The World encyclopedia of locomotives

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• RIGHT
A former Southern Railway (SR) King Arthur
Class 4-6-0, No. 777 Sir Lamiel, en route for Leeds
and York with the Red Rose Special train.

• BEEOW
This former LMS Jubilee class 4-6-0, No. 5690
Leander, is one of many examples of preserved
locomotives running on British Rail’s main lines.

• BOTTOM
Unrebuilt “Bulleid Pacific” No. 34092 City of
Wells is prepared for the Golden Arrow trip to
Leeds, Yorkshire.

• PRESERVATION AND THE • STEAM EXCURSIONS The decision to ban steam was rescind¬
LEISURE INDUSTRY Today, Britain has more than 100 centres ed in 1971. Many historic locomotives
So began a movement that over the next wrhere steam-trains can be enjoyed. They returned to the main line, including
5 0 years created a vast new leisure attract millions of visitors every year. examples borrowed from the National
industry and saved part of the railway More than 2,000 locomotives have been Railway Museum in York. In 1985, a total
heritage in living form for future preserved. of 235 steam-excursions operated on
generations to enjoy. British Rail, attracting many people to
Railway preservation is a creative, on¬ linesides and promoting awareness of the
Once the 1955 railway modernization going process. As the first generation of railway among the general public.
programme took effect, class after class diesels began to slip into history,
of Britain’s locomotive heritage was examples were saved and put to work on A visit to any preserved line is an
scrapped. A limited selection of loco¬ preserved lines — often beside the very unforgettable experience, for enthusiast
motives was earmarked for static display steam-locomotives they had replaced. or lay person alike. These centres achieve
in museums, but this would have done authenticity and fascinate all ages.
little justice to the heritage, and the joy
and wonder of seeing steam trains in The union of free enterprise and
action would have been but a dream. enthusiasm provided a catalyst for
achieving the impossible. Britain’s railway
Nationwide, thousands of enthusiasts preservation movement has been little
united to save locomotives, rolling stock less dynamic in spirit than Victorian
and sections of railway. Following the industrialists of a century earlier. The
Beeching programme, innumerable closed number preserved contrasts with the
branch lines were available. Over the “handful of stuffed and mounted exhibits”
years, dozens became the subject of proposed by the Government when the
preservation schemes. The movement dismantling of the railways began.
gained momentum at die ending of steam
operation on British Railways on 11 August
1968, after which it was announced that no
preserved locomotive would be allowed to
run on the national system.

147

THE 950S O THE PRESENT DAY

Eurostar

The idea that steam is exciting while • ABOVE provided a much-needed and massive
modern traction is dull and lifeless is Three Eurostar units in repose at the Waterloo boost for railways. Eurostar competes
disproved for ever by Eurostar. This train International terminal, London, England. with airlines between the cities of
combines the romance ot the 1930s’ London, Paris and Brussels.
streamlined era and the cutting edge of
technology. London’s Waterloo Eurostar is the world’s most complex
International Station is as magnificent train. It operates on tour different
as its Victorian counterpart and the signalling systems and three different
Channel Tunnel, within the 37.5 km power-supply systems — 750 volt d.c. 25
(24 mile) terminal-to-terminal fixed kV a.c. in Britain; 25 kV a.c. in the
link between Folkestone and Calais, is
one of the world’s greatest civil-
engineering feats.

• WORLD’S MOST COMPLEX • BELOW
TRAIN A Eurostar train speeds through the
The connecting of Britain’s 16,000 km countryside of northern France on the high¬
(10,000 miles) of railway with Europe’s speed line.
18 5,000 km (116,000 miles) in 199 3 has

148

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• LETT EUROSTAR
A Eurostar train
from London Date 1992
approaches the
Channel Tunnel. The Builder GEC Alsthom at
Dolland’s Moor various works
freight complex is in
the background and Clients British Rail (BR); Societe
a new Class 92 Nationale des Chemins
locomotive in the de Fer Frangais (SNCF);
left foreground. Societe Nationale des
Chemins de Fer Beiges
• BELOW (SNCB)
Eurostar trains
waiting to leave Gauge Standard
Waterloo
International for Traction motors Six XABB 6PH
France and Belgium.
Maximum 187.5 mph
• BOTTOM service speed
Eurostar design
details.

tunnel, France and on high-speed lines in There are two bar-buffets and a trolley
Belgium and 3,000 kV d.c. on Belgium’s service. Eurostar trains are serviced in
conventional network. London at the dedicated North Pole
depot, which connects with Waterloo
• HIGH-SPEED LINK International via the West London line.
Eurostar trains comprise 18 coaches. The
trains, at 394 metres (1,293 ft), are • OVERNIGHT TRAVEL
almost a quarter of a mile long. Eurostar REVOLUTION
runs at 186 mph on Europe’s high-speed The Eurostar service will be augmented
lines but is restricted to below 100 mph by two developments. Firstly, day trains
in Britain. will run between Edinburgh, Manchester,
Birmingham and Paris. Second, night
Eurostar’s coaches are joined by trains will operate with sleeping-cars.
bogies. No bogies are set beneath the These services will revolutionize long¬
passenger seating. This and pneumatic distance overnight travel in Europe.
suspension ensures a smooth, quiet ride. Passengers will be able to go to bed in
The train is comfortable and has footrests, departure cities and awake at their
reading-lights and air-conditioning. First- destination next morning.
class has areas for business meetings.
149

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

American • BELOW

Switchers Southern Pacific Lines embraced the switcher longer than other Western
railroads and ordered larger numbers of EMD’s SW1500s. The 1,500 hp
Switchers, that is engines to transfer SW1 500 was eventually replaced in EMD’s catalogue by the MP15, also
rolling stock from one railway track to rated at 1,500 hp.
another, are relatively small, lightweight
locomotives in the 300 hp to 1,500 hp
range, designed to work at slow speeds,
often on poor or winding track.

• FIRST SUCCESSFUL DIESEL-
ELECTRIC
The first successful application of diesel-
electric locomotives was as switchers.
Central Railroad of New Jersey, USA,
operated the first commercially
successful diesel-electric in 1925. By the
1940s, builders were constructing low-
horsepower diesel-electric switchers for
yard switching, industrial switching and
passenger-terminal work. General
Electric (GE), Baldwin, the Electro-
Motive Division (EMD) of General
Motors, American Locomotive Company
(Alco), Fairbanks-Morse, Whitcomb,
Porter and Davenport all built switchers
in the 1940s and 1950s.

• CHANGING DEMAND • ABOVE
As traffic patterns changed between the Baldwin switcher S-12 No. 16 is lettered for the Feather River & Western
1950s and 1970s, fewer switchers were railroad. Baldwin built more than 550 S-12 diesel-electric switchers of
needed. American railroads discontinued 1,200 hp between 1951-56.

• LEFT
A former Alco S-l
switcher of the
United States Army
poses as Western
Pacific Railroad’s
No. 512. More than
500 S-ls were built
for use in the USA
and Mexico between
1940-50. The
locomotive features
a six-cylinder 539
prime mover that
delivered 660 hp.

150

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAT

• RIGHT y* —""" • -m Wpy, I
Western Pacific Railroad’s NW2u shows off a
coat of orange paint at Portola, California. \ W'M •'*> .T|4 ... A: T~~~ '•
Electro-Motive built 1,119 NW2 switchers of
1,000 hp. Many were later rebuilt, using the ..I','., ’. . • ‘.’•* .■}
“u” designation.
S W 8 DIESEL-ELECTRIC horsepower switchers between 1940—60.
many passenger-trains and thus had a General Electric built switchers for many
greatly reduced need for switchers at Date 1950-54 years betore entering the heavy road
terminals. Carload-freight declined as Builder locomotive market in 1960. Its most
railroads switched to intermodal General Motors popular switchers were its 44-ton and
operations, that is using different modes Engine (Electro-Motive 70-ton models.
of conveyance in conjunction. By the Capacity Division)
mid-1970s, railroads had stopped Power . In the 1990s, builder Morrison-
ordering large numbers of new switchers. 8-cylinder 567B Knudsen entered the new-switcher
Instead, they either rebuilt existing market with conventionally powered
switchers or downgraded older road- 567cc per cylinder diesel-electrics and natural gas-powered
switchers. locomotives. By 1996, it had not sold
800 hp more than a handful of locomotives.
• SWITCHER MODELS
Electro-Motive began building switchers
in the 1930s. An early model that gained
popularity was the 1,000 hp NW2 made
in 1930-49. The SW1, a 600-hp
switcher, was made between 1939-53.
Other SW-type switchers, ranging from
the 700-hp SW7 to the 1,500-hp
SW1500, were made through the 1970s.
In the mid-1970s, EMD introduced its
1,500 MP line of switchers.

Alco made many S Series low-

• RIGHT
An SW8 of the
Wellsboro &
Corning Railroad
leads a train south
of Gang Mills, New
York. The EMD’s
800-hp SW8 was
built between
1950-54. Many
short lines prefer
switchers to larger
road-switcher
locomotives.

151

American
Trains in the

1950s

American freight railroads have relied
on diesel-electric locomotives to move
the bulk of their tonnage since America
saw the end of steam in the 1950s.
Builders have implemented many
improvements in locomotive design in
the last 40 years. Locomotive-builders —
now just General Motor’s Electro-Motive
Division (EMD) and General Electric
(GE) — have been working on single¬
engine, single-unit locomotives with
ever-greater pulling power.

• HORSEPOWER RACE • ABOVE with its U25B. The U25B road-switcher
In the 1950s, EMD’s GP9 road-switcher Brand-new EMD SD70MAC locomotives in developed 2,500 hp with its 16-cylinder,
and F9 carbody locomotives were state-of- Chicago. Burlington Northern Railroad prefers 7FDL-series prime mover. Following GE’s
the-art designs, each developing 1,750 hp these powerful a.c.-traction locomotives for entry into the market, a horsepower race
with a 5 67-series 16-cylinder prime coal-train service in Wyoming, USA. was on. To meet North American
mover and traditional d.c. traction motors. railroad’s demands, EMD, GE and Alco
• BELOW (which has since, in 1969, ceased loco¬
In the early 1960s, EMD increased The carbody-style locomotive, popular in the motive production) began to develop both
the 567 prime mover’s horsepower by 1940s and 1950s, was displaced by the more four- and six-axle road-switcher loco¬
adding a turbocharger, featured on its versatile road-switcher type. Only a few motives of ever-increasing output. EMD’s
GP20 and SD24 models. Meanwhile, railroads now use this older style, including most popular models were: the four-axle
General Electric entered the new heavy- LTV Mining, which has a fleet of antique EMD- 2,000-hp GP38, the six-axle 3,000-hp
haul diesel-electric locomotive market made F7As. SD40 and the 20-cylinder, 3,600-hp
SD45. GE peaked with the 3,600-hp
U36C. Both builders dabbled in high-
horsepower dual-prime mover eight-axle
monsters, but this big locomotive’s
limited flexibility resulted in weak sales.

• DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS
The 1970s saw many electrical
improvements. The 1980s brought
microprocessor control. In the mid-1980s,
GE introduced the DASEI-8 line, a
successful 4,000-hp design that put GE at
the forefront of the locomotive market. In
the mid-1990s, improvements in

152

THE 19 50S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• RIGHT
GE introduced the a.c. traction motor with its
AC4400CW, a model that closely resembles
earlier, d.c. traction locomotives. This model
proved popular with Western railroads, which
use them mainly to haul heavy mineral-trains
in the mountains.

SD45-DIESEL-ELECTRIC

Dates produced 1965-71

Builder General Motors
(Electro-Motive
Division)

Engine 20 cylinder
645 cc per cylinder

Tower 3,600 hp

microprocessors enabled both builders • ABOVE
successfully to apply a.c. traction motor In 1996, the Union Pacific Railroad (UPR) took delivery of EMD’s latest
technology to North American freight a.c.-traction locomotives, the “upgradeable” SD90MAC. These
locomotives. This was the most significant locomotives have a 4,000 hp prime mover and can accept a 6,000 hp
improvement to American locomotive prime mover that is being developed.
design since the advent of the diesel-
electric. By using a.c. traction, locomotive
builders were able to improve dramatically
the tractive effort of a single locomotive.
In 1996, the first 6,000 hp a.c. traction
locomotives were being tested and sales ol
4,000—5,000 hp a.c. locomotives
dominated the new locomotive market.

• RIGHT
AnewEMD SD75M,
featuring a safety
cab and colourful
warbonnet paint¬
work, rests between
runs at Corith Yard,
Chicago, Illinois.
Despite a trend
towards a.c. traction
motors, the Santa Fe
Railroad has
remained
committed to the
traditional d.c.
motor.

153

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

American
Short Lines

American short-line railroads are those
smaller carriers that operate fewer than
350 route miles (560 km) and produce
revenue ol less than $40 million.

• MANY NEW SHORT LINES
Since the mid-1970s, many new short¬
line railroads have been formed. These
new lines are mainly branch and
secondary main lines disposed ol by larger
railroads in recent downsizing. Tradition¬
ally, healthy short lines had a choice of
buying secondhand locomotives from
larger railroads or new ones from builders.
Through the mid-1970s, builders offered
a variety of low and medium horsepower,
switchers, road-switchers and specialty
diesel-electric locomotives that appealed
to short-line needs.

• EJHD SWITCHERS AND “GEEPS” • TOP • ABOVE
General Motors (Electro-Motive New Hampshire & Vermont (NHV) Railroad Many American short lines operate with
Division), the main builder of new operates on several branch lines formerly obscure locomotives. Massachusetts Central
locomotives, offered a line of switcher- operated by Boston & Maine and Maine railroad has a rare EMD NW5, one of only 13
type engines featuring a short wheelbase Central. It uses Alco RS-1 Is and EMD GP9s. built. This 1,000 hp road-switcher was
that were popular with both short lines NHV RS-11 switchers are pictured at originally owned by Southern Railway.
and larger railroads for use in yards and Whitefield, New Hampshire.
on secondary track. This range began
with the 600 hp SC and SW locomotives • BELOW
Green Mountain Railroad (GMR) runs freight-
and passenger-trains in Vermont. Usually,
EMD’s GP9s handle freight-trains and its Alco
RS-1 road-switcher is used on passenger-trains.

CENTURY-425

Dates produced 1964-6

Builder American Locomotive
Company (Alco)

Engine 251C

Gauge 4 ft 8 Vain

Power 2,500 hp

Capacity 16 cylinders

154

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

in 1936 and ended with the 1,500 hp • LEFT
SW1500 and MP15 in the mid-1980s. In the 1970s, the
Another EMD locomotive popular with Santa Fe railroad
short lines was the GP series commonly converted many of its
known as “Geeps”, particularly the EMD-made F7 cab-
lower-horsepower, non-turbo-charged units to road-
1,500 hp GP7, 1,750 hp GP9 and switchers designed as
2,000 hp GP38. CF7s. The
Massachusetts Central
Railroad bought one
CF7 from Santa Fe in
1984. The CF7 has
been popular with
short lines looking for
secondhand
locomotives.

• SHORT LINES PRICED OUT OF group, short lines feature the greatest • ABOVE
NEW LOCOMOTIVES diversity of locomotives in the USA. Sierra Railroad was one of the last short lines
As the price of new locomotives began to Locomotives built by Alco, which ceased to use Baldwin locomotives regularly. To
climb, more short-line railroads began to production in 1969, and many other operate its 80 km (50 mile) railroad, it owned
buy used and remanufactured locomotives. curious and obscure models can be found several Baldwin S-12 diesel-electrics. Many
Also, as the large railroads disposed of working on short lines around the LISA. short lines held on to Baldwins long after
branches, they had less need for the types larger railroads discarded them.
of locomotives required for branch-line
service, glutting the used market with
switchers and “Geeps”. By the late 1970s,
few short lines were placing orders for
new locomotives; instead, they operated
with hand-me-downs. As a result, short
lines are operating with a great variety of
old, secondhand locomotives, long
discarded from main-line service. As a

• LEFT
New Hampshire &
Vermont GP9 No.
669 switchers at
Whitefield, New
Hampshire. NHV,
like many modern
short lines, operates
“first-generation”
diesels - those that
replaced steam
locomotives - on
lines let go by larger
railroads.

155

jlBRRr th 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

American BlIIS • LEFT
Passenger Cal-Train operates
n mMm commuter-rail
Trains services between
■-i nm.ii San Francisco, San
The diesel-electric made its passenger Jose and Gilroy,
debut in 1934 with the Burlington jsm'aja*.; California. The
Northern railroad’s Pioneer Zephyr and agency uses EMD’s
Union Pacific Railroad’s M-10000 City n «■ mm 3,000-hp F40PH
of Salina. locomotives in push-
,v JQ M pull mode. The
locomotives always
?jj :.b « face outbound
(south).

• PIONEER ZEPHYR INTRODUCES dominated the market for new passenger- EMD also made four-axle F Series
THE PASSENGER DIESEL locomotives. Its most popular models locomotives for passenger service.
After World War II, American railroads were its E series, streamlined locomotives Western railroads preferred F units,
began ordering diesel-electrics in featuring twin 567 prime movers and mainly because of their pulling ability in
quantity for general passenger service. As A1A trucks. Each truck had three axles heavily graded territory.
with the freight market, the General but the centre axle was not powered. The
Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) E7, rated at 2,000 hp, was introduced in Beginning in 1956, the New Haven
1945; the E9, rated at 2,400 hp, was Railroad (NHR) took delivery of FL9s
F L 9 DIESEL- introduced in 1954 and remained in (dual-mode diesel-electric/electric) from
ELECTRIC/ELECTRIC production until 1963. While other EMD for use in electrified territory
builders also produced passenger around New York City. These versatile
Dates produced 1956-60 locomotives — notably Alco with its PA locomotives use a diesel engine or
series — none was particularly successful electric third rail.
Builder General Motors in the USA. The PA was well liked by
(Electro-motive enthusiasts for its superior aesthetics but • THE AGE OF AMTRAK
Division) generally disliked by railroads for poor Amtrak, America’s National Railroad
performance and high maintenance. Passenger Corporation, an American
Engine 20 cylinders government-owned body set up in 1970,
567C or 567D1

Power 1,750 hp or 1,800 hp

Capacity 567 cc per cylinder

• LEFT
Amtrak maintains
several dual-mode FL9
diesel-electric/ electric
locomotives for service
betw een New York City
and Albany, New York.
The now-defunct New
Haven Railroad (NHR)
ordered 60 of these
specialty locomotives
between 1956-60.

• OPPOSITE
Amtrak locomotives in
Chicago, Illinois, await
assignment. On the
left. No. 828 is a
General Electric AMD-
103. On the right are
EMD-made F40PHs.

156

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• RIGHT
In the Northeast Corridor - between
Washington, DC and New Haven, Connecticut
- Amtrak operates AEM7 electrics in a high¬
speed service up to 130 mph.

assumed responsibility for most intercity GG1 electrics operating on that route. In Amtrak has had limited success with
passenger runs in 1971. By the 1980s, the early 1980s, EMD licensed the Rc4 articulated turboliners. In the mid-
governmental operating agencies relieved electric locomotive from the Swedish 1970s, it placed seven streamlined Rohr
most railroads of commuter-train company Allmanna Svenska Elektriska Turboliners in service in its Empire
responsibilities. A new generation of Aktiebolaget (ASEA), and from that Corridor, between New York City and
motive power was developed for Amtrak design made more than 60 high-hp Niagara Falls. Each set has a 1,140 hp
and the commuter lines. In the early AEM7 electrics for high-speed service on power-car at both ends.
1970s, EMD made a passenger version of the Northeast Corridor.
its successful SD40 freight-locomotive, • THE NEXT GENERATION
but the six-axle passenger SDP40Fs, with In the early 1990s, Amtrak began taking
full cowl hood, proved largely delivery of several new types of loco¬
unsatisfactory for passenger service. motives. It received about 20 utilitarian¬
Many were later sold to the Santa Fe looking 3,200 hp DASH-8 32PBs from
railroad for fast freight service. In 1976, General Electric, followed by several
EMD introduced the F40PH, a turbo¬ varieties of GE’s Genesis Locomotive.
charged 3,000 hp, four-axle locomotive The Genesis is a semi-streamlined
well received by Amtrak and the product that uses a monocoque
commuter lines. Several hundred were (frameless) body and a GE prime mover.
sold in the USA and Canada. Meanwhile, Amtrak and commuter-operator Metro-
General Electric offered its six-axle North also use dual-mode Genesis
3,000 hp P30CH, with limited success. locomotives for service in the third-rail
electrified territory around New York
• ELECTRICS AND TURBOLINERS City. On its Californian routes, Amtrak
Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is mostly uses EMD’s F59PHIs, streamlined
electrified. In the 1970s, General Electric passenger locomotives exhibiting what
made about 30 E60 electrics to replace EMD deems the “swoopy look”.
40-year-old former Pennsylvania Railroad

157

ro THE present day

American Metro • RIGHT
New York City
ELEVATED LINES Transit Authority’s
logo.
Traditional elevated lines, using steel
structures to carry electrified rapid- • EE FT
transit tracks above city streets, can still An outbound D train
be found in New York City, Philadelphia heads towards Coney
and Chicago. Island, Brooklyn,
Long Island, New
• TRADITIONAL ELEVATED LINES York City, in a frigid
All of these elevated lines are operated in December in 1993.
conjunction with a subway/heavy-rail The New York City
metro system. In New York and Transit Authority
Philadelphia, use of elevated lines is (NYCTA) has several
restricted to outside the central, thousand rapid-
commerical area — downtown. This transit cars in its fleet
leaves Chicago as the only remaining and operates the
American city with a traditional elevated most extensive rapid-
rapid-transit structure at its centre. Its transit system in
skyscrapers and antique route present an North America.
incongruous mix ol architecture.
• LEFT
In the mid-1980s, Boston, An inbound train
Massachusetts, replaced most of its from Flushing,
Orange Line elevated structure with a Queens, New York
City, heads for
Times Square,
Manhattan, in 1993.
This is one of many
elevated lines
operating in the
borough of Queens.

modern metro-rail system, leaving the elevated lines, these systems use
Lechmere-North Station section of electrically powered multiple-unit transit
Green Line Light-Rail route as the only vehicles (usually powered by third rail)
significant elevated structure in the area. on a variety' of gradient-separated right-
of-ways — underground (subway), in
• ABOVE • MODERN HEAVY METRO-RAIL open cuts or on concrete elevated
Chicago’s famous “Loop” is the last traditional TRANSIT structures. The most extensive modern
elevated rapid-transit line to operate in the heart Some American metropolitan areas that systems are the Washington D.C. Metro
of an American city. A set of Morrison-Knudsen did not have traditional elevated lines are and, serving the greater San Francisco
cars negotiates the “Loop” on 4 July 1995. today served by modern heavy-rail metro metro area, the Bay Area Rapid Transit,
transit systems. Like the traditional known as BART.

158

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

CHICAGO TRANSIT
AUTHORITY ( C T A )
SERIES 2000 CARS

Date produced 1964

Builder Pullman Car &
Manufacturing
Company

Weight 47,400 lb

Propulsion General Electric

Seating 47/51 seats

• RAPID TRANSIT CARS jjir pifj.f—" • ABOVE LEFT
New York City and Chicago operate the On Independence
largest rapid-transit fleets in the USA. In m '4L■ __1s Day 1995, in
recent years, New York has modernized Chicago, Illinois, a
its rolling stock with new cars from north red, white and blue
American builders such as Bombardier, set of cars made by
and by having its older cars rebuilt. In Boeing-Vertol heads
the late 1980s and early 1990s, many of south on the
New York City Transit cars were built by Howard Street line.
MK Rail in the former Erie Railroad
shops at Hornell in rural western New • ABOVE • BELOW
York state. Into the 1950s, New York City operated a fleet Chicago has one of the largest networks of
of antique open-platform cars on one traditional elevated-metro rail lines. A 3200
New York, with its new and rebuilt remaining Brooklyn elevated route, the Myrtle Series car made by Morrison-Knudsen heads
cars, has successfully eliminated the Avenue Line. downtown on the Howard Street Line.
colourful graffiti that covered most of its
fleet in the 1970s and 1980s. Its cars’
spray paint-resistant surfaces are now
nearly graffiti-proof.

Chicago’s fleet of cars represents a
host of different builders. Following
discontinuation of streetcar service in
the 1950s, Chicago rebuilt most of its
large fleet of President Conference
Committee (PCC) streetcars for rapid-
transit service on elevated and subway
lines. In 1964, Chicago took delivery of
180 new cars from Pullman. In 1969, it
ordered 75 new stainless-steel cars from
the Budd Co. In the 1970s, Chicago took
delivery of 200 cars from Boeing-Vertol
and another 600 cars from Budd.
Chicago’s most recent order was in
the early 1990s, for 256 cars from
Morrison-Knudsen.

159

the I 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

American MASSACHUSETTS BAY • ABOVE
TRANSPORTATION San Francisco’s brightly painted, rebuilt PCCs
Light Rail AUTHORITY (BOSTON) have proved popular with tourists. The cars
TYPE 7 were regauged to operate on the San
In the mid-1970s, San Francisco, Francisco Municipal Railway’s light-rail lines.
California, and Boston, Massachusetts, Dates produced 1986-8 Usually, the PCCs are assigned to the F-Market
ordered new light-rail vehicles to replace line, which does not use the Muni-Metro
worn President Conference Committee Builder Kinki Sharyo subway. This car is painted to represent
cars (PCCs). This represented the first Boston’s MBTA scheme of the 1950s.
orders for new cars in several decades Client MBTA (Boston)
and began to reverse a long decline in • OPPOSITE BOTTOM
American light-raise use. Voltage 600 kV d.c. An LRV made by Kawasaki, Japan, negotiates
the broad-gauge single-track Media Line at
• AMERICAN LIGHT RAIL REVIVAL Axles Six Media, Pennsylvania, in suburban
The new cars, built by Boeing-Vertol, had Philadelphia, in 1992. Philadelphia was the
design flaws. There were no further Weight 84,800 lb only city to buy these non-articulated cars.
orders for them. By the mid-1990s,
fewer than 20 years after most of the Propulsion Westinghouse • BELOW
Boeings were delivered, both cities were A Type 7 car built by Kinki Sharyo of Japan
buying replacements. Seating SO seats prepares to turn at Cleveland Circle in Boston,
Massachusetts, in 1993. Boston uses three
• CANADIAN LEAD FOLLOWED BY different kinds of LRVs on its system.
SAN DIEGO
The real light-rail revival came in 1978 at
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, when the
city inaugurated its 4'/> mile (7 km) line.
This was the first all-new light rail system
in recent memory. The system used 14
six-axle Siemens-Duewag U2 light-rail
vehicles (LRVs). The USA followed
Canada’s lead in 1980 when the San
Diego Trolley (SDT) began operating in
California. Like the Edmonton system,

160

THE 1950S TO THE PR

• LETT
Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) bought
100 Boeing-Vertol light-rail vehicles (LRVs) for its Green Line Light-Rail
routes. The Mattapan-Ashmont High-Speed Line, part of the Red Line,
still uses older President Conference Committee (PCC) cars.

• SAN FRANCISCO RE-EMBRACES formerly operated this traditional type of
THE PCC CAR streetcar. The idea made this one of the
In 1995, San Francisco re-established its most colourful fleets of regularly operated
long-dormant F-Market line, using rebuilt streetcars in the USA. San Francisco’s
PCC cars from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. once large fleet of PCC cars were mostly
The cars were completely overhauled by retired by the mid-1980s when new
M-K Rail, a division of Morrison- Boeing-Vertol cars arrived.
Knudsen, at Flornell, New York, and
regauged for San Francisco tracks. To Some American cities have started a
celebrate the PCC design, each car was trend using low-floor cars. Portland,
painted differently, using traditional Oregon, was the first US city to use them,
liveries from American cities that had taking delivery of 46 Type-2 cars from
Siemens Transportation Systems in 1993.

the SDT line, running from the i [ButterTfeW) i • LEFT
commercial centre to the Mexican Sacramento,
border at San Ysidro, was an entirely new California, the
light-rail system and also used six-axle original terminus of
U2 cars, painted bright red. The SDT the transcontinental
system proved popular. Extensions and railroad, began
new routes have since been built. operating its new
light-rail system in
• VARIETIES OF LIGHT-RAIL 1987. Trains of four-
VEHICLES coupled Siemens-
Since then, nearly a dozen new light-rail Duewag U2A LRVs
systems have started operating. The latest regularly traverse
is in Dallas, Texas, which started operating the streets of the
in June 1996. Its 18 km (11 mile) system Californian capital.
uses yellow-and-white cars built by Kinki
Sharyo/Itochu International.

LRVs used in the USA have few
uniform standards and even the gauge
varies somewhat. Most cities use the
standard 4 ft 8 'A in gauge, but New
Orleans in Louisiana and Philadelphia
and Pittsburg in Pennsylvania use 5 ft
2‘A in and 5 ft 2'A in.

Many builders’ cars are in service.
They range from traditional American
companies, such as Perley Thomas with
vintage streetcars built in 1923—4, used
in New Orleans, to Bombardier which
built cars for Portland, Oregon’s light-rail
system, and also include many foreign
companies such as Italy’s Breda and
Japan’s Kinki Sharyo.

161

JSW THE I950S TO THE PRESENT

Tourist Lines • LEFT
in America The Green Mountain
Railroad (GMR)
In the past 20 years, dozens of railroads operates its freight-
have begun operating tourist-trains. and passenger-trains
Some of these lines are strictly passenger- with a fleet of well-
carriers, often catering to specialty maintained historic
markets such as luxury dinner-trains. locomotives. In
1993, EMD’s GP9
• POPULARITY OF TOURIST LINES 1850 leads a freight
Other tourist trains are short-line up the gradient at
railroads looking to supplement freight Ludlow, Vermont.
revenue. The type of motive power used The GP9 was
on these lines varies greatly but tends popular in freight
towards the historic, to appeal to the and passenger
travelling public. Some lines use steam- service.
locomotives, others vintage diesel-
electrics. Many lines that use diesels paint • LEFT
them in elaborate schemes reminiscent of The East Broad Top
the schemes used in the 1940s and 1950s. Railroad (EBTR) in
central Pennsylvania
• CALIFORNIA'S NAPA VALLEY • BELOW offers an authentic
WINE TRAIN In 1989, the Boone Scenic Railway (BSR) took railroad experience.
Napa Valley Wine Train is one of the delivery of a brand-new JS Class Chinese-made It uses vintage
most successful operations. It runs Mikado, seen here atop the railroad’s high equipment
several trips a day through the Napa bridge, north of Boone, Iowa. The brightly appropriate for its
Valley and caters for up-market patrons. painted steam locomotive is popular with line. It has four
Guests have dinner and wine-tasting train-riders. operational 36 in
aboard vintage heavyweight passenger gauge Baldwin
cars hauled by FPA-4 diesel-electronics Mikados. No. 15 is
pictured at Rockhill
Furnace.

made by Montreal Locomotive Works
(MLW), Alco’s Canadian subsidiary. Four
of these engines, acquired from the
Canadian passenger-rail authority Via
Rail, entered service in 1989. They have
a burgundy-and-gold paint scheme that
reflects the colours of California’s wine
country. Several tourist lines acquired
FPA-4s from Via Rail when it upgraded
its locomotive fleet and disposed of many
of these older models.

• GREEN MOUNTAIN RAILROAD
The Green Mountain Railroad (GMR), a
successful short line in rural Vermont,
USA, has augmented freight revenue by
operating a seasonal excursion-train. For
this service it maintains a vintage Alco
RS-1 diesel — the precise model used by
its predecessor Rutland Railway in
passenger service in the 1940s and
1950s. It also uses General Motors
Electro-Motive’s GP9s when passenger-

162

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

F P A-A

Dates produced 1958-9

Builder Montreal Locomotive
Works (MLW) (Alco)

Engine 251B

Power 1,800 hp

Capacity 12 cylinders

trains are heavily patronized, particularly Class Chinese-made Mikado. Several • ABOVE LETT
in autumn when the coloured foliage other American tourist lines have also A Northern Pacific Railroad (NPR) Ten-
attracts hundreds of riders daily. ordered new steam locomotives. For Wheeler 4-6-0, Class S-10 328, leads a
Boone, which derives all its revenue from passenger-excursion train across Wisconsin
• NEW STEAM PROVES POPULAR excursion-trains, the new steam Central’s St Croix River bridge in Wisconsin.
The Boone Scenic Railroad (BSR) locomotive has been a great success. This Alco-built locomotive 1907 is the only
operating a former interurban line in Other tourist lines operate with remaining NPR 4-6-0.
central Iowa, USA, has taken a novel traditional American-built steam
approach towards passenger-trains. In locomotives restored for tourist service.
1989, it took delivery of a brand-new JS

■

§« '

vijV/v,

W. V'. : JV--C ’; ’-•'V* > : ; - , .
:
j^gpi|
1

• RIGHT
In autumn 1989, the
Napa Valley Wine
Train began dinner-
train service in the
scenic Californian
valley. Four
streamlined Via Rail,
FPA-4 locomotives
provide power. They
were bought from
the Canadian
passenger transport
authority.

163

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

American
Train
Preservation

Preservationists have rescued and
restored nearly 1 50 steam locomotives to
serviceable status in the USA and
Canada. Authentic locomotives and
replicas from all periods of development
are represented - a complete range in
age and size, from a re-creation of Peter
Cooper’s diminutive Tom Thumb of
1830 to World War II-vintage super
power, such as Union Pacific Railroad’s
massive Northern type 4-8-4, No. 844.

• STEAM LOCOMOTIVES • TOP has spent millions of dollars preserving
Colorado’s preserved narrow-gauge Chicago & Northern Western railroad’s No. vintage steam locomotives from around
railroads operate vintage steam 138S, a Class Rl, Alco-built 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler, the USA and Canada, at Steamtown, in
locomotives. The Cumbres & Toltec, is preserved in operating condition at the Mid- Scranton, Pennsylvania. Steamtown, once
which operates over the 3,048 m Continent Railway Museum, North Freedom, a private foundation, is now run by the
(10,000 ft) high Cumbres Pass through Wisconsin. American National Park Service.
the San Juan Mountains of southern
Colorado to Toltec in Arizona, maintains • ABOVE Despite the many restored loco¬
three classes of Denver & Rio Grande Illinois Terminal GP7 No. 1605 displays a lively motives, considerable work is left for
Western Mikado Type 2-8-2, Classes paint scheme. The GP7 was Electro-motive preservationists. Alas, for every
K27, K36 and K37. The Baltimore & Division’s first popular road-switcher. This serviceable locomotive there are probably
Ohio Railroad (B&OR) Museum, locomotive and many others are preserved in a half-dozen others in poor shape and
Baltimore, Maryland, has a collection of operating condition at the Illinois Railway great need of attention.
steam locomotives, including the Tom Museum, Union, Illinois.
Thumb replica. The Federal Government

• LEFT
Colorado’s Cumbres
& Toltec Scenic
Railroad operates
several former
Denver & Rio
Grande Western
Class K36 narrow-
gauge Mikado 2-8-
2s. It maintains a
Class K28 and a
Class K37 for
occasional use.

164

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

NORTHERN PACIFIC
RAILROAD (NPR) 4-6-0,
CLASS S10 NO. 328

Date produced 1907

Builder American Locomotive
Co. (Alco)

Driving wheels 57 in

Capacity 2 cylinders
19 x 26 in

Steam pressure 190 lb

Weight 153,000 lb • PRESERVED DIESEL-ELECTRIC in the west. Union Pacific Railroad, sole
AND ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES operator of the big locomotives, still
Tractive effort 26,000 lb In the past 20 years, effort has been owns and operates one in excursion-
exerted to acquire and preserve service. On rare occasions, UPR still
• ABOVE RIGHT significant examples of diesel-electric and operates it for freight.
electric locomotives. Several museums
The Portola Railroad Museum, Portola, are now almost exclusively dedicated to Electric locomotives are preserved,
California, specializes in preserving diesel- such preservation. too. Several fine examples of the
electric locomotives. No. 6946, a Union Pacific Raymond Loewy-styled Pennsylvania
Railroad DDA40X, the largest class of diesel The first commercially successful Railroad GG1 are on display. One of
ever built, is one of the museum’s most diesel, a box-cab built by Alco-General the largest collections of preserved
impressive displays. EMD built 47 DDA40X Electric-Ingersol Rand in 1926 for the railroad equipment — steam, diesel-
for Union Pacific Railroad between 1969-71. Central Railroad of New Jersey, is electric, electric and traction — is located
preserved at the B&OR Museum. Several at the Illinois Railway Museum, Union,
examples of the largest type of diesel- Illinois, where there is a DDA40A,
electric ever built, EMD’s monster, eight- Pennsylvania GG 1 among hundreds
axle, 6,900 hp DDA40X, are preserved of other items.

• RIGHT

Northern Pacific
Railroad’s “Ten¬
wheeler” 4-6-0
No. 328, made by
Alco is operated by
the Minnesota
Transportation
Museum, Osceola,
Wisconsin. It has a
limited summer-
excursion schedule.
When the steam
locomotive is not
running, vintage
diesels are used.

165

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

Canadian Freight • BELOW
Two Ontario Northland RS-3s await
Trains assignment. These MLW-built engines are
almost identical to RS-3s built in the USA by
Canadian railroads had a more MLW’s parent, Alco.
conservative approach to motive power
than had dieir American counterparts.
Canadians preferred tested, established
locomotive models rather than innovative
ones and continued to rely on steam
locomotives through the 1950s.

• THE 1950S type locomotives had a solid market with counterparts. Mechanically, they were the
While Canadian railroads’ transition to Canadian Pacific and Canadian National. same. For example, Canada bought
diesel-electrics copied the USA, they began Both railroads acquired many MLW S- MLW’s 1,800 hp RS-18 that featured a
serious conversion to diesel later and were Series switchers. slightly different hood-style from Alco’s
far less experimental in choice ol models. RS-11 preferred by American railroads.
In the late 1950s and 1960s Canadian • CANADIAN LOCOMOTIVES TAKE The locomotives were identical in most
Pacific and Canadian National began taking ON A DISTINCTIVE LOOK other respects. MLW continued to make
delivery of mass-quantities of essentially In the late 1950s, Canadian locomotives diesels after Alco discontinued American
stock American diesel-electric designs. took on a distinctive appearance, production in 1969. Through the 1970s,
General Motors Diesel Ltd (GMD) and distinguishing them from their American MLW built distinctive Canadian locomotives
Montreal Locomotives Works (MLW),
Alco’s Canadian subsidiary, were the main
builders. Baldwin and Fairbanks-Morse
also marketed their products in Canada.

Canadian railroads bought a few
streamlined F units but largely dieselized
freight operations with road-switcher-

166

THE TO THE PR

• LEFT
Canadian National (CN) acquired SD701
locomotives from General Motors in 1995. In
1996, CN began to receive its first SD751s,
part of an order for more than 300.

based on Alco designs. In 1979, In the mid-1990s, Canadian National
Bombardier acquired MLW and and Canadian Pacific began ordering
continued to build locomotives into the what were essentially stock locomotives
mid-1980s. It has since left the new from GM and GE, although some
locomotive market. assembly was done in Canada. In 1995,
Canadian Pacific ordered a fleet of
• CANADIAN SAFETY-CABS GE AC4400CWs for heavyfreight service
in the Canadian Rockies. While Canadian
In the early 1970s,1 safety-conscious Pacific had experimented with a.c.
J J traction, this investment represented the
first commerical application of the new
Canadians began ordering road-switcher technology in Canada. Meanwhile,
Canadian National has remained firmly
hood-unit locomotives with full-width, committed to traditional d.c.-traction
motors. Instead of trying a.c.
four-window “Canadian safety-cabs”, or locomotives, it ordered more than 300
General Motors six-axle SD701 and
“comfort cabs”. These reinforced cabs SD7 51 locomotives.

were designed to protect the crew in

derailments or collisions. Canadian • BE lOW
The wide-nosed “Canadian safety-cab”, or
railroads also began equipping comfort cab, and ditch-lights were once trade¬
marks of Canadian National locomotives. Now
locomotives with “ditch-lights”, bright they are standard features on most North
American freight locomotives. Here, a quartet
headlamps near the rail, for increased of CN GP40-2s with comfort cabs leads a
northbound freight.
visibility. For many years, these were

trademarks of Canadian motive power.

American lines have since emulated

Canadian practice and safety-cabs and

ditch-lights are now standard features on

North American locomotives.

• THE 1990S

RS- 1 8

Dates produced 1956-68

Builder Montreal Locomotive
Works (MLW) (Alco)

Engine 12-cylinder, 25 1B

Power 1,800 hp

• OPPOSITE
A Canadian Pacific (CP) MLW RS-18 switches
at St Martin’s Junction, Quebec, in 1993. The
Canadian-built RS-18 was not significantly
different from the American-built RS-11.

167

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

Canadian • LETT
Via Rail, the
Passenger Canadian passenger-
train operating
Trains agency, ran a fleet of
Montreal Loco¬
Steam locomotives were used in passenger motive Works
service in Canada until the early 1960s. FPA-4s inherited
from Canadian
• 1950S TO 1980S National. Four
In the 1950s, Canadian National and FPA-4s at Central
Canadian Pacific began acquiring Station, Montreal,
passenger-diesels. Both railroads used Quebec, in 1984.
Canadian-built General Motors Diesel
(GMD) FP7s. FP9s and passenger- • BEIOW LEFT
equipped road-switchers. These loco¬ Via Rail’s LRC loco¬
motives were in most respects the same as motives did not
always haul the
F PA-A specially designed
tilting LRC train
Dates produced 1958-9 sets. In 1985, an
LRC locomotive
Builder Montreal Locomotive leads a conventional
Works (MLW) (Alco) train in Toronto,
Ontario.
Engine 12-cylinder, 25IB
• BELOW
Power 1,800 hp Toronto’s GO
Transit was an early
user of push-pull
commuter train sets.
On the end opposite
the locomotive is an
auxiliary cab. This
provides head-end
power in addition to
comfort for the
engineer. Some of
GO Transit’s auxili¬
ary cabs were built
from old F-units.

168

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DAV

their American counterparts. Canadian • LIGHT, RAPID, COMFORTABLE • ABOVE LETT
National also used FPA-2s and FPA-4s, The Canadian passenger agency Via Rail Canadian National box-cab electrics lead a
the MLW passenger version ol Alco’s took on the operation of most long¬ commuter-train at Val Royal Station, Montreal.
FA freight locomotives. The E unit, distance passenger-trains in 1997. CN’s suburban commuter service to Deux
popular in the USA, did not catch on Looking for a better way to haul Montagnes, Quebec, uses overhead electrifi¬
in Canada, although Canadian Pacific passengers, it decided to acquire modern cation. The traditional electrification and
owned a few. “tilt” trains. Between 1981—4 Via Rail electric locomotives, some nearly 80 years old,
took delivery of LRC trains, powered by were replaced in 1995 with a modern system.
• TORONTO COMMUTER 3 1 specially designed locomotives built
OPERATIONS by Bombardier’s Montreal Locomotive • ABOVE RIGHT
In 1966, Toronto’s commuter agency GO Works. The LRC locomotives proved In the late 1980s, Via Rail began replacing its
Transit ordered specially built road- problematic and are no longer made. ageing carbody-style locomotives with new
switchers from General Motors, called F40PHs from General Motors.
GP40TCs, for its passenger runs. The
GP40TC is essentially a modified version • BELOW
of the 3,000-hp GP40 freight loco¬ Ontario Northland Railroad operated its
motive, equipped with a headend power Northlander passenger-train with FP7m loco¬
generator to operate electric heat and motives and secondhand Trans-European
lights on passenger cars. Express articulated train sets acquired in 1977.

GO Transit was an early proponent
of push-pull commuter trains. Rather
than run traditional trains with the
locomotive always on the front, GO
Transit equipped the rear of its trains
with auxiliary power-cabs. The auxiliary
cabs, built from the shells of old F-units,
provide head-end power and comfortable
operating cabs. By using an aux-cab, GO
Transit obviated need for a specially
equipped locomotive to provide head-
end power.

169

II 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

Canadian Light Rail

Canada’s three main light-rail systems EDMONTON’S • EDMONTON
are in Calgary and Edmonton, in Alberta, UI2 LIGHT Edmonton inaugurated its 7 km
and in Toronto, Ontario. Both the RAIL VEHICLES (4'/2 mile) line in 1978. By 1992, the
Alberta systems were built new in the late (LRVS) system had expanded to 10.6 km
1970s and early 1980s. The Toronto (6/4 miles). In the 1900s, Edmonton
system evolved from a traditional street¬ Dates produced 1978-83 operated a streetcar system. This was
car system. discontinued after World War I, in favour
Builder Siemens- of highway transportation. Edmonton’s
Toronto and Montreal both operate Duewag light-rail system began operations with 14
underground electrified metro-rail six-axle articulated Siemens-Duewag U2
systems. The Montreal system uses an Voltage 600 volts d.c. light-rail vehicles (LRVs).
unusual rubber-tyre propulsion.
Vancouver, British Columbia, features an Axles Six • CALGARY
elevated metro-rail system called Sky- Calgary followed Edmonton’s lead and
Train, which uses computer-controlled Weight 71,585 lb opened its 12 km (7)4 mile) all-new light-
unmanned cars operating from a 600 volt rail line in 1981. By 1992, Calgary’s
d.c. third rail. Propulsion Siemens

Seating 64 seats

170

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• LEFT

In the 1960s,
Toronto still
operated venerable
Peter Witt cars,
which seem
particularly antique
compared to a
modern CLRV.

• OPPOSITE system was operating more than 27 km • TORONTO
(17 miles), with extensions planned.
Toronto operates 196 four-axle CLRV cars Calgary operates a fleet of more than Toronto relied on a large fleet of
built between 1977—82. A TTC car pauses at 80 six-axle articulated Siemans-Duewag President Conference Committee cars
Dundas Avenue, Toronto, in 1985. U2 cars. It has also operated two (PCC)s. In 1977, the city began replacing
experimental U2 cars that feature at¬ traditional PCCs with new Canadian
• BEEOW traction motors. Most North American Light Rail Vehicles (CLRVs). By the early
light-rail systems use traditional de¬ 1990s, Toronto was operating nearly 100
Toronto once boasted a large fleet of President traction motor technology. In the USA, four-axle single-unit CLRVs and more
Conference Committee (PCC) cars. In the past the Baltimore, Maryland, light-rail system than 50 six-axle articulated CLRVs. Like
two decades, most were replaced with CLRVs. also uses a.c. traction. cities in the LISA, Toronto was looking at
low-floor cars for future operation.

171

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

Cuba’s • BELOW • RIGHT
Railway A German-
Network At the Boris Luis Santa Coloma mill network builder’s
on Cuba, the flat crossing at Robles has a plate on a
classic American signal-box on stilts. A Cuban
Baldwin Mogul built in January 1920 locomotive.
completes the picture.
travel over the national railway system’s
Cuba has an almost unbelievable diversity main lines. Far from being the small
of classic American steam locomotives, locomotives found on many of the
left suspended in time following Fidel world’s sugar plantations, Cuba’s engines
Castro’s revolution in 1959. are, in many cases, fully fledged main-
liners and typical of the engines that
Some of them came from former lines many American roads were operating in
in the USA and their builders’ plates read the early years of this century.
like a who’s who of American locomotive
history: FI.K. Porter, Rogers, Davenport, A remarkable variety of gauges exists
Alco, Vulcan Ironworks and Baldwin. on Cuba, too, including standard, 3 ft, 2
Small wonder that over the past ten years ft 10>/2 in, 2 ft 6 in and 2 ft 33/4 in.
Cuba has become a focus for steam lovers
worldwide, as traditional outposts of A remarkable number of centenarian
steam in Eastern Europe, South Africa engines is active, including Baldwins of
and India have declined. 1878, 1882, 1891, 1892 and 1895,and
a pair of Rogers of 1894.
All of Cuba’s steam-locomotive fleet
work on the island’s vast sugar planta¬ Cuba looks likely to remain reliant on
tions but, in the course of work, often steam locomotives for many years to
come, one of the most exciting bastions of
classic steam power into the new century.

172

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• RIGHT 4.4-O WESTINGHOUSE

This Mogul, built by Builder Baldwins,
H.K. Porter in 1919, New York, USA
was pictured
trundling a yellow Client Havana Central
caboose, that is Railroad
guard’s van, across
the rails of the Carlos Gauge 4 ft 8‘/2 in
Manuel de Cespedes
sugar mill in Type 4-4-0
Camaguey Province,
Cuba. Driving wheels 5 ft 8 in

• EAR RIGHT Capacity Cylinders
18x24 in
The wreckage of
Baldwin 2-8-0 Weight 119,600 lb
No. 1542 Manuel
Fajardo at Obdulio
Morales sugar mill’s
locomotive shed in
Sancti Spiritus
Province, near the
spot where its boiler
exploded. The boiler,
wasted at the front
tube-plate, had been
welded. The result
was disastrous. The
driver, oiling the
motion, was blown to
pieces and only his
legs were found. The
fireman, in the cab,
was thrown about
15 m (50 ft) across
the depot yard.

• OPPOSITE • ABOVE • ABOVE

Baldwin-built 2-8-0 No. 1390 eases a rake of Cuba has several Fireless engines. This huge Cuba has no coal reserves, so the island’s
freshly cut sugar cane down the Arroyo Blanco 0-4-0, built by Baldwin in September 1917, locomotives are oilfired. The cab interior of a
line at the Rafael Freyre sugar mill in Flolguin works at the Bolivia sugar mill, in Camaguey Baldwin 2-8-0 raising steam at the E.G.
Province, Cuba. Province. Lavandero sugar mill.

173

IH 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

South American Steam • BELOW RIGHT
One of the Teresa Cristina’s Texas 2-10-4s
South America was a major area of bursts out of Sideropolis Tunnel on the Rio
importance during the worldwide decline Florita branch line. The engine, No. 313, was
of steam from the 1950s and remained built by Baldwin in 1940.
so until the mid-1980s.

The area is fascinating because ol its
diversity of locomotive types, operating
terrain and gauge.

• ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY
Argentina displayed the British school oi
design. It had more locomotives than any
other South American country — about
1,000 active as late as the mid-1970s.
Five gauges operated over 80 different
locomotive types. One of the world’s
most exciting steam lines is Argentina’s
75 cm (2 ft 6 in) gauge Rio Gallegos, a

• ABOVE coal-carrying line 52 degrees south, near
A 4-8-0 15B Class of the Strait of Magellan. This route
Argentine Railways. operates 2-10-2s, hauling 1,800-ton
Britain’s Vulcan coal-trains, and is one of the steam sights
Foundry exported of the world.
30 of these two-
cylinder engines to Uruguay, across the River Plate from
Argentina in 1949. Buenos Aires, was another stronghold of
Mixed-traffic classic British designs, rivalling India in
engines, they gained faithfulness to the domestic product.
distinction in
hauling seasonal • BRAZIL
fruit over the 1,200 Brazil has long been a land of discovery
km (750 mile) run for rare and unrecorded locomotive
from the Rio Negro types, because of its vast terrain and the
Valley to Buenos relative remoteness of much of the
Aires, working country. Brazil’s best-known steam-line
is the metre-gauge Dona Teresa Cristina
1,000-ton loads on in the south-east where the world’s last
Texas Type 2- 10-4s work. Formerly, they
passenger-train worked across the Mato Grosso, the
timings. highlands in eastern Mato Grosso state.
These giants of American steam
• LEFT superpower, scaled down to metre-gauge
In the 1950s, the operations, contrast with a plethora of
Yorkshire Engine sugar-plantation systems in the area
Co. of Sheffield sent around Campos, north of Rio de Janeiro,
two Moguls to and in the north-eastern state of
Paraguay. The
engines have a
distinct LMS air
about them as
shown in this
picture of No. 152
Asuncion in the shed
yard at San
Salvador.

174

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• ABOVE Pernambuco behind the Atlantic Ocean predecessor of the more successful
Texas Type 2-10-4s and Mikado 2-8-2s in the port and state capital Recife (formerly Garratt engine.
shed yard at Tubarao on Brazil’s metre-gauge Pernambuco). These sugar usinas hosted
Doha Teresa Cristina Railway in south-east a fascinating variety of metre-gauge The Kitson Meyer’s rarity was
Santa Catarina Province. veterans, many from Brazil’s former complemented by the incredible veterans
main-line railways such as the Leopoldina, found farther north in Peru where an
• BELOW RIGHT Mogiana, Paulista and Sorocabana. 1870 classic American Rogers 4-4-0 was
Brazil’s Doha Teresa Cristina Railway active at Puerto Eten.
acquired 6 metre gauge 2-6-6-2 Mallets from • CHILE, PERU AND PARAGUAY
Baldwin between 1941—9. They were Chile’s waterless Atacama Desert was The wilds of the Paraguayan Chaco
introduced for the heavily graded, curving host to the last Kitson Meyers, weird, were host to a fascinating stud of veterans
route from Tubarao to Lauro Muller. double-jointed beasts that bent in the that hauled quebracho from the interior to
middle and had a chimney at both ends. ports along the River Paraguay for
These engines were an articulated conveying to the Atlantic Ocean at
Buenos Aires. The logs were once a
major source of tannin, used as tanning
agents and in medicines. The flame¬
throwing woodburners of the Chaco
contrasted well with the standard-gauge
main line from Asuncion to Encarnacion
with its woodburning Edwardian Moguls,
from North British Glasgow and
Efawthorn Leslie 2-6-2Ts.

Thus, diversity and exotica have been
left over from the great age of steam.
Although, by the 1990s, much of the
diversity had disappeared, survivors will
linger on in ever-diminishing pockets
into the new century.

1 5 B CLASS 4-8-0

Date 1949

Builder Vulcan Foundry,
Lancashire, England

Client Argentine Railways
(Ferrocarriles
Argentinos; FA)

Gauge 5 ft 6 in

Driving wheels 5 ft 8 in

Capacity Cylinders
19 x 28 in

Total weight in 154 tons

full working order

175

Modern South American
Locomotives

In the past, many South American
countries had closer ties with Europe and
the USA than with each other. This
resulted in at least six different railway
gauges being built on the continent.

• SNAKING BULK TRAFFIC UN PERU • ABOVE track still in use after restructuring of the
Peru’s railways climb the upper slopes oi An Alco-built 1,000-hp diesel-electric, No. 107, railway system. The metre-gauge lines
the highest Andean summits but shunting on a multigauge track in the station to the north ot Santiago are diesel-
adhesion only is used, resulting in yard at Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. The operated but the standard-gauge
spectacular sights as long mineral-trains locomotive belongs to the Ferrocarriles Southern Railway, extending from
snake up and around grand mountains. Unidos del Sureste. Santiago south to Puerto Montt, an area
Diesel is the established form of motive of German settlement, has been
power. Peru has more than 1,350 km • B ElOW electrified. Electric locomotives of Swiss
(839 miles) of standard gauge and just Argentina’s changing motive-power character origin are being built in Chile. Diesel has
300 km (186 miles) of 3 ft gauge. is shown at Constitution Station, Buenos Aires. taken over the narrow-gauge routes.
A diesel-electric stands beside a Class 8E three
Peru’s oil-burning steam locomotives cylinder 2-6-4 suburban tank, one of the most
were replaced by diesel-electrics, the successful locomotive types ever delivered to
most numerous being General Motors the country.
(GM) Type JJ 26 CW-2B 3,300 hp Co-
Cos built by Villanes of Brazil.

• RESTRUCTURING IN CHILE
Chile has just under 2,576 km (1,600
miles) of 5 ft 6 in gauge and more than
1,600 km (1,000 miles) of metre-gauge

Date 1923

Gauge 5 ft 6 in

Client Buenos Aires
& Great Southern
Railway

Driving wheels 5 ft 8 in

Capacity 3 cylinders
17 x 26 in

Pressure 200 lb sq in

Axle loading 19 tons

Weight injull 101 tons
working order

176

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DA

• BELOW
The nameplate and numberplate of one of the
two Moguls delivered to Paraguay from
Yorkshire Engineering Co., named Asuncion
after the country’s capital city Nuestra Senora
de la Asuncion founded in 1 538. The sister
engine was No. 151, named Encarnacion, after
Encarnacion de Diaz, the agricultural centre
opposite Posados, Argentina, with which it is
connected by ferry.

The E32 Co-Cos from GAI of Italy are • ABOVE common, although freight traffic on
Chile’s most numerous passenger-electric the many electrified lines is mainly
locomotives. Most diesels are from GM A 2-8-0 of Mexico’s Southern Pacific Lines hauled by British outline diesels. Lines
in Argentina. The DT600, DTI 300, threads a freight-train along the West Coast carrying the heaviest commuter traffic
DYDT5 100, D7.100 and D1600 classes route, which stretches 2,104 km (1,307 miles) around Buenos Aires have been
account for more than two-thirds of from Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest electrified for many years.
Chile’s diesels. The most numerous city, to the border of the United Mexican
diesel classes on the 5 ft 6 in gauge are States (UMS) and the USA. • HEMATITE, STEEL AND SAO
GAIA 1350, GAIA 1050 and Alco PAULO IMPACT ON RRAZIL
RSD16. Metre-gauge diesels are supplied • BELOW Brazil is South America’s largest and most
by General Electric (GE), the most An electric locomotive pulls a freight-train industrial country. The two main gauges
numerous class being the G22CO with through the Argentine-Chilean Pass at are 5 ft 3 in and metre. Bulk freight has
more than 100 units in service. The Caracoles, near Socompa in Chile’s increased and made new export routes a
201 km (125 miles) of electrically- Antofagasta Province. priority, because of vast hematite
operated track is entirely serviced by deposits, which is the chief source of
Russian-built locomotives. iron, in Minas Gerais state, the steel
industry of Volta Redonda town in Rio
• DIESEL TAKE-OVER IN de Janeiro state, Brazil’s first steel¬
ARGENTINA making town from 1942, and the
Argentina has more than 22,500 km manufacturing potential of the fastest-
(14,000 miles) of 5 ft 6 in gauge, nearly growing city in the world, Sao Paulo,
3,220 km (2,000 miles) of 4 ft 8*/2 in itself a great railway centre. Track up¬
gauge and more than 14,500 km (9,000 grading and electrification has been in
miles) of other gauges. Much of the rail progress for the past 1 5 years. Diesels
system radiates from Buenos Aires. work the various narrow gauges and the
Because ol British influence in the early non-electrified main lines. There are just
days, most equipment is British in more than 1,932 km (1,200 miles) of
appearance. Diesel has all but taken over, 5 ft 3 in gauge, 24,150 km (15,000
yet steam is still active on the Esquel and miles) of metre-gauge with just more
Rio Gallegos lines of Patagonia. On main than 885 km (550 miles) electrified.
lines, Fiat-type diesel railcars are Freight account for 99 per cent of traffic.

177

THE 19 5 0$ TO THE PRESENT DAY

European • LEFT
Members of the
Shunters numerous Swiss
Federal Railways
In the days of steam, locomotives for class of diesel-
shunting or gravity marshalling-yard work tractor built
were sometimes specifically designed but between 1950-68,
many, also, were those pensioned ofi represented by Tm”
from main-line duties. To an extent, this 736 at Chambrelien
practice still applies but from the 1950s in 1996, are often
increasing attention was paid to efficiency involved with work
and fitness for purpose. on the permanent
way.

• SfflTiVrnVG WfTHfN overhead-line equipment, the diesel • MARSHALLING TARDA AND TRIP
STATION LIMITS engine provides power to the electric- FREIGHTS
These shunters come in many shapes and traction motors. Some are fitted for The bulk of marshalling-yard and trip-
sizes, depending to a degree on whether remote radio control, enabling the driver freight work is done by Bo-Bos where the
what is required is casual shunting at a to operate from the lineside, thereby prime power source is a diesel motor or
relatively small station or transfer work performing the role of the traditional overhead electric supply often giving an
with moderate loads on the main line shunter. Small machines can be driven by output of more than 1,000 hp. At gravity
from time to time. people without the lengthy, rigorous marshalling yards, standard locomotives
training needed for a main-line driver, with special low7 gearing for propelling
For the lighter duties, locomotives are and, wiien not driving, they perform wagons over the hump are sometimes
usually four-wheeled and range from other station work. used. In more recent years, some gravity-
about 50 hp to about 300 hp. Propulsion yard shunters have been fitted with radio
can be diesel or electric. In Switzerland, Larger locomotives tend to be to permit operation from the control
alternative power sources are provided in six-wheeled or Bo-Bo, diesel or tower. Other specialist shunters include a
the same locomotive and can be selected. electric. Diesel is usually preferred normal locomotive semi-permanently
For example, in sidings where there is no for its flexibility.

• LEFT
Berne-Loetschberg-
Simplon (BLS) No.
401 at Spiez, near
Interlaken, Bern
Canton,
Switzerland, in
1988, with its
notable jackshaft
drive. These
locomotives are
similar to shunters
on Swiss Federal
Railways,
Schweizerische
Bundesbahnen
(SBB), and to others
in Sweden. Their
power coupled with
a reasonable turn of
speed enables them
to work trip-freights
and to act as
carriage-shunters.

178

THE 50

• RIGHT • BELOW
The trend to make This Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 101 No. 512,
small shunters more almost the classic small diesel-shunter, acts as
versatile is carriage-shunter at Riesa, Dresden, Germany,
increasing. They in 1991. It was later No.311.512 on the unified
have been fitted, for German railway system (DBAG).
example, with radio
control. A new
application is
accumulators, fitted
to this electric-
shunter of
Switzerland’s Spiez-
Erlenbach-
Zweisimmen
Railway so that it
can work in non-
electrified sidings.
Tea 245.021 is
at Zweisimmen
in 1995.

• RIGHT
Older main-line locomotives are downgraded
to light duties, performing trip-freight and
shunting work as needed. Class 1200 of
Portuguese Railways — Companhia dos
Caminhos de Ferro (CP) - built by Sorefame in
Portugal in 1961-64, do such work in
Southern Portugal. Nos. 1213 and 1210 are
pictured resting at the railway-junction town
of Tunes, Algarve, in 1996.

ELECTRIC SHUNTER:
BERN-LOETSCHBERG-
SIMPLON RAILWAY
(BLS)

Date 1943 coupled to a similar power-unit without
cab or related console. Such units are
Builders mechanical: Swiss sometimes called “cow and calf”.
Locomotive and
Machine Works (SLM) Larger, non-specialized shunters can
electrical: SA des work “trip freights” between their own
Ateliers de Secheron yard and others in the vicinity, or to
factory sidings.
Gauge 1,435 mm
• LARGE PASSENGER STATIONS
Class Ee 3/3 At most large passenger stations, the
“station pilot”, often in gleaming
Axle (wheel) 030 (Whyte notation condition, is a familiar sight as it deals
arrangement 0-6-0) with empty stock or remarshals trains.
The locomotives are often members
Catenary voltage a.c. IS kV, 16.7 Hz. of the same class, or a variant of those • ABOVE
found in marshalling yards. Sometimes
Weight in 38 tonnes the only difference is the fitting of Hungarian State Railways (MAV) has a
working order extra, or different, braking equipment sizeable class of modern Bo-Bo electrics built
or couplings. by Ganz Mavag from 1983 onward. Their 820
Rating One hour, 462 kW kW (1,100 hp) enables them to cover a w ide
(about 619 hp) range of duties, including carriage pilot,
heavyfreight shunting and trip-freights.
Maximum 40 kph No. V46. 054 is pictured at the river-port of
service speed Szeged (Szegedin), on Hungary’s border with
then Yugoslavia, in 1993.

179

H 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

European • LEFT
Freight A new country and
new livery have
Reconstruction of Europe after World motive power on each rail system varied brought a striking
War II and growing international trade normally only to the extent of front-end change to former
brought a huge resurgence in rail freight. body shape and the ventilation grilles’ Deutsche Reichsbahn
This traffic had to be integrated with style and position. Class 242, which was
equally large volumes of passenger-trains bought by Lokoop, a
and so locomotives had to be able both to Most adopted the Bo-Bo formation. Swiss consortium,
handle heavy loads and to run at In countries where heavy trains tackle and hired out. The
relatively high speeds. steep gradients, however, locomotives engine, working on
with the Co-Co arrangement were the Swiss Siidostbahn
Carriage of many classes of freight by in 1996, is pictured at
rail has steadily declined. New business, Schindellegi in a
however, is arriving as road-freight livery advertising
tractors and trailers are transported by transport to a nearby
rail across national boundaries, mountain resort.
sometimes with drivers accommodated in
sleeping-cars on the train. Intermodal introduced. In more recent years,
traffic, with either swap-bodies or developments in multiple working and
vehicles designed to operate on rail or remote radio control have enabled the
road, is not a new concept but it is being use of two or more compatible
further developed. The transport of locomotives at the head and a locomotive
standard-gauge wagons on special metre- cut into the train. This is, among other
gauge bogies or transporter-wagons things, to relieve weight on the drawbar
continues to cut the cost of time delays between the locomotive and the train’s
and trans-shipment, especially in
Switzerland. • ABOVE
Class 140 of German Railways (DBAG) was
• ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES devised as a freight version of a similar
As the mixed-traffic locomotive’s passenger-class. It first appeared in 1957, and
development progressed along similar to 1973 nearly 900 were built. They handle
lines, the superficial appearance of the anything from empty-carriage workings to
medium-tonnage freights. No. 140 009-2 is
pictured at Murneau, south of Munich,
Bavaria, in 1994.

• LEFT
In sharp contrast to the bustle of the French
scene, a freight-train in southern Portugal
waits to leave the junction station of Tunes,
Algarve, headed by Alco-built A1A-A1A diesel-
electric No. 1503 in 1996.

180

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DA

• RIGHT
Two locomotives look excessive for this light
freight-train at Venlo, Limburg Province, in
the Netherlands in 1989, but Netherlands
Raihvays-NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)-
diesel-electric No. 6401, built in 1955, is part
of the train that is in the charge of NS 2213. It
is ironic that it is hauling a member of the
class destined to lead to its withdrawal.

FRENCH STATE
RAILWAYS (SNCF)
CLASS BB 22200

Date 1976 front vehicles. Longer trains also improve • BUILDERS
line capacity and therefore economic ,411 the larger and some of the smaller
Builder Alsthom/MTE performance of the line. countries of mainland Europe have the
capacity to build both diesel and electric
Gauge 1,435 mm • DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES locomotives. However, the case now is
Diesel power, with locomotives working that few builders design, manufacture
Axle BB in multiple on heavy trains, is the only and erect a complete locomotive. Credit
arrangement practical course on non-electrified lines for the design or manufacture of a
or where traffic is lighter. Tire available particular class of locomotives often goes
Catenary voltage d.c. 1,500 v, a.c. 25 kV tractive effort is generally lower than to the company or works which does the
single phase (dual electric locomotives, but continuing use final erection. In practice, the design may
voltage) of diesels widely throughout Europe can well be that of the erecting company but
be foreseen because of the flexibility of components — bodies, motors, electrical
Wheel diameter 1,250 mm operation coupled with, usually, a mixed- equipment and other items — are likely
traffic availability and, in some cases, to have been provided by other
Weight in 89 tonnes lighter axleloading. locomotive manufacturers.
working order

Rating 4,360 kW

Maximum 160 kph
service speed

• LEFT
French National
Railways (SNCF)
BB22288 Louhans
leaves the extensive
marshalling yards of
Villeneuve-St
Georges, south¬
eastern Paris, with a
long train of empty
car-transporters in
1996.

I81

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

European Rack • LEFT
Austria’s metre-
Railways gauge Achenseebahn
uses both
Rack railways are specially built to climb Riggenbach rack-
steep gradients in mountainous areas. and-pinion and
adhesion to climb
• TOURIST LINES from Jenbach, in
Most but not all tourist lines exist to Austria in Tirol, east
convey skiers in winter and walkers, or of Innsbruck, to the
just sightseers, in summer high into lake that gives the
mountains. Other lines enable the tourist railway its name.
to reach points from which spectacular The locomotives
views can be obtained. date from 1899.
No. 2 and its vintage
Track gauge varies from 800 mm to coaches are pictured
standard gauge. Propulsion is generally by leaving Tenbach in
an electric power-car pushing a control- 1980.
trailer up the grade but the touristic value
of the steam locomotive has not been lost • LEFT
on some operators who, in recent years, Switzerland’s 800 mm gauge Brienzer-Rothorn
have ordered new steam locomotives Bahn, between Brienz, on Lake Brienz in Bern
using oilfiring and needing only one man Canton, and Rothorn, has put into service three
in the cab. For obvious reasons, the track new steam locomotives of revolutionary design
of each is relatively short. Examples of but conventional external appearance. These
both types of line are illustrated. are oilfired and can be operated by one man.
The first, No. 12, was delivered in 1992 and is
pictured at Brienz in 1995.

• BELOW LEFT
The Monte Generoso Railway has been operated
successively by steam, diesel and from 1982
electricity. The train is pictured having just
arrived at the summit station, which was being
modernized in 1989.

ELECTRIC RAILCAR -
MONTE GENEROSO
RA I LWAY

Date 1982

Builder Swiss Locomotive and
Machine Works (SLM)

Client Monte Generoso Railway

Gauge 800 mm Abt Rack

Class Bhe 4/8

Axle Four of the eight
arrangement axles of the two-car
unit are driven

Catenary voltage d.c. 650 v

Weight in 34.1 tonnes

working order

Rating 810 kW
(about 1,086 lap)

Maximum 14 kph
service speed

182

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAT

• LETT
A popular mountain line in Austria is the metre-
gauge Schneebergbahn, south of Vienna, from
Puchberg to the summit at Hochschneeberg.
No. 999.02 of Austrian Federal Railways dating
from 1893, pauses at Baumgarten in 1986
before tackling the next stage of the climb.

• BELOW EEET
The oldest locomotives on the standard-gauge
Erzberg line of Austrian Federal Railw ays
(OBB) were Class 97, first in service in 1890.

• BELOW RIGHT
Not all rack railways are in mountains. In
Hungary, Budapest has an important standard-
gauge line that partly serves commuters but is
mainlv for citizens wishing to reach the hills
behind Buda, the old Magyar capital on the
west bank of the River Danube. The line w'as
originally steam-worked but Switzerland’s SLM
works provided the stock when the line was
electrified in 1929. Car 55 is pictured leaving
the lower terminus in August 1993.

• CONVENTIONAL RAILWAYS WITH more than 7 5 kph are achieved over modest degree of success. Passenger
RACK AID the adhesion sections but on rack traffic declined to the point where it
The main aim of conventional railways sections about less than half oi that can could be handled by a single four-wheel,
with track assistance is to protide be expected. rack-fitted diesel-railcar.
communication between towns and
villages for passengers and freight convey¬ • INDUSTRIAL LINES This Austrian Federal Railways —
ance. Often, tourist areas are served as A most spectacular example of industrial Osterreichische Bundesbahnen (OBB) —
well. Indeed, if this were not so, the lines was the “Iron Mountain” railway line closed in 1986 because of a fall in
viability of many lines often operating in from Vordernberg, in the Styria, Austria, demand for steel coupled with the fact
relatively sparsely populated regions would to Eisenerz. Of standard gauge, there that it w-as cheaper to import ore from
be at risk. were some passenger services but its outside Austria. The last ore-train ran
main purpose was to bring iron ore from under diesel power on 27 June 1986.
The track gauge is generally metre and Eisenerz, a mountain consisting almost No fewer than seven steam locomotives
the trains appear at first sight quite entirely of iron ore, to a huge iron and have been preserved. Five of them are
conventional with an electric-locomotive steel works at Donawitz, west of Leoben Class 0-6-2 Ts dating from 1890, the
hauling a moderately long train of in Styria. Steam was the motive power most popular with the crews, and one of
coaches. Other trains might be hauled by until the last few years of its existence which stands on a plinth in the town
single or double electric power-cars, in when specially fitted diesel locomotives square. One is a 0-12-0T and one a
effect locomotives with passenger or joined a rack locomotive purpose-built 2-12-2T, built in Germany in 1941
baggage accommodation in the body. II for the line. These achieved only a and now standing on a plinth at
track configuration permits, speeds of Vordernmarkt Station.

183

TH E 195 OS TO THE PRESENT DAY

European

DMUs

The diesel multiple unit (DMU), the
most flexible ol all means ot rail
passenger transport, is used in Europe on
all gauges and in many configurations.

• SINGLE RAILCARS • ABOVE The ability to strengthen the train
Single railcars range from a unit capable Netherlands Railways (NS) diesel-electric Class quickly, to cope with known or sudden
ot coupling to another power-unit, to a DE 11s were built by Allan, in 1953 and peaks of traffic, by adding a powered
control-trailer or just to a freight-wagon extensively rebuilt in 1975-82 by NS. This unit vehicle to run in multiple without reducing
or passenger-coach. Operating alone, a had just arrived at Arnhem, in Gelderiand its line speed, is invaluable on services
single railcar can often be sufficient to Province, in 1989. which share, for part of the route, the
maintain the passenger traffic on a tracks of a main line where lengthy track-
narrow-gauge line, such as the Austrian • BELOW occupation by slow trains is unacceptable.
Federal Railways 760 mm gauge line Such units are capable of 120 kph.
linking the Neider-Osterreich (NO) The modern appearance of this rebuilt X4300
towns ot Gmiind and Gross Gerungs in Series unit of French National Railways On branch lines or secondary routes
the Greinerwald, or standard-gauge (SNCF) belies the fact that the class was with a relatively infrequent service, any
routes like the picturesque cross- introduced in 1963. In 1988, a typical cut in speed from hauling unpowered
border route between the Austrian Tirol representative, from Dinant, Belgium, awaits trailers is not serious. However, many
town of Reutte and the German resort its return working at Givet, in the Ardennes modern trading-vehicles offer relatively
and winter sports centre Garmisch- Department of north-eastern France, near the
Partenkirchen in the foothills of the border with Belgium.
Bavarian Alps.

184

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• RIGHT
In Bavaria, German Railways No. 614-012
pictured about to leave Hersbruck and head
south for Nuremberg in 1985. These sets have
self-tilting suspensions.

GERMAN FEDERAL
RAILWAYS (DBAG)

CLASS 614

Date 1971

Builder Orenstein &
Koppel/Uerdingen

Client DB

Gauge 1,435 mm

Class 614 three-car set

Bower unit One MAN diesel-
engine in each power-
car, driving all wheels
on one bogie via
hvdraulic transmission

Weight in 12 3 tonnes total
working order (all three cars)

Rating 670 kW

Maximum 140 kph
service speed

little resistance, so speeds can be progress to be made to a further class • ABOVE
relatively High, an important factor where having suspension of Italy’s Pendolino Coachwork made by Budd of USA seems
the bus is the potential rival for traffic. type, with a maximum authorized speed of popular with Portuguese Railways for its
160 kph. Their value has been particularly DMUs. These sets dating from 1989 work
• UNITS Of TWO OR MORE CARS appreciated on lines such as the Bavarian Rapidos - expresses stopping at main stations
The duties of units of two or more cars one from Nuremberg to Hof, which — as well as local trains. One curves away from
can range from branch-line work through suffers from stretches of frequent the railway junction of Tunes, Algarve, in 1996.
local passenger to semifast and, in some curvature. There, tilting trains can be
cases, high-speed intercity services. permitted higher speeds than trains with • BELOW
conventional suspension. Austrian Federal Railways (OBB) have
At the lower end of the speed-and- revolutionized speed and comfort on lesser-
capacity scale are two-car sets in which used lines with modern Class 5047 railcars
only one vehicle is powered. At the built from 1987 onward. Passenger-loads have
other end of the scale are sets with two risen as a result. No. 5047-028 a backdrop of
power-cars between which run one or mountains at Reutte-im-Tirol in 1994.
more trailers.

These units are usually used on
standard-gauge lines but also run with
medium-distance semifast traffic on local
and branch-line services. Recent develop¬
ments in Germany with two-car tilting
sets were sufficiently successful for

185

TH E 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

European

EMU

The electric multiple unit (EMU) dates • ABOVE use of EMUs. Few lines are not
back to the turn of the century. In its In contrast with the angular design of recent electrified and the proximity of
simplest form, d.c. motors were years, this Austrian Federal Railways two-car towns and villages in this densely
controlled by robust mechanical tap EMU epitomized the flowing lines adopted by populated land calls for trains with high-
changers made for relatively low several European countries from the 1950s. capacity seating and good acceleration
maintenance costs, which balanced the No. 4030.309, one of a batch built by and braking.
high cost of line power supply. A bonus Simmering-Graz-Pauker between 1956-9, is
was that units could be coupled pictured about to leave St Margrethen, In 1975, the Netherlands railways
electrically and driven by one person. Switzerland, for a cross-border run into coined the term “Sprinter” for a two-car
The main attraction, however, was Austria’s Vorarlberg Province, to Bregenz on unit. Two- and three-car variants soon
probably that turnround times at Lake Constance in 1994. followed. The name was quickly copied
terminuses were significantly cut because by British Rail. In Belgium and around
no locomotive change was required. • BELOW the big cities of France, Germany and
These units, readily strengthened by adding Italy the EMU is important. The Swiss
Operators of underground railways trailers, set a standard for the modern Federal Railway briefly flirted with EMUs
and metros found the system attractive thyristor-controlled EMU able to handle in the 1920s, some of which are still used
not least because, in the restricted suburban and regional serv ices equally well. on departmental duties, but moved from
environment, a d.c. electric supply They are used throughout Switzerland’s locomotive haulage of short-distance
could be provided relatively cheaply by Federal railway network. Similar versions have trains to sophisticated EMUs from the
third rail. been bought by private railways. A unit is mid-1950s. The latest units can be
pictured arriving at Lausanne’s main station in formed of two power-cars with up to
This simple system saw few dramatic 1993. A French Train Grande Vitesse (TGV) - a three intermediate trailers and are
changes until the 1950s when the high-speed train - and a former Swiss TEE unit termed Neue Pendel Zug (NPZ). Variants
development of electronics and hi-tech now in grey livery are present. can be seen on the private railways
engineering transformed the scene in where, in many instances, they form the
nearly every aspect of EMU design and backbone of the fleets. Thyristor control
construction.
J
• THE MODERN EMU - LOCAL AND
INTERMEDIATE TRAFFIC is well established following the usual
In mainland Europe, the Netherlands can difficulties experienced in many
probably claim the most concentrated countries with development models.
Reliability7 is now7 such that many of the
numerous metre-gauge systems operate
power-cars with similar technology

Austria boasts a similar and sizeable
class of attractive three-car sets built
between 1978 and 1987 for suburban
and middle-distance work.

186

THE 1950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

NEUE PENDEL ZUG
(NPZ) - SWISS
FEDERAL R A ILWAYS

Date Four prototypes, 1984.
Production, 1987-90
• THE MODERN EMU - EXPRESS
Builders Mechanical: Flug und SERVICES
Fahrzeugwerke AG, Few genuine EMUs have been designed
Altenrhein, Switzerland; specifically for long-distance express- • ABOVE
Schweizerische services, but in 1965 Austria Federal The Netherlands has long gone its own way
Locomotiv und Railways introduced a class of six-car sets with design. To some, Plan ZO/Z1 (ICM 1/2)
Maschinenfabrik with a permitted speed of 150 kph. All “Koploper” three-car units are ugly. However,
(SLM), Winterthur, included a dining-car for some of the they are practical: the door beneath the
Switzerland; Schindler most prestigious services, including the driver’s raised cab enables passengers to have
Waggon AG, Pratteln, run between Zurich in Switzerland and unobstructed gangway-access to all vehicles.
near Basel (Basle), Vienna. No longer in the forefront of
Switzerland express travel, they have been refurbished
Electrical: A.G. Brown- and are usefully employed on expresses
Boveri & Cie, Baden, over the Semmering Pass.
Baden-Wurttemberg,
Germany

Gauge 1,435 mm

Class RBDe4/4 (now Class
532)

Axle All four axles driven
arrangement on each power-car

Catenary voltage a.c. 15 kV, 16.7 Hz

Weight in 70 tonnes (including

working order driving-trailer)

One hour rating 1,650 kW (about
2,212 hp)

Maximum 140 kph
service speed

• ABOVE RIGHT
The rounded outline of the 1950s is carried
through in this four-car EMU of Trafik AB
Grangesberg-Oxelosund Jarnvag, a Swedish
private railway operating west of Stockholm.
It is standing at Katrineholm in 1981. The X20
Class was built in 1956-7. It was ahead of its
time, because the power-car is in the train
rather than being a motored driving-vehicle.

• RIGHT
The Austrian 4020 Class EMU is similar in
appearance to the Swiss NPZ but differs in
technology. Between 1978-87, 120 units were
built. They have proved most successful in
S-Bahn and medium-distance work alike and
were built by Simmering-Graz-Pauker, with
electrical parts by Brown-Boveri, Elin and
Siemens. Four traction motors produce 1,200
kW, about 1,608 hp, for each three-car unit, to
permit a 120-kph service speed. No. 4020-116
sits beneath mountains at St Anton in 1990.

187

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

European Diesel - • BELOW
Main-line Diesel locomotive No. 232-231 stands, in 1992, at Brandenburg, former
residence of Prussia’s rulers, now in Lower Saxony, on a double-deck
shuttle train to Potsdam. Brandenburg and Potsdam are respectively
60 km (37 miles) and 27 km (17 miles) south-west of Berlin.

Main-line diesels began to become robust and easy to maintain. Proponents widespread use. It originated at the
prominent in the 1950s as steam started ol hydraulic transmission, however, claim October Revolution Locomotive Works
to decline. Some countries had seen at less precise control and lower efficiency. in Lugansk (Voroshilovgrad, 1939—91),
first hand diesels operated by the Ukraine, part of the former USSR. A
American Army just after World War II. The 5 100 Class Co-Co of Belgium’s batch of Co-Co locomotives, now' Class
The first large diesels were modelled on national railways, the Societe Nationale 230, was built in 1970 for what was then
American lines. In some cases, virtual des Chemins de Fer Beiges (SNCB), is the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) of East
copies were made under licence or using powered by an engine producing 1,580 Germany. Another batch, Class 231,
imported components. One look at a kW (about 2,1 18 hp) at 650 rpm built by arrived in 1972—73. A final batch of 709
large Belgian diesel shows from whence Cockerill/Baldwin and has a 120-kph locomotives w'as delivered between
came the inspiration. Other examples service speed. Germany, however, is 1973—82. With a massive diesel engine
were in Scandinavia where the Nohab where one of the most popular and delivering 2,950 hp and a 120 kph top
Company ol Trollhattan, Sweden, set a sturdy classes ol diesel-electrics is in
stvle that, externally at least, showed a
transatlantic influence, which spread even
to countries in the then Eastern Bloc.

The diesel’s field of operation was
almost universal for freight-trains. Some
classes are geared specifically for this
work. In passenger service, they tended
to work on secondary lines or main lines
that could not justify electrification costs.
The locomotives can be classified by
transmission type.

• ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION
Electrical transmission is the more
popular. A diesel-engine drives a
generator to power electric-traction
motors. The system is relatively simple,

• ABOVE • ABOVE
This diesel-electric of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s railways, the The Austrian Federal Railways (OBB) Class 2043 and similar Class 2143
Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois (CFL), was built are, at 1,100 kW or 1,475 hp, of modest power by European standards.
by Brissonneau & Lotz, of Aytre, in 1958. In 1995, standing at Yet they are the most powerful locomotives in Austria and find work on
Esch/Alzette, in Luxembourg, at the border with France, it shows clear several non-electrified secondary' lines.
signs of French origin. Its duties include heavy trip-freights in
Luxembourg’s industrial south.

188

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

DEUTSCHE
REICHSBAHN CLASS
I 32

Date 1973

Builder October Revolution
Locomotive Works,
Voroshilovgrad
(Lugansk), USSR

Gauge 1,435 mm

Class 1 32 (now 232 on
DBAG, unified German
railways)

Axle Co-Co its large diesels, hydraulic transmission producing 3,000 hp and a 140 kph top
arrangement made by Voith, of Heindenheim, speed. Their weight in working order is
Brenz. This works like automatic 78.5 tonnes, compared with the Class
Weight in 123 tonnes gearboxes in cars. Between 1968—79, 234’s 123 tonnes.
working order four classes of Bo-Bo machines were
built, culminating in Class 217. Of this, Austrian Federal Railways (OBB) also
Rating 2,200 kw there are two types. One is fitted with favours Voith transmission in its relatively
(appox 2950 hp) the Pielstick 16 PA 4V 200 engine small 1,47 5 hp machines whose work is
decreasing as lines are electrified.
Maximum 120 kph
service speed

speed, they proved ideal for passenger • ABOVE
and freight use. German Federal
Railways (DBAG)
With the reunification of Germany in Class 218 is the last
1990, their diagrams gradually spread in a long line of
across the country with favourable locomotives of
comment from drivers of the Deutsche similar appearance,
Bundesbahn (DB), operating in what was 500 being built in
the former West Germany. An uprated 1968-79. The most
version, Class 2 34, has a 140 kph top powerful of these
speed. Many of the locomotives are being Bo-Bo diesel-
re-engined and appear to have a long hydraulics is rated at
life ahead. 2,061 kW, about
3,000 hp. Nos.
Diesel-electrics have great importance 218.905 and 908,
to smaller nations where heavy traffic rebuilds from Class
between major sites of population and
commerce is offset by the need, on social 2 10, are pictured at
if not economic grounds, to provide
services over lightly laid secondary routes. Brunswick, Lower
An example is Portugal whose machines Saxony, in 1991.
range from 1 17 tonne Co-Cos rated at
nearly 3,000 hp to modest 64 tonne Bo- • RIGHT
Bos producing about 1,300 hp. The unmistakable
French lineage of
• HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION this Portuguese
The Deutsche Bundesbahn, now German Railways Class 2601
Federal Railways (DBAG), favoured, for stands out in 1996
as a diesel-electric
Bo-Bo built by
Alsthom passes
Santa Clara, in Beira
Litoral Province,
south-west of
Coimbra, Portugal’s
former capital.

189

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

European Main-line Electrics

World War II left mainland Europe’s
railways heavily damaged. Many admini¬
strations could see that electrification was
the way forward but a neutral country,
Switzerland, led the way.

• SWITZERLAND TURNS TO
HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER
Switzerland has no natural resources for
power apart from abundant water. In the
war, coal for steam-engines was
practically unobtainable, so engineers

turned to the source already harnessed motors driving all four axles. Current at
hydroelectric power (HEP). The country IS ky 16/4 Hz from overhead-line
had used electric locomotives and railcars equipment enabled the locomotive to
for many years but there was now a need operate at an hourly rating of 3,238 kW
for powerful, relatively fast mixed-traffic
machines with a high power weight ratio • UNIFIED GERMAN SYSTEM
and good adhesion. This pointed to West Germany’s large, efficient fleet of
providing motors on all axles. steam locomotives operated into the
1970s on main-line duties but here, too,
In 1944 it was the Bern-Loetschberg- Bo-Bo locomotives of similar dimensions
Simplon (BLS) railway that set the trend. to the BLS machine were introduced,
It did so with a small class of eight Bo-Bo Class 110 in 1956 for mixed-traffic work
locomotives weighing only 80 tonnes, and Class 140 in 1957 mainly for freight
having four, fully suspended, single-phase

• ABOVE
SNCF Class BB2600 dual-voltage “Sybic”
26053 heads an express-train.

• TOP RIGHT
A Deutsche Bundesbahn Class 120 is waiting
to leave Munich Main Railway Station,
Bavaria, in 1989 at the head of a train of
Netherlands Railways double-deck coaches
then on trial. A prototype batch of five of these
advanced-design locomotives with three-phase
motors entered revenue service in 1979. The
production batch did not come on stream
until 1987. These 60 machines have a one-hour
rating of 6,300 kW, about 8,445 hp, and a
maximum service speed of 200 kph.

• RIGHT
In 1995, a direct descendant of the trend¬
setting Bern-Loetschberg-Simplon (BLS)
railway Bo-Bo of 1944 stands at Interlaken
West Station at the head of the Thunersee
from Berlin. It is one of a class of 35. With an
hourly rating of 4,990 kW, about 6,690 hp, it
has a maximum service speed of 140 kph.

190

THE 950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• LEFT
Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) 11 081-6 heads
north out of historic Boppard, in the Rhine
Valley south of Koblenz. This class of 227
locomotives is an improved version of the
prolific Class 110.

but often seen on passenger-trains. • FRANCE USES DUAL VOLTAGE batches established a development line,
Several hundred of these and variants are In France, development after the war was which might be said to lead to the
working in western Germany. In eastern different, not least because the various impressive BB26000 Class, the Sybic, an
Germany, a class was developed using constituents of the system that had finally acronym for “Systeme Bi-courant”. These
thyristor control. This went into batch- embraced all the main railways in 1938, dual-voltage machines operate either on
production in 1982, proving so the Societe Nationale des Chemins de 1500 V d.c. or 25 kV single-phase a.c.
successful that it is widely used across Fer Frangais (SNCF), had, where They went into service in 1988 and
the unified German system — the DBAG electrification had been tried, used
— as Class 143. The locos weigh 82 noncompatible traction current. No J
tonnes and have a one-hour rating classes of locomotive had been made in
of 3,720 kW large numbers although several small gradually proved themselves. They are
so successful that their numbers are
increasing rapidly towards a projected
target of more than 300 units. They
weigh 91 tonnes, have a rating of 6,400
kW and are authorized to travel at
200 kph.

France’s Trains Grande Vitesse (TGVs)
— high-speed multiple unit trains — reach
high speeds. The SNCF holds an official
electric-traction record for on 28 March
1955 Co-Co, 1,500 V d.c. locomotive
CC 7107 achieved 330.9 kph
(205.6 mph) with a 100-tonne load.
Next day, this record was equalled by Bo-
Bo 9004 with an 81-tonne train.

• RIGHT
Until 1988, the
French National
Railways (SNCF) CC
6500 Class of 1500 V
d.c. locomotive was
its most powerful
along with dual¬
voltage subclass
CC 21000. They are
fitted with mono-
motor-bogies,
enabling the gear
ratio to be changed
easily. At high-speed
setting, maximum
speed is 200 kph.
They are rated at
5,900 kW, just more
than 7,900 hp.
CC 6563, in low-gear
mode is pictured
near the large
marshalling yards at
Villeneuve-St-
Georges, Paris, in
1996.

191

the 1950S TO THE PRES NT DAY

• LETT
The need to produce a
modern main-line electric
locomotive to cope not only
with express-traffic on level
ground but also with heavy
gradients in Austria’s
mountainous regions, led
Austrian Federal Railways
(OBB) to buy a batch of ten
thyristor-controlled
locomotives of the Swedish
Railways Class Rc2 in 1971.
Class 1044 was quickly
developed bv the railway
authorities and introduced
into service in 1974.
No. 1044-092, pictured at
Jenbach, in Tirol, east of
Innsbruck, is one of the batch
with a 160-kph service speed
and a one-hour rating of
5,300 kW, just more than
7,100 hp. A later version has a

200 kph service maximum.

One machine is approved for

220 kph.

• AUSTRIAN AND HUNGARIAN to an earlier maid of all work, Class world-renowned locomotive works, in
DESIGNS 1042, but also to the Swedish Rc2. which Hunslet of Britain has a financial
Austria, so often challenging in steam interest, is keeping pace with modern
design with the Golsdorf locomotives and Hungary, too, has the numerous Class locomotive technology.
the Giesl ejector, has a most successful V43. This leans on German technology,
Bo-Bo Class 1044 that owes something in that the first small batch was built by • SWITZERLAND’S LOK LEADS FIELD
Krupp, of Essen, Germany. Ganz, a Switzerland, however, is again leading the
field with a very “hi-tech” design
• RIGHT developed by the Swiss Locomotive and
The Netherlands, a Machine Works (SLM) of Winterthur.
relatively small Known as Lok 2000, the technological
country, has an advances are so many that a small book
extensive railway would be needed to do it justice. A
network, part of notable feature is its quietness when
which is in the running. Swiss Federal Railways
European inter¬ Schweizerische Bundesbahnen
national system. Class (SBB/CFF/FFS) know it as Class Re 460.
1600 and the almost The BLS has a variant — and the most
identical Class 1700 powerful version — Class 465. A broad-
are built by Alsthom, gauge variant is in service on Finland’s
France, based on the railway system. Examples have run trials
French National in other countries.
Railways (SNCF)
Class BB 7200. The The machines entered service on the
Class 1600s entered federal railways in 1991, generally per¬
service in 1981, the forming well. Teething troubles, however,
1700s in 1990. slowed the progress of their introduction
Capable of 200 kph, into general service. With problems
they are restricted to solved, the class of 1 19 locomotives is
160 kph. Here, in operating widely throughout the country.
1989, No. 1643 has
just brought an
express-train into the
border town of
Maastricht in
Limburg Province.

192

THF ] <> 5 ft S O THE PRESENT DAT

LO K 2 000 • RIGHT
-- ■ Lok 2000 No. 460
015-1 of Swiss
Date 1992 Federal Railways
waits at Lausanne in
Builders Mechanical: Swiss Vaud Canton in
Locomotive & 1993 after bringing
Machine Works (SLM), in an express-train
Winterthur, from Basel.
Switzerland
Electrical: ABB
Transportation
Systems, Baden,
Zurich, Switzerland

Client Swiss Federal Railways

Gauge 1,435 mm

Class Re460

Axle Bo-Bo • FEET
arrangement Belgium has a dense netw ork of lines and
demands a powerful mixed-traffic locomotive
Catenary 15 kV able to handle anything from light “push-and-
voltage pull” trains, through freights to expresses. The
Class 21, introduced in 1984, comprises 60
Length over 18,500 mm machines rated at 3,310 kW, about 4,437 hp,
buffers with a 160-kph maximum service speed. They
were built in Belgium by La Brugeoise et
Weight in 84 tonnes Nivelles SA and are almost identical to the
working order chopper-controlled more powerful Class 27.
No. 2157 is pictured in 1992 leaving Ghent
Number oj Four Sint Pieters Station in the East Flanders
provincial capital of Ghent on its way to the
traction motors depot at Dendermonde, East Flanders.

Rating 1,100 lew (8180 hp)

Maximum 230 kph
service speed

• RIGHT
Italy has long produced striking and seemingly
unconventional designs of locomotives. In the
Class 656 Bo-Bo-Bo with its articulated body,
F.S. Italia has one of the most successful
designs of recent years. It is based on well-
tried technology for it derives from the 636
Class dating back to 1 940. Provided speeds
above 1 50 kph are not required, these loco¬
motives handle expresses almost anywhere in
Italy. They first entered service in 1975. By
1989, 608 had been built. Here, No. E 656-469
waits to take over a train at Domodossola, in
Novara Province of the Piedmont Comparti-
mento, in 1996.

19i

H 95OS TO THE PRESENT DAY

European Local Passenger —
Locomotive-hauled

Until the late 1960s, it was possible to SWISS FEDERAL
enjoy the sights and sounds of steam- RAILWAYS CLASS 450
hauled local passenger-trains soon to be
displaced by electric and diesel traction. Date 1989
Because of the increased use of multiple
units (MUs) with their favourable Builders Mechanical: Swiss
weight-per-person ratio and flexibility, Locomotive & Machine
many local services lost the familiar Works (SLM),
locomotive at the train’s head. Switzerland
Electrical: ASEA Brown
The locomotive remains in use on Boveri
such services for two main reasons.
Firstly, and more obvious, certain lines Client Swiss Federal Railways
have a mixture of relatively light
passenger- and freight-traffic so that both Gauge 1,435 mm
functions can be fulfilled by a locomotive.
Class 450

Axle Bo-Bo
arrangement

Catenary a.c. 15 kV, 16.7 Hz
voltage
• PUSH-AND PUll” TRAINS
Second, in heavy passenger-traffic areas, Weight in 78 tonnes
displacement of locomotives by MUs, working order (locomotive only)
which often hauled trains of obsolescent
coaches, meant that relatively modern • ABOVE Rating One hour, 3,200 kW
machines would either have to be (about 4,290 hp)
scrapped or sold at bargain prices. One Extensive improvements are being made to the
solution was to select a class of line as German Railways (DBAG) Class 143 Maximum 130 kph
228-5 runs into Belzig-bei-Potsdam, south¬ sendee speed
west of Berlin, with a rake of double-deck
coaches in 1992.

• LEFT
Swiss Federal
Railways (SBB)
No. 450 067-4 on
S-Bahn service at
Zurich Main Station
in 1994.

194

THE I950S TO THE PRESENT DAY

• LETT
The striking S-Bahn livery suits this German
Federal Railways (DBAG) Class 218 as it sits
beneath the impressive root of Cologne Main
Station in North-Rhine Westphalia in 1986.

displaced locomotives. It was common
practice on the former Deutche
Reichsbahn to use electric locomotives
where appropriate, and diesels elsewhere,
coupled to rakes of double-deck coaches.

locomotives with adequate power and Both diesel and electric locomotives • MODERN SWISS DESIGNS
good acceleration, refurbish them, fit are fitted for “push-and-pull” working.
remote-control equipment so they could Indeed, this is now a feature of express In Switzerland, in 1989, purpose-built
be driven from a driving-trailer and services, too. Another advantage is that locomotive Class Re450 was matched to
match them to a set of high-capacity replacement is simple, if the locomotive three double-deck coaches, one of which
refurbished coaches. After receiving a requires maintenance. was a driving-trailer. Initially, they
colour scheme that matched with or operated in the environs of the
blended into the livery of the MU fleet, A good example of such working can Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich. As the
the “new” sets were in business. Because be found in Germany’s industrial Ruhr S-Bahn network is extended, however,
they are driven by one person and from and around Cologne in North-Rhine they can be found far from the citv.
either end without uncoupling the Westphalia. However, the reason the local Multiple-unit working is common, and it
locomotive, they can take their place in “push-and-pull” working was adopted in is not unusual to see three sets coupled
intensive local services. other areas and countries was not together. The locomotives were the first
because a use had to be found for in a new era of rail technology in
electrical, mechanical and body design.
They were built by the Swiss Locomotive
and Machine Works (SLM) and operate
on 1 5 kV 1673 Hz supply. Four,
three-phase, nose-suspended motors
produce nearly 4,300 hp for a weight of
only 78 tonnes.

• ABOVE • ABOVE
Diesel-electric Co-Co No. 5105 of Belgian National Railways (SNCB) French-built steeple-cab Bo-Bo electric No. 3618 of Luxembourg
rolls into Sint Pieters Station, Ghent, East Flanders, with a commuter Railways, the Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois
train in 1992. (CFL), runs into Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg’s second city, in the south of
the country, in 1995.

195

T II E 1950S O II I: P RESEN I> A Y

European Light Rail and Metro

Mainland Europe had few truly light-rail the one in Moscow, opened in 1933. THE “EUROTRAM” IN
systems in the early 1950s, apart from Similar rolling stock to that in Moscow STRASBOURG
street tramways. As tor electrified can be seen in Budapest.
metros, the most famous must surely be Date (year 1994
the Paris chemin defer metropolitain. The • LIGHT RAIL into service)
Metro, opened in 1900 — although one There were many tramway systems
of the oldest in the world in Budapest, in Europe alter World War II, some of Builder ABB Transportation,
Hungary, was opened on 23 May 1896. them of an interurban nature. In the York, England
Probably the most ornate in the world is combatant countries, most were
Client Compagnei des
• LEFT Transports,
Strasbourgeois,
In complete contrast Strasbourg
to the Strasbourg
tram, delightful Gauge 1,436 mm
reminders of a past,
more ornate period Class Eurotram
can be found in
small trams still Axle Variable
tackling the narrow arrangement
streets and hills of
the old city in Catenary voltage 750 volt cl.c. Power is
Lisbon, the fed to traction-inverters
Portuguese capital. in the car

Maximum rating 38 kW (50 hp)
per motor

Speed 2 1 kph

• LEFT

This tram is
operating on an
entirely new
system in
Strasbourg,
France, the first
1 2.65 km
(8 miles) of
double-track
having been
officially opened
on 26 November
1994. It runs on
reserved track,
in-tunnel or, as
in this 1996
picture, in
pedestrianized
streets.

196