Hey! How you doin'? - or: FLIRT on rails

[NGT6 1315]

Well, perhaps some of you will now have a clearer idea just what I meant to express with that cryptic statement about a piece of Continental rolling stock carrying an unlikely name in the Early Risers thread a couple of days ago .

 

Around dinnertime last night I received a notification that a package was waiting for me in the "Packstation" parcel booth about ten minutes by car from here - this being a shipment I had been expecting from Switzerland . To cut a long(ish) story short - after a lot of investigation I had been able to track down a H0 scale class RABe 521 EMU from Liliput - this being one of the first versions of that model to have been released. Wherever I looked, it had sold out - until Wemoba came to the rescue.

 

Well - first of all, let me give you a brief outline of this type of EMU. Since about the 1990s Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail, headquartered in Bussnang (canton Thurgau), has acquired considerable reputation with the design of several types of EMUs and DMUs which have since found their way into the inventories of a good number of European TOCs. The so-called GTW type, first delivered in 1997, is one of the better-known designs, being a lightweight, modular multiple unit available both with diesel-electric and full electric propulsion, and available in several variants differing in the number of passenger and propulsion modules, as well as body width. Several customers ordered a total of 489 units as per August 2009. This here is a 1st generation GTW 2/6 set owned by DB Regio - the "2/6" indicating two powered wheelsets out of a total of six. This image also shows the rather unusual layout of the GTW type, with a "propulsion container" between two or more passenger modules. However, there also are GTW 2/8 sets with one propulsion container and three passenger modules, or indeed 4/8 and 4/12 sets with two containers and three and four passenger modules respectively. The GTW is available in both standard and narrow gauge versions - some, however, having a markedly different outside appearance, such as this Linzer Lokalbahnen electric GTW from Austria. The current generation GTW sets, however, have a revised design, as seen on this Vinschgaubahn GTW 2/6, patterned after the FLIRT type which, basically, is a development from the GTW itself.

 

But anyway - the first FLIRT sets were delivered in 2004, and up until now a total of 547 of them has been sold, reaffirming Stadler's position as a prolific producer of modern multiple units. The FLIRT, however, did away with the propulsion container concept of the GTW - the powered bogies and related electric equipment now being located just behind the cabs in the end segments, which many see as an advantage as the heavy transformers and inverters thus serve to put a lot of weight on the powered wheelsets. In turn, the FLIRT was designed with Jacobs bogies, so as to easily allow sets with different numbers of segments. Up until now, FLIRT sets with anything from two to six modules are available. By the way, FLIRT is actually an acronym for "Flinker, leichter, innovativer Regional-Triebzug" or "swift, light, innovative regional multiple unit."

 

Unsurprisingly, the Swiss Federal Railways were the launching customer, ordering the following numbers:

 

• 43 class RABe 523 sets - this being a 15 kV AC version equipped for Switzerland only, used on the "Stadtbahn Zug" suburban network centred on the city of Zug and the RER network in the canton of Vaud;
• 30 class RABe 521 sets - these being 15 kV AC sets equipped for both Germany and Switzerland and used on the Regio-S-Bahn suburban network around Basle;
• 14 class RABe 522 sets - these having been planned as 15 and 25 kV dual voltage sets for use on the Basle suburban network for services into neighbouring France. However, as there were certification problems on the French network, those which had already been under construction were rebuilt into Switzerland-only sets.
• 19 class RABe 524 dual voltage 15 kV AC and 3 kV DC sets for cross-border services into Italy, operated by TILO, which is a joint venture of SBB and Trenitalia;
• and nine class RABe 526 15 kV AC sets capable of operation in both Switzerland and Germany - these being used on the so-called "seehas" services between Engen and Konstanz in the Lake Constance area. These were originally meant for private operator EuroTHURBO which originally operated in this area, but then withdrew and was merged into the German passenger branch of the SBB - called SBB GmbH.

Furthermore, the following operators ordered FLIRT sets:

 

• Schweizerische Südostbahn: eleven class RABe 526 units with four segments;
• Transports Régionaux Neuch??telois (Swiss TOC): three class RABe 527 units with four segments;
• MÃV (Hungarian state railways): 60 class 5341 units with four segments;
• cantus (German TOC): fourteen class 427 sets with three segments and six class 428 sets with four segments;
• Abellio (German TOC): nine class 427 sets with three segments and eight class 426.1 two segment units - the latter having only one powered bogie and a top speed of 140 kph;
• Westfalenbahn (German TOC): 14 three segment class 427 sets and five class 429 sets with five segments;
• DB Regio: five class 429 sets with five segments;
• Eurobahn (German TOC): 29 four segment class 428 and 14 five-segment class 429 sets;
• VIAS (German TOC): twelve four segment class 428 and seven class 427 three segment sets;
• Hessische Landesbahn (German TOC): six five segment class 429 and three class 427 three segment sets;
• SNTF (Algerian state railways): 64 class 541 four segment sets;
• Polish regions of Masovia and Silesia: fourteen four segment sets;
• Junakalusto (joint venture of the Finnish state railways and the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen): 32 class Sm 5 four segment sets, these of course being built for 1520 mm broad gauge and with the more generous Finnish loading gauge in mind;
• Sistemi Territoriali (Italian TOC): four class ETR 340 four segment sets;
• Ferrovie del Gargano (Italian TOC): three class ETR 330 three segment sets;
• Südtiroler Transportstrukturen (Italian TOC): four class ETR 155 four segment sets and four class ETR 170 six segment sets;
• Ferrotramviaria (Italian TOC): four class ETR 340 three segment sets. Interestingly, two of these are all 1st class.
• NSB (Norwegian state railways): 50 five segment units - these being of particular interest insofar as they are equipped with three powered bogies rather than two, and have a 200 kph top speed.

Been an awful lot of figures until now, no? But I have even more - just a couple of technical data on the RABe 521. This type is 74.26 metres long, 2.88 metres wide and 4.19 metres high, has a top speed of 160 kph and a maximum power output of 2,600 kW.

 

And now on to the images ...

 

 

 

Liliput chose unit 521 010 as the prototype for their model. As you can see, the model is quite long indeed - 85.3 cm, to be exact. I like this livery a lot - white, red and anthracite going together well.

 

 

 

The "A" end segment. All segments have two doors per side - however, the class 526 sets have only one per side on the end segments.

 

 

 

The "D" intermediate segment with the German pantograph towards the outer bogie...

 

 

...and the "C" intermediate segment with the Swiss pantograph. As you can see from the signs on the doors, both the "C" and "D" segments have bicycle and wheelchair spaces.

 

The "B" end segment with the 1st class area.

 

 

 

Depending on customer requirements, the FLIRT can be had both with and without auxiliary buffers. These, however, serve mainly as energy absorbers for accidents and to provide basic shunting capabilities for locomotives with no automatic couplers. I personally think they also do constitute an important piece of the FLIRT's overall appearance, which is why I always have the impression of FLIRT sets without buffers looking somewhat incomplete. Of course, the coupler types can also vary - SBB and (I think) all other Swiss operators having opted for Schwab FK-9-6 types, while German FLIRTs are equipped with Scharfenberg types which are not compatible with the Schwab type. The cabs, by the way, can also vary a lot between the different variants, owing to different instrumentation and other specific requirements in the respective countries. For example, the Swiss FLIRTs have a speed control feature with the target speed selector and throttle levers being located on the right, and the brake valve on the left. However, German FLIRTs have a combined throttle and brake lever on the left and no speed control.

 

 

 

Roofside view of one of the end segments, showing the air conditioning units as well as the ventilation devices for the inverters and transformers - the latter being located to the left, just behind the cab.

 

 

 

And a roofside view of the two intermediate segments with the pantographs. While not quite as delicate as Roco ones, they are sufficiently fine and well detailed. Only dual system and DC only FLIRT variants have two pantographs, by the way.

 

 

 

Finally, a close-up on the inscriptions on the "A" segment. From left to right:

 

• unit number - the "RABe" prefix encoding the following information: speed range "R" (in excess of 125 kph), 1st (A) and 2nd class ( B ) accommodation, electric power. Interestingly, the Swiss do not assign separate class numbers to the intermediate segments. However, on a German class 428 set, for example, the intermediate segments are known as class 828.
• grid with service and average loaded weight (120 and 144 tonnes) as well as numbers of seats (twenty 1st class and 141 2nd class);
• overall length of 74.10 metres (this probably being measured over buffers rather than the couplers which would result in the 74.26 metres mentioned above) and distance between bogie pivots on this segment of 16 metres,
• inspection date grid: REV ("Revision") | BNG (Swiss railway abbreviation for Bussnang) | 1 July 2005,
• type of braking gear: Charmilles type brake valve; computer controlled; pneumatic brake; brake setting R only; automatic load-dependent brake force adjustment ("automatische Lastabbremsung"); electric brake; electro-magnetic brake,
• braking weights: R 96 tonnes for dead-in-tow movements; R 245 tonnes or 170 "braking hundredths" and R+Mg 261 tonnes or 195 braking hundredths; handbrake 84 tonnes,
• electro-pneumatic brake and emergency brake override ("Notbremsüberbrückung", NBÃœ) as well as disk brakes (encircled D),
• lavatory available (WC),
• PA system installed (the loudspeaker symbol),
• certified top speed of 160 kph,
• humping prohibited (the bent line with two crosses),
• FPZF compliant (this being a SBB standard for an integrated energy management, communications, CCTV, passenger safety and passenger counter suite); CCTV cameras installed; AFZ - don't know what this means at this time; KIS ("Kundeninformationssystem" or passenger information system).

 

 

This is how the FLIRT is packaged - meaning the two end segments must be connected to the readily connected intermediate ones with coupler latches which include the electrical conductors and have to be secured with a pair of small screws each. This may sound harder than it actually is, though.

 

 

Three full instruction booklets are included - one each in German, English and French. These also describe how the segments must be connected, and where the DCC connectors and other relevant electric items are located. Schematics for the complete electrical layout of the model are included as well, which I think may please more advanced modellers who like to do repairs themselves.

 

 

Well - once again, I hope you enjoyed this little report .

[pointstaken]

Enjoyed that, Dominik, even though I'm not into continental railways. Modellers grumble sometimes about standardisation of couplers - it appears that even the prototype railways have problems !

Is there a way of using the pantographs on this model realistically for picking up from an overhead line?

 

Dennis

[NGT6 1315]

Yes, I believe they are electrically connected. Most Continental producers do so, though not all - Roco, specifically, seems to have actually shifted away from doing so on recently released runs of electric engines.

[Lachlan]

On a similar theme I run the Liliput flirt (SBB Version) but one direction the worm on the motor does not properly engage with the gears. Anyone else had the problem or know how to fix?