E626
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E626 106, FS,
photographed in Pisa on May 1, 1992, by someone who wants to be known as
MPW57. Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org.
E626 294, FS,
Museo
Nazionale dei Transporti, La Spezia, 29.10.2006. Author
unknown, source: as above.
361 201 operated by JŽ, location unknown.
Photographed on January 12, 2008, by someone who wants to be known as
Suradnik13. Source: as above |
Italian electric
locomotives class E626 (also written as E 626 or E.626) never served with PKP or any other Polish operator. They
saw, however, some service with Ostbahn in Warsaw railway hub between 1943 and 1944 and
therefore deserve some attention here. Warsaw railway hub
was electrified in the second half of 1930s, with 3000 V DC. In all, ten
locomotives were purchased, along with 76 EMUs. Many of them were destroyed
(four locomotives and fourteen EMUs) or damaged during hostilities in
September 1939 and infrastructure also suffered considerably. However, German
authorities decided to restore electric trains. Six locomotives and forty
EMUs were repaired and restored in service, but more vehicles were needed.
Furthermore, pre-war PKP electric
locomotives (classes EL.100 and especially EL.200) were too weak for heavy
freight trains passing through Warsaw. It was therefore decided to find
suitable motive power elsewhere and the choice fell on Italian class E626. In 1926 Italian
state railways Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)
issued a requirement for an electric locomotive for the Foggia-Benevento
line, electrified with 3000 V DC. This requirement produced a six-axle (Bo’BoBo’) locomotive with total weight of 94.5 tonnes, offered in two variants differing in reduction
gear ratio, designated E625 and E626. Three prototypes built by Societá Nazionale
Officine di Savigliano were delivered in 1927;
electric equipment was supplied by British Metropolitan Vickers. Fourteen examples for service tests
followed: eight E625s with lower gear ratio and six E626s. Series production
started in 1930 and all E625s were later converted to the E626 standard. The
locomotive, if not particularly advanced technically, was found robust and
reliable. Its main problem, at least initially, was with traction motor
suspension, which forced reduction of maximum speed to 95 km/h. Production
lasted until 1939 and totaled 448 examples from several manufacturers in
three batches; this type was the first mass-built European electric
locomotive. Later vehicles differed in minor details; in particular, front
and rear cowlings were reduced in size to improve track visibility. After the
war, seventeen examples were handed over to Yugoslavia, where they served
with state railways JDŽ (later JŽ)
as class E361 in Slovenia and Croatia until 1978. In Italy FS class E626 enjoyed a long service
life. Withdrawals started in 1970s, much to the relief of crews who
complained of poor cab comfort, mainly noisy transmission. Fourteen examples
were sold to private operators and the last one, E626 194, served with a
rescue train until 1999. Several E626s (probably eighteen) have been
preserved and some run with special trains. In October 1943 Ostbahn acquired six E626s
built by Breda and based at the Udine
depot, with service numbers 015, 016, 017, 019, 021 and 024. E626 015
was left during transportation in Salzburg (probably damaged by bombs) and
returned to FS in 1951. The
remaining five examples served in Warsaw until September 1944, when advance of
the Red Army forced their evacuation to Breslau (now Wrocław).
E626 016 was found in Bavaria and returned to FS in October 1945. The remaining four locomotives ended up in
Czechoslovakia. Three were converted to the 1500 V voltage and served in
Prague, classed E666.0; E626 019 was cannibalized for spares. In 1962,
following the switch to 3000 V DC in the Prague area, three remaining E666.0s
were transferred to other lines. Second conversion of these elderly engines
was considered unjustified and all were scrapped until 1966. Main
technical data
1) Operated by Ostbahn in occupied Poland. References and
acknowledgments
-
www.h-transport.pxtr.de
(website by Daniel Hentschell); -
ALE; -
Elektryfikacja PKP na przełomie wieków XX i XXI (Electrification
of PKP at the turn of the 20th century) (Z.P. Poligrafia, Warsaw, 2006). |
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