The FS Class D.443 is a class of

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

used in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, introduced in the late 1960s and still in service.

History

D.443 was ordered by the Italian state railways,

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned enterprise, state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate service ...

(FS), at the same time than the D.343, but requiring generally higher performances and multi-role capabilities. The two types shared the same hull and the single-motored bogies, which had been designed by FS. 30 units were to be built by

FIAT Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

, the remaining 20 by

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. The D.443 were mainly to replace the old

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s which were used for heavy freight trains on light, not-electrified lines.

Description

D.443 has one cab at each end, separated by two compartments including the engine-transmission pack and, in the other, the cooling devices. The two engines were both V-12, of power, coupled to a DC 640/1080 V generator provided by

Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company based in Genoa, Italy. The original parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., was founded in 1853, and merged with Finmeccanica in 1993 (now Leonardo S.p.A.). In 2024, the company's share ...

. The two electric motors, designed by Breda, had a continuous power output of .

Successors

From 1974, the D.445 class was introduced, with an AC alternator. They also supplied

electric train heating In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, ...

References

Sources

* {{FS locos Bo′Bo′ locomotives D.443 Railway locomotives introduced in 1967 Gio. Ansaldo & C. locomotives Breda locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of Italy