Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 ^III

The Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 ^III is a class of metre gauge Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.

Rhaetian Railway Ge 4/4 ^III
No 650 Seewis im Prättigau at St Moritz.
Type and origin Power type Electric Builder SLM / ABB, Adtranz Build date 1993–1999 Total produced 12
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Bo′Bo′ Gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ^3⁄8 in) metre gauge Length 16,000 mm (52 ft 6 in) Width 2,800 mm (9 ft 2 in) Loco weight 60 tonnes (59.1 long tons; 66.1 short tons) Electric system/s 11 kV 16.7 Hz AC Overhead Current pickup(s) Pantograph Traction motors Four (type 6 FRA 5248)
Performance figures Maximum speed 100 km/h (62 mph) Power output 3,100 kW (4,160 hp) Tractive effort 200 kN (44,960 lbf)
Career Operators Rhaetian Railway Numbers 641–652 Locale Graubünden, Switzerland Current owner Rhaetian Railway Disposition All still in service

The class is so named because it was the third class of locomotives of the Swiss locomotive and railcar classification type Ge 4/4 to be acquired by the Rhaetian Railway. According to that classification system, Ge 4/4 denotes a narrow gauge electric adhesion locomotive with a total of four axles, all of which are drive axles.

History

In order to manage the sharp increase in traffic on its network after the opening of the Vereina Tunnel, the Rhaetian Railway joined in 1989 with Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works and ASEA Brown Boveri, to develop a new generation of electric locomotives, the drive train of which was to be based upon AC technology with GTO Thyristors. The original plan for a six axle variant of the Ge 4/4 ^II, which would have had benefits on the nearly straight section of line through the tunnel, was rejected, in favour of a universally deployable locomotive with four axles, which could also be used on sections with tight radius curves. The result was the Ge 4/4 ^III class.

On 7 December 1993, the first Ge 4/4 ^III machine, no 641, was officially put into service. Between 1994 and 1999, eleven further locomotives followed, in three series, and were given numbers 642 to 652. The first of these further orders, made in 1989, consisted of six locomotives, and the second further order, in 1990, was for three. The third, placed with Adtranz in 1996, was intended to cover the additional demand due to the opening of the Vereina Tunnel, and was for another three machines.

The Ge 4/4 ^IIIs are now found at the head of almost all of the train sets on the Albula Railway, and they are the only locomotives used to haul car trains through the Vereina Tunnel. All of the locomotives in the class are currently decorated with colourful advertising liveries.

Accidents and incidents

Main article: Tiefencastel derailment

On 13 August 2014, No. 651 was hauling a passenger train that was struck by a landslide and derailed at Tiefencastel, Graubünden. Eleven people were injured.

Technical details

The class was designed for 11 kV AC at a frequency of ​16 ²⁄₃ Hz, and with a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). The Ge 4/4 ^IIIs weigh 62 tonnes (61 long tons; 68 short tons) and have an output of 2,400 kilowatts (3,200 hp) at 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). They are 16,000 millimetres (630 in) long and 3,860 millimetres (152 in) high. Their control technology corresponds almost completely with that of the SBB-CFF-FFS Re 460 class of locomotive.

The 12 locomotives were given names of small communities in Graubünden, on the territory of which the Rhaetian Railway operates. Depending upon the livery applied to each particular locomotive, the names are applied at various places on the right and left sides of the vehicle, with the traffic number between 641 and 652 applied to each front end, and also on the lower sides. Beside the name on each locomotive is also the emblem of the particular place.

Similar locomotives operate also on the Bière–Apples–Morges Railway (BAM), (French: Chemin de fer Bière-Apples-Morges), as Ge 4/4 Nos. 21 and 22, as well as on the Montreux-Oberland Bernois (MOB) Railway, (French: Chemin de fer Montreux-Oberland bernois), as Ge 4/4 Nos. 8001–8004.

List of locomotives

The following locomotives in the class are in operation on the Rhaetian Railway:

List of Ge 4/4 ^III locomotives of the Rhaetian Railway
Road number	Name	Coat of arms	Commissioning	Status	Advertising livery
					December 2010[1]	August 2016	August 2017
641	Maienfeld		07.12.1993	in service	Coop		-
642	Breil/Brigels		24.01.1994	in service	Self-promotion: RhB Team	-	-
643	Vals		22.02.1994	in service	Ems-Chemie
644	Savognin		14.04.1994	in service	Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha
645	Tujetsch		31.05.1994	in service	Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha
646	Santa Maria Val Müstair		27.06.1994	in service	Self-promotion: BÜGA	-	-
647	Grüsch		20.09.1994	in service	Graubündner Kantonalbank
648	Susch		05.11.1994	in service	Lanxess	None
649	Lavin		08.12.1994	in service	Holcim		JORIMANN
650	Seewis im Prättigau		07.09.1999	in service	Self-promotion: UNESCO World Heritage
651	Fideris		28.09.1999	in service	Self-promotion: Glacier Express
652	Vaz/Obervaz Lenzerheide-Valbella		05.11.1999	in service	HC Davos

Gallery

• 
  No 651 "Glacier on Tour" at Disentis/Mustér.
• 
  No 646 "RhBudget".
• 
  A Ge 4/4 III crossing Landwasser Bridge, near Davos.
• 
  A Ge 4/4 III in the Vorderrhein gorge.
• 
  Ge 4/4 III on Albula Railway between Bergün and Preda

See also

• History of rail transport in Switzerland
• Rail transport in Switzerland

References

1. "Fahrzeugwerbung" [Vehicle advertising] (PDF) (in German). Haribu. Retrieved 8 December 2010.

Further reading

• Belloncle, Patrick (2005). Das grosse Buch der Rhätischen Bahn: 1889–2001 [The Big Book of the Rhaetian Railway: 1889–2001]. Kerzers: Edition Viafer. ISBN 3952249408. (in German)
• Finke, Wolfgang; Schweers, Hans (1998). Die Fahrzeuge der Rhätischen Bahn. Band 3 Lokomotiven, Triebwagen, Traktoren 1889–1998 [The Motive Power of the Rhaetian Railway Vol 3 Locomotives, Railcars, Tractors 1889–1998]. Aachen: Verlag Schweers + Wall. ISBN 3894941057. (in German)
• Schönborn, Hans-Bernhard (2009). Die Rhätische Bahn Geschichte und Gegenwart [The Rhaetian Railway History and Present]. München: GeraMond. ISBN 9783765471629. (in German)

This article is based upon a translation from the German language version as at December 2009.