified in 1927. Here, it was converted to the 1200 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 equipm ...

system and fitted with a

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 ...

. It remained in service until 1963.

Technical details

The locomotive was built by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

and was similar to machines already in operation in the United States and Europe. In particular, it was similar to the E1-E8 series supplied to the French

Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans The ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans'' (PO) was an early French railway company. It merged with the '' Chemins de fer du Midi'' to form the ''Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi'' (PO-Midi) in 1934. In 1938 the PO-Mid ...

and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle (1900) in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The four

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

s totalled 440 kW, identical to that of the railcars delivered at the same time. At the maximum speed of 60 km/h, the locomotive could haul a train of eight four-wheel coaches. In appearance, the E.420 resembled the locomotives delivered to the Paris-Orléans railway, known as "salt boxes".

History

Technical details

References

Further reading