Crocodile (locomotive)
Encyclopedia
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
s are so called because they have long "noses" at each end, reminiscent of the snout of a crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
(see also Steeplecab
Steeplecab
In railroad terminology, a steeplecab is a style or design of electric locomotive; the term is rarely if ever used for other forms of power...
). These contain the motors and drive axles, and are connected by an articulated center section. The center section usually contains the crew compartments, pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
s and transformer
Transformer
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...
.
The name was first applied to Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
locomotives. Sometimes the term is applied to locomotives in other countries of a similar design.
History
The original "Crocodiles" were the series SBB Ce 6/8 II and SBB Ce 6/8 III locomotives of the SBB, Swiss Federal RailwaysSBB-CFF-FFS
Swiss Federal Railways and SFR are not in official use) is the national railway company of Switzerland headquartered in Bern. Formerly a government institution, it is since 1999 a special stock corporation with all shares held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons...
, built between 1919 and 1927. These locomotives were developed for pulling heavy goods trains on the steep tracks of the Gotthardbahn
Gotthardbahn
Gotthardbahn was the name of a private Swiss railway company which operated the railway line from Immensee to Chiasso . Nowadays this term usually does not refer to that company, but to the railway line itself...
from Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
to Chiasso
Chiasso
Chiasso is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is located at the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso...
, including the Gotthard Tunnel
Gotthard Rail Tunnel
The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, is a 15-kilometre long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Gotthard massif...
.
The electric motors available at the time were large and had to be body-mounted, but flexibility was required to negotiate the tight curves on the Alpine routes and tunnels. An articulated design, with two powered nose units bridged with a pivoting center section containing cabs and the heavy transformer, met both requirements and gave excellent visibility from driving cabs mounted safely away from any collision. These locomotives, sometimes called the 'Swiss Crocodile' or 'SBB Crocodile', were highly successful and served until the 1980s. Several are still in operation as preserved historical locomotives.
Very similar locomotives were used in Austria as Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahn) classes ÖBB 1089 and ÖBB 1189, and are often known as 'Austrian Crocodiles'.
After the Swiss and Austrian standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
Crocodiles, the best known are the Rhaetian Railway (RhB)'s metre gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
locomotives of class Ge 6/6 I
Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I is a class of metre gauge C′C′ electric locomotives operated by the Rhaetian Railway , which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland....
, the Rhaetian Crocodile
Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I
The Rhaetian Railway Ge 6/6 I is a class of metre gauge C′C′ electric locomotives operated by the Rhaetian Railway , which is the main railway network in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland....
. Several of these still run on passenger trains on special occasions. They are also used on freight trains in busy periods. The Bernina Railway
Bernina Railway
The Bernina Railway is a single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway . It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the town of Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, via the Bernina Pass...
(later merged with the RhB) also built a single Crocodile type, the Ge 4/4, nicknamed the 'Bernina Crocodile'. This locomotive survives and is being restored to operating condition.
Two Swiss narrow-gauge railways also have locomotive nicknamed Crocodiles; the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn
BVZ Zermatt-Bahn
The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn – officially known between 1991 and 2002 as the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn – is a metre gauge railway in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Its 44 kilometre long line links the communities of Brig and Visp in the Rhone Valley with Täsch and the car free holiday resort of Zermatt...
(BVZ) (which merged with the Furka-Oberalp-Bahn
Furka-Oberalp-Bahn
The Furka–Oberalp-Bahn is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003 it is part of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn when it merged with the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn....
(FO) in 2003 to form the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn
Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn
The Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn is a narrow gauge railway in Switzerland. The track width is . It was created in 2003 through an amalgamation of Furka-Oberalp-Bahn and BVZ Zermatt-Bahn . The name comes from the Matterhorn and St...
) uses series HGe 4/4 I, known as the Zermatt crocodile, while the Chemin de Fer Yverdon-Ste. Croix owns a solitary class Ge 4/4 #21. Neither of these locomotive types have an articulated body, which leads some railfans to nickname them "false crocodiles".
The German classes E 93 and E 94, also used by the ÖBB as series 1020, are sometimes called 'German crocodiles'. They are sometimes nicknamed "Alligators", instead, because of their broader, shorter snouts.
The French DC 25 kV CC locomotives of series 14000 and 14100 of the SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
, used mainly for iron ore trains on the Thionville-Valencienne line, were also nicknamed "crocodile".
Crocodile locomotives were also used in India. These locomotives, of series WCG1, were used from 1928 between Bombay and Pune, and were all built to the Indian broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
of 5 ft 6 in. The first 10 locomotives were built by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works were a railway equipment manufacturer based in Winterthur in Switzerland...
. Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire .-History:It was originally opened in 1832 as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...
of Great Britain constructed a further 31 examples for this line.
Other Crocodile-like locomotives
The articulated-body design was not unique to the Crocodiles. It was used in the United States on the Milwaukee Road class EP-2Milwaukee Road class EP-2
The Milwaukee Road's class EP-2 comprised five electric locomotives built by General Electric in 1919. They were often known as Bipolars, which referred to the bipolar electric motors they used. Among the most distinctive and powerful electric locomotives of their time, they epitomized the...
"Bi-Polars", for example. Many more locomotives adopted the design of long noses without articulation of the body: see Steeplecab
Steeplecab
In railroad terminology, a steeplecab is a style or design of electric locomotive; the term is rarely if ever used for other forms of power...
.
Video Game Appearances
- It appears in Chris Sawyer's LocomotionChris Sawyer's LocomotionChris Sawyer's Locomotion is a computer game by independent game developer Chris Sawyer. In his words, it is "the spiritual successor to Transport Tycoon"....
in the Alpine Scenario, introduced in 1920 and obsolete by 1965. - It appears as one of the purchasable trains in Sid Meier's Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads!Sid Meier's Railroads! is a business simulation game developed by Sid Meier on the Gamebryo game engine that was released in October 2006 and is the sequel to Railroad Tycoon 3. Although Sid Meier created the original Railroad Tycoon, subsequent versions were developed by PopTop Software...
, named the Ge 6/6 Crocodile. It was a mixed traffic engine capable of 64 km/h and available for $80,000.