GN Y-1

The class Y -1 of the Great Northern Railway had eight built by the American Locomotive Company and General Electric electric locomotives with axle formula ( 1 Cor ) ' ( Co1 ) '. When the Pennsylvania Railroad, this series was later known as the class FF2.

History

In the years 1925-1929 a new 12.5 km long tunnel under the Cascade Stevens Pass was built by the Great Northern. The entire electrified section between Wenatchee and Skykomish in the U.S. state of Washington was 117 km long. Also in this tunnel use of steam locomotives was impossible due to the lack of ventilation.

In contrast to the previously used in the old tunnel current system of 6.6 kV, three-phase alternating current at 25 hertz you now put on 11 kV single-phase, 25 hertz. That is, we took the experience from the successful tests with the same system at the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad. For use on the new tunnel route, new locomotives had to be purchased.

The locomotives were built 1927-1930 for the Great Northern Railway ( GN). The first two locomotives in 1927, delivered the next two in 1928 and four in 1930. The machine at that time were the largest Umformerlokomotiven world.

In the GN, the vehicles carried the numbers 5010-5017. The locomotive with the number 5011 was rebuilt after an accident in 1945, where they received, instead of the previously boxy structure streamlined cabs of a kind used for the series EMD FT. This locomotive was henceforth referred to as Class Y -1a.

After the end of the electrical equipment in the GN PRR 1956 acquired every eight locomotives. The rebuilt Y1 -a served the PRR only as spare parts and has never been used. The seven other locomotives were numbered 1 to 7 and were used on the electrified lines in eastern Pennsylvania.

Between 1960 and 1966, gradually all the locomotives were retired and scrapped.

Design features

It was Converters locomotives in which the alternating current from the overhead line was first transformed down and two AC motors drive. The transformer is cooled with a fan, and had a starting voltage of 2300 volts. The AC motors turn drove two 750 - volt direct current generators that supplied the DC traction motors. Six GE -290 -A traction motors drove each to an axle of the locomotive.

The locomotives also had multiple process control as well as a regenerative brake.