Class Fc 2x3/4 Electric Locomotive

Prototype: Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) class Fc 2x3/4 "Köfferli" / "Little Suitcases" electric freight locomotive (later class Ce 6/8 I). Version when it was first delivered. Dark brown basic paint scheme with black running gear. With older design buffers, cab doors without windows at the ends of the locomotive, and with walkover plates, with sanding equipment, without an oncoming train light, and without an inductive magnet. Road number 12201. The locomotive looks as it did at the middle to the end of 1919.

Highlights

• Completely new tooling for the anniversary "100 Years of the Crocodile 1919-2019".
• Highly detailed metal construction.
• "World of Operation" mfx+ digital decoder and a wide variety of operation and sound functions included.
• Cab lighting and engine room lighting can be controlled digitally.

Prototype information

In 1919, the Swiss industry delivered four test locomotives for various uses to be selected as suitable units for electric operation on the Gotthard. At that time, a distinction was still made for electric locomotives among freight, express, and passenger units. Standardized locomotives in the present sense did not exist yet. The Swiss Locomotive and Machinery Company (SLM) provided the mechanical part on all four locomotives, while the Machinery Company of Oerlikon (MFO) was responsible for the electrical part on road numbers Be 4/6 11301 and Be 3/5 11201. BBC of Baden provided that part on road numbers Be 4/6 11302 and Fc 2x3/4 (later road number Ce 6/8I) 12201. Road number 12201 (later 14201) was a 2-6-6-2 freight locomotive taking specifically into account the route characteristics on the Gotthard. It could pull a maximum load of 860 metric tons on a grade of up to 1.2%. Its locomotive body rode on two three-axle power trucks, each of which was driven by two traction motors by means of jackshafts, driving rods, and side rods. Originally planned only as a six-axle unit, the electrical part turned out to be so heavy that two additional pilot wheel sets as well as small hoods became necessary. Due to these hoods, the unit was quickly given the nickname "Köfferli-Lok" / "Little Suitcases Locomotive", but "Schlotterbeck" or (approximately) "Shuttering Tank" also gained popularity due to its rough riding. On July 7, 1919, road number Fc 2x3/4 12201 was delivered as the fourth and last test locomotive and was initially tested from the Bern Depot. After a relatively long trial period, it went into regular scheduled use in December of 1919 between Bern and Spiez pulling passenger and freight trains. In March of 1921, it was moved to the Gotthard, where it ran along with the Ce 6/8II (Crocodile) in the latter's schedules from the Erstfeld Depot. Starting in 1925, it was based at the Biasca Depot and did mostly pulling work until 1930 to Airolo at the south portal of the Gotthard Tunnel. After another interval at the Erstfeld Depot, it went in 1938 to Basle having proved itself in heavy freight train service. With increasingly scarce use being made of it by 1967, it was pulled from normal service. As an historic one-of-a-kind, however it was in line for preservation and was assigned to the Bern Depot for brake testing. A brilliantly executed overhaul of the running gear in 1968 at the main shops in Yverdon suddenly gave this veteran better running characteristics than ever before. After a running performance of around 2,500,000 kilometers / 1,562,500 miles, this locomotive was finally retired at the end of May 1982 as the last Gotthard prototype.