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Electric loco with 4 pantographs.
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Offline steventrain  
#1 Posted : 26 October 2010 23:45:38(UTC)
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steventrain

United Kingdom   
Joined: 21/10/2004(UTC)
Posts: 31,606
Location: United Kingdom
Most electric loco have 2 pantographs but some loco such as 39890, 39891 have 4 pantographs.

Why loco have 4 pantographs?
Large Marklinist 3- Rails Layout with CS2/MS2/Boosters/C-track/favorites Electric class E03/BR103, E18/E118, E94, Crocodiles/Steam BR01, BR03, BR05, BR23, BR44, BR50, Big Boy.
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Offline Caralain  
#2 Posted : 27 October 2010 00:03:45(UTC)
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Caralain

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Joined: 15/08/2010(UTC)
Posts: 301
Location: Bay Area, California
As far as I know, it is to facilitate the cross border traffic. In continental Europe, most countries have their own specifications to power trains by the way of the catenary (overhead line). France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland use all a different voltage. In the past locomotives had to be exchanged at the borders. It took time and was kind of cumbersome. With the miniaturization in electronics, it became possible to build locomotives with different transformers for multiple electrical power. By the click of a button, the engineer just needs to use the appropriate transformer and the pantograph linked to it. Those locomotives are used for example in the Gotthard line between Germany, Switzerland and Italy.
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Offline TimR  
#3 Posted : 27 October 2010 00:35:00(UTC)
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TimR

Indonesia   
Joined: 16/08/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,752
Location: Jakarta
Railcolor.net is a recommended read.
It has a wealth of info about these multi-system, cross border locomotives - under TRAXX and Bombardier headings.

Now collecting C-Sine models.
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Offline H0  
#4 Posted : 27 October 2010 01:45:12(UTC)
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H0


Joined: 16/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 15,262
Location: DE-NW
steventrain wrote:
Why loco have 4 pantographs?

Some locos like BR 185 have two types of pantographs, two of each type.
Typically one type with narrow wiper for France and Switzerland, one type with wide wiper for Germany.

BR 189 can run on AC and DC - some have four different types of pantographs. Two for AC (like BR 185), two for DC (with wipers made of different materials).

Märklin models do not always have correct pantographs from the factory.
Regards
Tom
---
"In all of the gauges, we particularly emphasize a high level of quality, the best possible fidelity to the prototype, and absolute precision. You will see that in all of our products." (from Märklin New Items Brochure 2015, page 1) ROFLBTCUTS
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Offline steventrain  
#5 Posted : 27 October 2010 16:37:02(UTC)
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steventrain

United Kingdom   
Joined: 21/10/2004(UTC)
Posts: 31,606
Location: United Kingdom
Many thanks for the information.
Large Marklinist 3- Rails Layout with CS2/MS2/Boosters/C-track/favorites Electric class E03/BR103, E18/E118, E94, Crocodiles/Steam BR01, BR03, BR05, BR23, BR44, BR50, Big Boy.
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Offline Ranjit  
#6 Posted : 27 October 2010 17:56:35(UTC)
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Ranjit


Joined: 18/06/2003(UTC)
Posts: 3,009
Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Interesting information! Never seen a locomotive with two separate sets of pantographs. I suppose it is necessary for a place like Europe where there is so many different countries with so many different voltages, standards, systems, etc.

Cheers,
Ranjit
Modelling in HO Scale - Era III & IV. K+M Track, Analogue + Digital
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Offline hemau  
#7 Posted : 27 October 2010 19:25:36(UTC)
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hemau


Joined: 09/01/2007(UTC)
Posts: 589
Location: The Netherlands
About anything which can be different, is in European railnetworks. A BR 189 can run on:
25 kV 50 Hz AC(e.g. France, Netherlands Betuweroute)
15 kV 16 2/3 Hz AC(e.g. Germany)
3 kV DC (e.g. Belgium, France)
1,5 kV DC (e.g. Netherlands general network, France).
Excuse me in advance if some of this is incorrect.
Kind regards, Henk
C and M track; CS1R and 2 MS
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Offline rbw993  
#8 Posted : 27 October 2010 22:48:53(UTC)
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rbw993

United States   
Joined: 19/08/2008(UTC)
Posts: 956
The following link will connect you with an informative website describing cross border rail traffic. Enjoy!

Railways through europe

Roger
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Offline jeehring  
#9 Posted : 28 October 2010 00:02:19(UTC)
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jeehring


Joined: 25/09/2003(UTC)
Posts: 2,786
Location: ,
All is said.
Matter of catenary and type of current.
Even inside France there are different kinds of voltages. It comes from the period at which there were several Railway Companies (before WWII). Also the Electrification of new lines after WW II . The PO-Midi Cie - west/south west of France - was using DC .Real trains are like train models as we change analog for digital. If you change the type of electric power you also have to change the machines + all the toolings : heavy investments ! You cannot throw away the whole fleet of Locomotives and all the machineries....The average life of an electric loco is between 30 & 50 years ( In general - longer than the life of steamers...)

At an European scale , after WW2 , as they had to rebuild or to modernize railways, the dilemma was about what to choose between different kinds of system,2 types of power, 2 ways of feeding/providing power to electric railways (electric railroads on which are running several trains in both directions - sometimes a lot of heavy trains - need a lot of electric power!)

There were 2 "schools" : German+Swiss school and French+Netherland school.
German & Swiss "school" : building specific power stations only for railways . Due to their geography the Swiss were pionneers ,they easily could build hydrolectric power stations, they have choosen 15 kv 16 2/3 hz AC. Germans followed.

French and Netherland "school" : feeding railways from the general high voltage network providing electricity to the rest of the country , towns and other industries. No exclusive power station for railways. Which is 25 kv 50 HZ AC. Cheaper.Much power. Today the most widespread at a worldwide scale. (after WW II the German hesitated for a while before deciding .....)

*** Just to give a dimension of the problem, I remember an example before WW II about DC and insufficient high voltage transportation : while pulling away on a gentle slope under DC power line, one locomotive with DC motor with commutators at the head of a heavy train could blow the power sub-station up, putting the entire little town near the railway station into the dark.....



Edited by user 29 October 2010 13:10:19(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified
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