RSS Fetcher Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Evening all! As I felt like my H0 scale loco fleet was decidedly lacking in Austrian motive power, I figure it would have been hard to completely skip one of the most iconic post-war electric locomotives to have come from Austria. This, of course, would be the famous class 1044 family – which by now has pretty much completely been upgraded and redesignated as class 1144. So, as usual, please allow me to first provide you with some input as to the background and specifications of this class! In 1971 and 1972 the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) had procured ten class 1043 electric locomotives which were a derivative from the Swedish class Rc 2, built by ASEA and famous for having been the first mass-produced locomotives to be fitted with thyristor-based traction inverters. While ÖBB generally appreciated these locos, there but also were a couple of reasons why no additional orders would be made. Most prominently, the 1043 had a top speed of only 135 kph (84 mph) which was considered insufficient for planned service improvements in the future. In addition, ASEA were unable to offer an evolved version of the 1043 with both higher top speed of 160 kph (100 mph) and high tractive effort at the same time, which would have been equally well suited for lowland express passenger services as well as freight workings across the Alps. At the same time, the Austrian locomotive builders had unveiled a suggestion for a domestically built electric locomotive which they promised would be able to fulfil ÖBB's requirements. For this loco, they were drawing on experience gained from evaluation trials with a Swiss BLS class Re 4/4 locomotive fitted with experimental thyristor controls, as well as the class Ge 4/4'' narrow gauge locomotives procured by Rhätische Bahn, which were also fitted with thyristor controls. Eventually, ÖBB ordered two prototypes of the suggested new design which was to effectively merge the best aspects of the two Swiss locomotives from which it was inspired. They were to be capable of a top speed of 160 kph as well as propelling a 650 tonnes train on a 2.5% gradient at line speed, and keeping a 480 tonnes train at speed on the 3.14% gradient of the West Arlberg Railway. Calculations showed the new locomotives would need to have a power output of 5,400 kW. As was the case with most other postwar Austrian locomotives, they were to be built by a consortium consisting of BBC, ELIN and Siemens for the electric part as well as Simmering Graz Pauker (SGP) for the mechanical part. The first prototype, 1044.01 was delivered in July 1974 and allocated to the Vienna South depot, there to commence trials both on scheduled freight trains as well as test trains. The results from these initial trials were satisfactory, leading to the locomotive being cleared for regular traffic and diagrammed onto passenger express trains between Vienna and Villach. February 1975 then saw the delivery of the second prototype, 1044.02, after which by both locomotives were reallocated to the Vienna West depot, where they were then put in service mainly working express trains to Salzburg and Passau. During that phase, no major deficiencies were found, so that in early 1976, ÖBB then proceeded to order an initial production batch of 24 additional locomotives. Construction began in 1977, with two locomotives per month being delivered beginning by the end of the year. As ÖBB were facing a serious shortage of motive power at that time, a second order of 48 1044s was quickly placed. As production continued, newly delivered 1044s were allocated to the Vienna West and South depots, as well as Salzburg and Innsbruck, continuing to work both passenger and freight services from there. A short time later, several 1044s were disabled by fractured wheel tyres, the cause of which but could be quickly found and fixed. However, the heavy winters of 1979/80 and 1980/81 soon highlighted another design flaw not previously recognised, as the ventilation was found to easily ingest snow and water, which caused damage to the electrical systems. Additional modifications were thus introduced, making the locos fully winter-proof and reliable. In 1987, another follow-up order was placed, followed by several others, meaning that the last 1044 was built only in 1995. Naturally, the long procurement period meant that several distinctive variants of this class came into being, incorporating a variety of improvements, which can be tied to the following specific locomotives: 1044.25 was the first locomotive to be built with modifications around the chassis, intended to improve riding qualities, 1044.50 was the first to be built with Monobloc wheels, 1044.71 was the first loco with modified ventilation, 1044.98 had additional modifications to the ventilation and modified bufferbeams, 1044.201 was the first to be fitted with bogie yaw dampers and inter-bogie couplings, 1044.216 was the first to be equipped with Wire Train Bus command circuits, 1044.255 was the first to be fitted with an Indusi I 80 train protection and LZB cab signalling suite, as well as ECP brake controls and emergency brake override (Notbremsüberbrückung, NBÜ). An interesting experimental modification had 1044.01 transformed into a prototype high speed locomotive in 1986, and redesignated as 1044.501. Most notably, it was fitted with AEG-designed Geaflex drivetrains, 22 mm armoured glass windscreens for added protection against impacting objects at high speeds, as well as cyclonic air filters and dehumidifiers in the ventilation circuits. As such, 1044.501 clocked 241.25 kph (150 mph) during trials, but frequently suffered from drivetrain damage and was refitted with standard bogies in 1996. She was retired in 2001 and donated to the Strasshof Railway Museum. The 1144 upgrade Beginning in 2002, all locomotives from 1044.200 onwards were fitted with an improved MU and push-pull control suite, and newly designated as class 1144. In addition, 1144.200 through 219 were fitted with radio MU controls for distributed traction setups, which but eventually turned out not to be frequently used in scheduled service and were not fitted to any additional 1144s. In addition, all remaining non-rebuilt 1044s are also being upgraded to 1144 standard since April 2009. In addition to the MU and push-pull control suite, these locomotives are also fitted with GSM-R compatible radios, PZB 90 train protection software, and LED headlight clusters. They are intended to replace the older class 1042 and 1142 electrics eventually. Also, a number of 1044s were totalled in various accidents over the years. The first to suffer this fate was 1044.38 in 1980, followed by 1044.47 in 1995 and 1044.241 in 1993. In addition, 1044.51 was rebuilt after a serious accident, and redesignated as 1044.200 in the process. Other locomotives rebuilt with newly built bodies, while using as much of the original equipment as possible, were 1044.23 and 96, while 1044.92 could be rebuilt without requiring a new body. Finally, 1044.117, which had been totalled after running into a rockfall in 1986, was replaced by a newly built locomotive with the same number. All in all, 217 locomotives were built, of which 210 remain in service. 1044.40 has since been designated as the heritage piece of this class, having been given back its original blood orange livery and old-style running number. Technical description The bogie frames are welded with two longitudinal beams and two transversal beams at the outer ends, plus one in the centre, which also serves to carry the traction motor attachments and traction bar pivots, as well as the secondary suspension spring holders on the outside. There are four secondary springs per bogie which also absorb lateral movements between the frame and the bogies. Primary suspension is also provided by helical springs, located between the axleboxes and the frame. The traction bar pivots are located 190 mm above the rail heads. In addition, an inter-bogie coupling allows the bogies to steer each other through curves. The drivetrain is a BBC-designed flexible ring drive with rubber suspension elements and helical gears with a ratio of 35:107, or 38:106 from 1044.201 onwards. Flange greasers are provided – these being either Rebs or Sécheron types – as are sanding units. The running frame is a bridge design consisting of two longitudinal and five transversal beams – two of these forming the bufferbeams, two being located above the bogie centres, and one in the middle of the frame, which also carries the transformer. Containers for batteries and battery charger are hung underneath the frame, while buffers and UIC standard couplers are attached to the bufferbeams. 1044.01 through .74 were fitted with rubber-dampened round buffers with crumple elements for crash protection; 1044.75 through 98 have round buffers with conical springs and friction dampening; 1044.99 through 126 as well as 201 through 215 have round buffers with plastic springs; and all remaining locomotives were fitted with hydraulically dampened rectangular buffers. The body is self-supporting and welded to the frame, with the lower side walls being corrugated for added stability, and strengthening beams being located behind the body fronts for crash protection. The doors open into the engine room rather than the cabs themselves. The transformer and associated inductor are located in the centre of the engine room, with the traction inverters, motor blowers 1 and 2, auxiliary inverter and electronics rack being placed between it and Cab 1. Meanwhile, the braking rheostats are located between the transformer and Cab 2, as are motor blowers 3 and 4, the compressor, air reservoir and additional equipment racks. All internal installations are designed to be modular to allow for easy removal through the roof. The roof itself consists of six independently removable sections and is hollow to serve as a settling chamber for the cooling air. Ventilation grilles both for the traction motor and engine room blowers are located along the lateral edges of the roof, showing various different designs depending on the production batch. All in all, the following types of grilles can be found on the 1044s and 1144s: 1044.01 through 70 have flush grilles; however, 1044.20, 26, 33, 49 and 70 were temporarily fitted with enlarged, sloping grilles in the outer roof modules for evaluation purposes 1044.71 through 95 and 97 have the same sloping grilles over the entire length of the roof 1044.98 through 126 also have full length sloping grilles, but with two different types of mesh in the outer and inner roof modules respectively 1044.200 through 290 were also fitted with full length sloping grilles, with vertically slotted grilles in the outer modules. As previously mentioned, 1044.96 was rebuilt with a 1044.2 series body after her accident, and thus has the same grilles as this later batch. The 1044's braking gear comprises an indirect pneumatic brake for the locomotive and the train, as well as a direct brake valve for shunting. The locomotive brake features automatic speed range adjustment, is blended with the electrodynamic brake, and also has an anti-slip mode. There also is a handbrake, acting only on Bogie 2, or, more precisely, the left-hand wheels on wheelsets 3 and 4. The brake valves are Oerlikon FV 45 types, or FV 46 from 1044.255 onwards; 1044.01 was fitted with a FV 4a-03 type, however. Auxiliary equipment comprises the four traction motor blowers, laid out as axial ventilators, as well as another two blowers for the heat exchangers within the oil-based transformer and inverter cooling circuit, and one locomotive room blower. On the electrical side, the rooftop equipment comprises one pair of single arm pantographs which are ÖBB VI types with spring-loaded retraction mechanism on locomotives 1044.01 through 126 as well as 201 through 215; VII types on locomotives 216 through 244 which also feature the same spring-loaded retraction mechanism but where it is fitted to the base frame rather than the roof; and VIII types with base-mounted pneumatical mechanism on all remaining units. The circuit breaker is a BBC DBTF 20i200 air blast type. The transformer – built by ELIN – weighs in at 10.6 tonnes, has four traction taps providing 700 V each as well as one auxiliary tap with a 196 V output on locomotives 1044.01 and 02 and 206 V on all remaining locomotives; and one ETS tap with a 980 V output on 1044.01 and 02 or 990 V on all remaining locomotives. The transformer is oil-cooled, as are the inverters. The inverters consist of 48 thyristor modules per unit which are laid out for 2,500 V and 320 A and connected in six parallel setups of eight modules each, as well as 64 diodes for 2,500 V and 450 A, also connected in six parallel setups of eight. The traction motors are forcibly ventilated, eight-pole mixed phase motors with an external excitation proportion of 55% and undulatory current proportion of 40%. They have an one-hour output of 1,350 kW each, maximum speed of 2,050 rpm, and weigh in at 3,750 kg each. They can also operate in braking mode, the electrodynamic braking circuit as a whole being able to provide a continuous power output of 2,400 kW and 122 kN, and a peak power output of 4,000 kW. Initially, two inverter designs were proposed, which were tested on the prototypes 1044.01 and 02 – 1044.01 having an eight-step bridge control cycle and 1044.02 a simpler four-step cycle, the latter of which was eventually chosen for the production locomotives. Even so, trials revealed that large portions of both the Austrian and German 15 kV OHLE supply network had to be specially outfitted to handle the very large amount of reactive power caused by the new locomotives, which sometimes led to severe overhead voltage drops while starting up. On the other hand, electromagnetic interference from the 1044s was found to be well within acceptable limits and thus required no further modifications. Finally, there is a low voltage three phase AC network working on 440 V and a frequency range between 50 and 100 Hz which serves to supply the traction motor, inverter and transformer cooling circuits, using a 125 kVA three phase generator powered in turn by a 112 kW mixed phase motor, and a 24 V battery circuit supplying auxiliary circuits such as onboard lighting and cab instruments. The braking rheostat blower, however, is fed directly from the rheostats themselves whenever the electrodynamic brake is activated. Beginning with 1044.216, all locomotives were factory-fitted with MU controls, allowing to control two locomotives of the same type, or one 1044 and one 1014 respectively. Also, 1044.01 and 02 had originally been fitted with a more basic MU control package as well, which but was rarely used in everyday operation. However, when the ÖBB had their class 1042 locomotives refitted for push-pull operation from 1995 onwards, for which a new, more advanced control package, based on a Wire Train Bus, was designed and eventually declared to be ÖBB standard. Beginning in December 2001, all locomotives from 1044.200 onwards were scheduled to undergo a refit where this MU/push-pull package was to be installed, along with a passenger information package, turning these locomotives into what would be newly known as class 1144. As previously mentioned, all remaining non-refitted 1044s are now intended to be similarly outfitted. As of now, the 1044s and 1144s are allocated to the Linz, Villach, Bludenz, Innsbruck and Vienna West depots. The 1044 carried a variety of liveries over the years. Their original livery featured a mostly blood orange body with ivory roof and trim stripes, and black frame and chassis, with the black eventually being replaced by umber grey. In the late 80s, five locomotives were given the so-called “checkerboard” livery which used the same basic colours as the blood orange livery, but with a different arrangement involving a broad ivory trim stripe on the lower body sides and another ivory stripe vertically offset on the fronts. The windscreens, meanwhile, were surrounded by umber grey “goggles”. Finally, 1989 saw the introduction of what is called the „Valousek" design, with umber grey frame, chassis and roof, agate grey trim stripes around the lower part of the body, and the rest being painted traffic red. The agate grey was replaced by off white on locomotives 1044.241 through 255, and again by a light grey known as NCS 2000 on all remaining locomotives. There also were several special liveries, such as the famous promotional livery for the Euro which was applied to 1044.018 and revealed on 6 November 2000. Also, 1044.282 wore what was known as the “Confetti-TV” livery involving several characters from an Austrian cartoon show from 1998 till 2000. The principal technical data of this class are as follows: Length – 16.06 metres Width – 2.96 metres Height – 4.26 metres Wheel arrangement – Bo'Bo' Power output – 5,280 kW/7,081 hp Initial tractive effort – 327 kN Service weight – 84 tonnes Top speed – 160 kph So, let us now take a look at the model, which was the first of a series of newly tooled 1044/1144 models brought forth by Roco in 2011. It is marketed with catalogue no. 72422, representing 1144.248 – a late-production 1044 whose 1144 upgrade was completed on 16 March 2004. With Roco having been an Austrian producer originally, they were the first to have offered a H0 scale 1044 as early as 1980. This original model was produced in a huge number of varieties over the years and continues tobe popular with modellers with a soft spot for Austrian locomotives. However, I understand it does not have anything in common with the newly tooled model. In my impression, the 1144 has a markedly massive appearance, further enhanced by the cab faces being forward-slanted till just below the windscreens. As a late-production loco, 1144.248 is equipped with the large lateral ventilation grilles, often referred to by ÖBB staff as "ears." The model provides a rather good representation of the distinctive appearance of this class and is as detailed as you would expect from a contemporary H0 scale model in its price range. Like several other recently designed Roco models such as the DB class 218 diesel and SBB class Re 4/4II electric, it has photo-etched windscreen wipers, for which reason the model is packaged with a narrow strip of paper stuck between the windscreens and the wipers so as to prevent the latter from scratching the transparent parts. The 1144's distinctive frontside design has been represented just as faithfully. As you can see, the 1144 is one of those classes using the standard ÖBB lighting clusters with one large headlight lens and one smaller tail light lens. However, the tail light which used to be part of the upper cluster has been removed and blanked over on the former 1044.2s. Profile view of the driver's side of Cab 1, highlighting the 1144's distinctive outline. Note that the model carries the updated and expanded technical lettering according to UIC-TSI specifications. For ÖBB locos, this includes the locomotive type and country prefixes, "91" for mainline electric locomotives with top speed greater than 100 kph, and "81" for Austria. At this time, not all ÖBB classes carry the suffixes for "owner's country of origin" and "owner", which would have to be, "A-ÖBB." On class 1116 locomotives, I myself have but seen these codes set as prefixes, meaning the number in question could have read, "A-ÖBB 91 81 1116 xxx-y." Taking a similarly close look at the Cab 2 end, we can see the expanded country certification grid which is actually far too large for the countries where the 1144s have running rights. As mentioned further up, the class is certified only for Austria and Germany. Also note that the speed indication written out at the leftmost end of these grids actually refers to the maximum towing speed for the relevant loco, not the maximum speed it can reach under its own power! Also note how – similar to the setup on the class 1042/1142 electrics – the Indusi train protection transceivers are not attached to the bogies proper, but mounted below the battery containers between between the bogies. There also is the usual braking weights table, reading as follows: R+E160175 t R+E 135 t R 120 t P 70 t G 54 t Handbrakes: 17 t The 1144 is equipped w Furthermore, note how the 1144's rear view mirrors are only installed on the secondman's side of either cab. The top-down view reveals the electrical rooftop equipment, comprising the two VIII type single arm pantographs, and the circuit breaker, overvoltage arrester and line voltage sensor clustered together near the roof's centre. And to round off this article, I should like to link in a pair of Youtube videos which will also give you an idea why the 1044 and 1144 have acquired their nickname of "Alpine Hoover", or "Alpenstaubsauger"... Thank you for reading! View the full article Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.