BLS the line with electric giants.
Five generations of electrical power on BLS.
Photo.BLS
The BLS has in the beginning hosted some of the most powerful engines during its history from the beginning to present. Here is a short presentation of some of the remarkable classes of different generations of motive of power.
Ae 4/4.
Photo and scan by René Schneider (rene.schneider@ci.educ.lu)
The first two of these modern generation of engines was delivered during November 1944 to march 1945. This class of engines were cornerstones of the development of todays electric engines together with SBB.s Re4/4 I class. The engines featured trucked drivers with each axle driven by it's own motor, and no more pilot wheels or trucks were needed.
The reason to develope the class came from that Be 5/7.s were considered slow for the service on Bern- Thun line and for the service on the Lötschberg grade, and that the Be 5/7.s started to suffer from their heavy service, causing increased need of overhauls and service to keep them running. The powerful Ae 6/8.s were considered to more useful for heavier freighttrains than the to haul 200 - 300 ton expresstrains on grades.
The engines of the Re 4/4 class were designed for maximium speed of 125 km/h and to able to haul a 650 ton train over 1 percent grade at 90 km/h, a 659 ton train over a grade of 1,5 percent at 75 km/h and a 400 ton train over 2.7 percent grade at same speed. But once delvered the maximium train were restricted to 380 tons on 2,7 percent grade at 75 km/h. All this with a 4 000 hp. engine weighting only 80 tons!
In 1947, engine 251 was leased to ÖBB for testruns on the Arlberg-line and on the Tauernline. In 1949 two more engines, no. 253 and 254 were delivered, followed by two more in 1952, and final two in 1955 to handle increasing service. During the number of the years, the eight engines were modified during their overhauls, but little of the improvements was shown externly. In 1959 the suspension was modified, and the louvers were replaced by newer in 1963. By this time thengines were modified to run in MU and they could be run from remotely from a cab on a passangercars on shuttle trains. The engines 253-256 were rebuilt to form a pair of two-unit engines of Ae8/8 in during 1965-1966. The remaining engines were classified as Ae4/4 I.s during 1965 -1970, as the new engines of Ae 4/4 II (after 1970 Re4/4), were delivered. The engines were withdrawn in the 1980.es-1990.es.