The FS Class E.330 was a small class of three-phase

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 (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

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 1910s.

History

In the late 1900s, the success of the

three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...

electrification on mountain lines such as the

Valtellina Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; (); or ; ; ) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski centre, hot spring spas, bresa ...

line, the

Simplon Tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

and the Giovi Pass line, led the newly formed

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 ...

, under the direction of Riccardo Bianchi, to extend the electrification to other lines, where electric locomotives gave better performance. For the new lines to be electrified, three batches of electric locomotives were ordered, including the E.330 and the E.550 (a type E.551 was ordered but not built). Unlike the previous electric locomotives used on mountain lines, the new locomotives had to be able to vary their speed, a capability which at the time was difficult to achieve, due to the fact that the three-phase motor spins at constant speed set by the feeding current

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio ...

. The E.330 was designed to have four speeds (where the E.430 had only one and the contemporary E.550 two); this capability was obtained thanks to two patents by the German engineer Manu Stern and the Hungarian engineer Maurice Milch. The wheel arrangement chosen was

1′C1′ Rigid-framed electric locomotives were some of the first generations of electric locomotive design. When these began the traction motors of these early locomotives, particularly with AC motors, were too large and heavy to be mounted directly to t ...

, similar to that adopted on the contemporary

685 __NOTOC__ Year 685 ( DCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 685 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

class of steam locomotives. The production contract was signed in 1913, construction of the new units beginning at

Società Italiana Westinghouse The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...

, which had designed the locomotive under the direction of

Kálmán Kandó Kálmán Kandó de Egerfarmos et Sztregova (''egerfarmosi és sztregovai Kandó Kálmán''; July 10, 1869 – January 13, 1931) was a Hungary, Hungarian engineer, the inventor of phase converter and a pioneer in the development of AC electric rai ...

. The mechanical parts were co-built with

Società Italiana Ernesto Breda Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. History The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It original ...

. The locomotives were assigned to the

and

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

n coast lines. The E.330s became operational in the Spring 1914. They were later used also in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

on the local three-phase lines, until, from 1962, the railroads were adapted to the now standard 3,000 V direct current electrification. All the E.330s were phased out during the 1960s.

References

{{FS locos 1′C1′ locomotives E.330 Railway locomotives introduced in 1914 Three-phase AC locomotives Breda locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of Italy