FS Class E636 - History

History

The E.636 was designed to overcome the problems showed in the 1930s by both the E.626 multi-purpose and E.326 high-speed locomotives, in order to better handle the increasing railway traffic in Italy.

The E.636 was the first Italian locomotive adopting the Bo-Bo-Bo configuration with chassis divided into two articulated parts pivoting on the central bogie, which is very well suited for the often tortuous lines of Italy and that would have been later repeated on the E.645/646 and E.656 classes. The presence of a great number of wheels was considered important due to the presence of a number of high-slope lines in the Italian railroad network as it increases the adhesion limit, meaning that the locomotive is less prone to wheel slips. The new engines weighted approximately 101 short tons (90 long tons; 92 t). Engines were initially the same as E.626. The 32R used a 3 kV catenary but this was soon shown to be inadequate and so were updated and provided with a new hollow axle transmission system. Mainly two different gear ratios were installed: 21/65 for sloping lines or heavy freight trains (maximum speed of 95 km/h (59 mph), elevated later to 110 km/h), and the longer 28/65, with a maximum speed of 120 km/h (75 mph), suited for passenger services.

The locomotive was built in three different series:

• 1st series (001-108), from 1940 to 1942
• 2nd series (109-243), from 1952 to 1956
• 3rd series (244-469), from 1957 to 1962

The first unit entered service in May 1940. Six locomotives were destroyed during World War II. After the war the total number of locomotives was brought to 469, also thanks to the support from the Marshall Plan, and making it one of the most numerous groups of Italian locomotives. All the units were painted with an auburn livery; this was changed in the 1990s to a white one with green stripes for most trains (XMPR livery).

By 2000s railway standards, E.636s were old and uncomfortable. The original design of the cockpits proved absolutely unfit to modern safety standards: this was shown in an accident in 1996 at Sulmona, where the engine driver died despite the low speed, without being able to leave the cockpit in time. 200 units were therefore rebuilt and stripped of all asbestos.

Starting from 1990s, E.636s were used mainly for cargo services, save for the more backlog Sicilian lines. Some units were lent to minor Italian railroads. The phasing out of the entire class was completed in May 2006.