FS Class E.432 was a class of three-phase

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 of the

Italian State Railways 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 ...

. Forty of these 1′D1′ locomotives were built in 1928 by Società

Ernesto Breda Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

and two have been preserved.

History

Given the success obtained with the three-phase operation, the electrification continued and with it the demand for ever better performance. The previous E.431s proved to be disappointing, so that around 1926, the Traction Service of the State Railways set up a new locomotive project. Under the direction of Giuseppe Bianchi it was also decided to disengage from dependence on foreign patents for the

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 ...

s, the connecting rods and transmission from the motors to the wheels. The new locomotives were ordered from

in two batches totalling 40 units. The E.432 from 1929 went into service on the important Porrettana and Brennero lines and later on the lines between

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, towards the

Val di Susa The Susa Valley ( it, Val di Susa; pms, Valsusa; french: Val de Suse; oc, Val d'Ors) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the sou ...

, and on the

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n coast lines, especially that of the west. They were pulling the most important and heaviest trains, fast, direct and international. They were often used in pairs and sometimes with other classes such as E.431 or E.333. On steeply-graded lines they might be used with small-wheel versions like the E.554. They were also used on local trains. With the

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 eve ...

conversion of the most important lines, which occurred in the first half of the 1960s, they were concentrated in the locomotive depots of Savona and

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

, where they spent their last decade on more modest services at the head of trains along the Turin-Savona and Turin-Cuneo routes and related branches. E.432.008 hauled a special train from Alessandria to

Acqui Terme Acqui Terme (; pms, Àich ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'A ...

on 25 May 1976 to mark the end of three-phase traction which, since the beginning of the first experiments, had lasted more than three quarters of a century.

Technical features

Mechanical part

The E.432 locomotive had a 1′D1′

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

and the driving wheels were of diameter. The carrying wheels were of diameter and were mounted on Italian-style trollies to better negotiate curves. The locomotive was designed for fast and heavy passenger services. The driving wheels were coupled by

coupling rod A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer t ...

s and received the motion from the two

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 by means of a special articulated connecting rod designed by Bianchi. There were sliding bearings to ease the negotiation of curves. The frame-mounted traction motors were dismountable from above for maintenance. The wheels were of the type used on steam locomotives with balance weights and cranks at 90 degrees. Above the frame was a central cab and a short bonnet at each end. One bonnet housed the

liquid rheostat A liquid rheostat or water rheostat or salt water rheostat is a type of variable resistor. This may be used as a dummy load or as a starting resistor for large slip ring motors. In the simplest form it consists of a tank containing brine or oth ...

with its pump and evaporative cooling device.

Electrical part

The electrical part consisted of two three-phase AC motors of imposing size, just under two metres in diameter and twenty tonnes in weight. Each of them was equipped with a fan for forced air cooling. The circuit allowed cascade connection for starting and parallel connection for running at high speed. In addition, there were three different armature connections for 12, 8 or 6 pole running. This gave combinations for four speeds: . The switches for pole-changing were in boxes located above the motors. A

(containing sodium carbonate solution) was provided to limit the current during start-up and pole-changing. The necessary connections were established using a drum controller. The cascade connection, little used, was eliminated around 1940. It was found more practical to start the locomotive at the second speed, by using the rheostat, and making less use of high voltage switching which was always a source of problems. Moreover, the motors were inclined to overheat when using cascade connection. Current collection was by two double-sided pantographs mounted on the roof of the cab and always used together.

Multiple unit control

The success of the "Ligurian" multiple control, already tried on Classes E.551, E.554, E.333 and E.431, led to the idea of adopting it as standard equipment on all three-phase locomotives, excluding only the oldest types. The conversion of four members of Class E.432 was planned, but was completed only on a single unit. The first units chosen were E.432.002 and 030. On these two machines, as on E.431.018 and 036, the additional installation of a high voltage coupling was planned, which would have allowed the second unit to run with pantographs lowered. However, the work was delayed pending the practical results of the two E.431s. In the meantime, union problems arose with railway staff who feared possible future job reductions. In the early 1960s, the elimination of three-phase traction on the Fréjus and Giovi lines was already on the horizon and FS decided to suspend the programme. Ultimately, the only E.432 locomotive equipped with the "Ligurian" multiple control was E.432.030. Number E.432.002 had entered the workshop but work on converting it was never completed.

Locomotive allocations

;Early *

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

locomotive depot *

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

locomotive depot *

locomotive depot ;Later * Savona locomotive depot *

locomotive Depot ;From 1974 * Alessandria locomotive depot

Preservation

Two locomotives are preserved. * E 432.001 at the

National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa ( it, Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa, italic=no) lies beside the Naples–Portici railway, between the city of Naples and the towns of Portici and San Giorgio a Cremano. Pietrarsa is an area am ...

, Naples. The locomotive was restored in the Cuneo locomotive depot workshop in 1988/1989 * E 432.031 at the Piedmontese Railway Museum,

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 si ...

, undergoing aesthetic restoration (2017)