An electric-steam locomotive is a steam locomotive that uses electricity to heat the water in the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

to create steam instead of burning fuel in a firebox. This is a highly unusual type of locomotive that only makes economic sense under specific conditions. Normally, it would be much more efficient to build and use an

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

. However, lack of time and resources (as during wartime), lack of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

or similar fuel, and the presence of relatively cheap and available electricity may make conversion of an existing steam locomotive into an electric-steam locomotive a viable proposition.

Switzerland

Switzerland has no natural reserves of coal, but the mountainous region offers plentiful, and cheap,

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. of SBB lines (73.6% of the network) were

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

by the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, whilst the price of imported (German) coal kept rising. In an attempt to save on coal the Swiss Federal Railways fitted two small 0-6-0 steam shunters of class E 3/3 with a

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

. Power was taken from overhead lines (, Hz), and fed to heating elements, via two transformers rated together at . The modified E 3/3 8521 was brought into use on 13 January 1943; 8522 followed on 11 February 1943. They could run up to 20 minutes without power supply, like a

fireless locomotive A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of ...

, once the boiler had been charged to full pressure. The

firebox Firebox may refer to: *Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine *Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted *Firebox Records Firebox Records was a Finnish record label based in S ...

was retained, usually keeping hot embers, with a classic fire for longer operation on non-electrified tracks. The water circulation pump, the control circuit and the lighting were powered by a battery that was charged from a rectifier fed by one of the transformers. The system was capable of producing about of steam per hour at pressure. It weighed about , increasing the weight of the locomotive from to , and allowed a saving of of coal per working day. Bringing the locomotive to pressure took about one hour. The electric heaters were removed in 1951 from locomotive 8521 and in 1953 from 8522. As of 2013, locomotive E 3/3 8522 is still in (museum) service on the

Sursee–Triengen railway The Sursee-Triengen Railway (german: Sursee-Triengen-Bahn) (ST) is a railway company in Switzerland. It owns a railway line of only 8.9 km between Sursee, where it connects to the SBB-CFF-FFS network, and Triengen. The line was opened on 23 ...

as an ordinary steam engine with no electric heating.

Canada

A Canadian patent for an electric-steam locomotive was granted as recently as 1992. The drawing shows a Crampton locomotive, Crampton type 8-4-0 but its intended use is unknown.

Electric pre-heater

A conventional coal-fired or Oil burner (engine), oil-fired steam locomotive may be prepared for service by using an external electric pre-heater. This allows steam to be raised gradually during the night so that the locomotive will be ready for use in the morning. Advanced steam technology, Modern steam locomotives, such as the rack locomotives of Brienz–Rothorn railway and DLM AG, DLM's modernised class DR Class 52.80, 52.80 locomotive, are fitted with internal electric heaters.
advantages of modern steam as given on the pages of DLM AG, Switzerland. This allows keeping the well insulated boiler warm overnight or even to start heating automatically in the early morning.

Models

The electric-steam system is also used in some small-scale model steam locomotives. In September 2003 Hornby Railways released its first Hornby Railways#Hornby Hobbies: 1980.E2.80.932008, steam-powered 00 gauge locomotive, a scale model locomotive where the boiler is heated by electric power collected from the running rails.

Literature

* Alfred Moser: ''Der Dampfbetrieb der schweizerischen Eisenbahnen 1847–1966''. 4. nachgeführte Auflage. Birkhäuser, Stuttgart 1967, S. 269. (detailed description in German)

References

Additional reading

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External links

Pictures on www.douglas-self.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electric-steam locomotive Steam locomotives Electric locomotives