page_title: SBB-CFF-FFS Ae 4/6
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: SBB-CFF-FFS Ae 4/6 / Origins
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ae 8/14 Lokomotive Nr. 11851, SLM-Antrieb, Dienstgewicht 246 t, Adhäsionsgewicht 156 t, Dauerleistung 8300 PS bei 65 km/h
context_page_description: The Swiss locomotive class Ae 4/6 was a class of electric locomotives. They were intended as a powerful locomotive for the steep gradients of the Gotthard Railway, but smaller than the huge 'double locomotives' which had previously been tested there. They were built from 1941, during WWII, and although Switzerland remained neutral through this, material shortages led to some quality problems with these locomotives.
context_section_description: The SBB Ae 4/6 was needed for service on the steep gradients of the Gotthard Railway. Electric locomotives were needed, rather than steam, both because of Switzerland's dependence on imported coal, and also because of the ventilation problems in long tunnels. Existing electric types, such as the Ce 6/8ᴵ, Ce 6/8ᴵᴵ 'crocodiles' and the Be 4/6 of the early 1920s had been powerful enough for the gradients, but their use of a coupling rod drive limited their speed. A new express passenger locomotive would require independent traction motors for each axle.
  In the 1930s, three new prototype 'double locomotives' were produced, the Ae 8/14. These were faster, from the previous  75 kilometres per hour (47 mph) to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), and abandoned rod drives in favour of separate motors and Buchli drives, or later the Winterthur Universal Drive, to each axle. The last of these was the LandiLok, with a modern streamlined bodyshell. These locomotives were powerful, but also inflexible, and only heavy goods trains, rather than the intended passenger expresses, could make use of their full power.
caption: The enormous Ae 8/14 'double locomotive' and its (1A)A1A(A1)+(1A)A1A(A1) layout
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