Kołobrzeg 2024-11-13

Electric Locomotive EP07-339.

The locomotive was manufactured in 1984, as EU07-339, factory number 303E-239. Reconstruction to EP07 version took place in November 2001, in ZNTK Nowy Sącz. The locomotive went to Zakład Taboru in Gdynia. In July 2007, the locomotive was overhauled in Zakład Taboru in Gdynia. Subsequent inspections and repairs were performed; ZNTK Oleśnica (March 2009), ZNLE S.A. Gliwice (February 2013), OLKOL Oleśnica (December 2019). EVN No.: 91 511 140 058-5 (PL-PKPIC).

History.

By the end of the 50s, electrification on the Polish Railway Lines was already progressing rapidly. Electric locomotives were needed to service passenger and freight trains.

First, Swedish locomotives were purchased, which in Poland were designated EP03. The locomotive was manufactured by Allmann Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget and bore the designation ASEA E150. In 1951, 8 units were purchased for PKP. Initially, the locomotives were given numbers in the E150 series. In 1951, the series designation was changed to E03, and in 1959, finally to EP03. A copy of the EP03-01 locomotive is in the Railway Open-Air Museum in Chabówka.

A Polish locomotive PaFaWag 1E was also developed, which in PKP received the designation E02 and finally EP02. In the period 1953–1957, 8 units of type 1E were built and assigned numbers from E110 to E117. The locomotives were built in the State Wagon Factory in Wrocław. However, the EP02 locomotive was not very successful. Its running gear was not good and wore out quickly, at higher speeds. Therefore, after a few years, the train’s running speed was limited to 70 km/h. The electrical part of the locomotive was good, because it came from the English Electric company. These were English solutions and components, eventually replaced by Polish ones. The experience gained during the operation of the EP02 was used to develop the ET21 type E3 electric locomotive. A copy of the EP02 locomotive can be seen in the Railway Open-Air Museum in Chabówka.

Then locomotives from the GDR were purchased, which in Poland were marked EU04. The factory marking was LEW E04. Initially, PKP gave it the designation E200, then E04 and finally EU04. These locomotives were built for PKP in 1954–1955 by the LEW Hennigsdorf plant in Hennigsdorf in the GDR. However, these locomotives were unreliable. According to other sources, the locomotives were good, but the German factory was unable to fulfill a larger order for Poland.

In 1961, PKP bought 30 electric locomotives Škoda 44E series 30 in Czechoslovakia, which in Poland were designated EU05. The locomotives were built in the Škoda plant in Pilzno. They were good vehicles.

EU06 locomotive.

They were still looking for a manufacturer of more successful locomotives. With great difficulty, the British offer of English Electric was accepted. This company had the most experience in the world in the production of such vehicles. The choice fell on a locomotive, which in Poland was designated EU06, series 20. The basis for the EU06 locomotive was the English Electric Class 83 locomotive. 20 units were purchased, as well as a license to produce these locomotives in Poland. In England, EU06 locomotives were built in the period 1961-1962, at the Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire, England. In December 1961, PKP representatives carried out the technical acceptance of the first locomotive. In the spring of 1962, the first EU06 locomotive was accepted for use at the locomotive depot in Kraków Prokocim. 19 locomotives were delivered to Poland by the end of 1962, and the last one was transferred in 1965, because it was undergoing modernization work.

The most modern electric locomotive for PKP at that time was built in the oldest locomotive factory in the world. The Vulcan Foundry factory was founded in 1825 by Mr. Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson, the famous steam locomotive designer.

The EU06 locomotive could pull a 650-ton passenger train at a speed of 125 km/h or a 2,000-ton freight train at a speed of 70 km/h. The locomotive’s power is 2,000 kW. Locomotives of this series could also work in pairs in multiple shunting, and then the train weight could be increased accordingly, even to 3,600 tons.

In accordance with Polish wishes, the EU06 locomotives received rectangular bumpers. Three reflectors were installed in the front wall of the locomotive, which due to their size were called “Buckets” in Poland. Additionally, the lower reflectors received red end-of-train lights inside. There are three windows in the front wall. The external windows received windscreen wipers, the mechanisms of which were mounted above the windows. Multiple control sockets were placed centrally on the front wall. Each driver’s cabin received two entrances on the left and right side, unlike in the later EU07. The locomotive received four rear-view mirrors. The engine room received three windows and four ventilation grilles in each wall.

The locomotives were painted in the standard paint scheme of the time: light green and dark green. The chassis was painted black. The pantographs are red. The end of the mainframe was painted red. The operating and information inscriptions were painted white. The inscriptions and warning signs were placed on yellow stickers. The locomotive body was decorated with aluminum strips that cover the joints of the sheet metal. The numbers applicable in PKP were placed on the fronts and sides of the locomotive.

EU07, 4E locomotive. PaFaWag.

In Poland, licensed production was commissioned to the PaFaWag factory in Wrocław. The English documentation had to be converted to Polish documentation by changing the English dimensions to the SI system. This required rounding off some values. In the factory, the locomotive received the factory symbol 4E, and in PKP it was given the designation EU07. Locomotive production began in 1963 and lasted until 1974. According to other sources, production lasted from 1965 to 1977. In 1977, the assembly line was switched to the production of ET22 electric locomotives. Over 11 years, 240 EU07 locomotives were built, although 300 units were planned. The number of EU07 locomotives built allowed to meet the most important needs in the service of passenger, express and fast trains in Poland on electrified lines.

In the period 1976–1977, 4 EP08 series locomotives (serial numbers from EP08-002 to 005; type 4Ea) were included in the EU07 series, because they did not meet the requirements set for the EP08 series. Equipped with sliding bearings, which turned out to be unsuitable for the assumed operating speed of the EP08. These locomotives received new numbers from EU07-241 to 244. EP08 (4Ea) locomotives were built from 1972, especially for fast and express trains from/to Warsaw. These locomotives were called “Piggy” because of their orange color.

There are several differences between the “Englishman” EU06 and the EU-07. The layout of the locomotive entrance doors has been changed. Looking in the direction of travel, the door on the right side has been moved to the rear and is now in the engine compartment. The same is true at the other end of the locomotive. This gave the engine room an additional window, which is in the door. In turn, the side window at the driver’s station has been widened. The Polish locomotive EU07 has a rain gutter surrounding the entire roof of the locomotive. In the EU06, the gutters are only in the driver’s cabin area. Inside, the driver’s cabins are heated with 3,000 V current, while in the “Englishman” it is heated with 110 V current.

Locomotive EU07, 303E. HCP.

In 1983, production of EU07 locomotives was resumed. This time at the HCP plant in Poznań. The Pafawag plant in Wrocław continued to produce successful ET22 locomotives. At the same time, production of ET41 locomotives was discontinued at HCP in Poznań.

The new EU07, type 303E locomotive was developed based on the two-unit ET41, type 203E locomotive, which was derived from the type 4E locomotive. Production of EU07, type 303E locomotives was carried out in the period 1983–1993. A total of 243 EU07, type 303E locomotives were built. They received No. 301–543. There are no locomotives with numbers 245–300.

The new EU07, type 303E, featured many modifications that increased its service life and reduced failure rate. The number of places that required frequent lubrication was reduced. Metal-rubber connections were introduced, which improved the comfort of the locomotive’s running. The body structure was changed. A self-supporting body with grooved side walls was used. These grooved walls are a distinguishing feature between the 4E and 303E locomotives. One ventilation grille was removed from the side wall of the engine compartment, the first on the left looking in the direction of travel. A full flat sheet metal was left there between the windows, which began to be grooved halfway through production. Larger blades (scrapers) were also installed under the end carriage. The new locomotives were adapted to install a Soviet automatic coupler.

In the EU07 model, type 303E, several outdated solutions were not removed. Resistance starting was still used. Electronic control was not used. This was the result of the crisis state of the national economy, which could not afford new technologies. The Polish economy was ineptly managed by the communists.

In the period 1990–1994, three sections of ET41 electric locomotives were also rebuilt into EU07 locomotives, type 303E. They were equipped with an additional cabin. The locomotives received numbers EU07-537, EU07-544 and EU07-545.

EU07 design (4E, 303E).

The term used in PKP EU07 means an electric, universal locomotive designed to pull passenger trains weighing up to 700 tons at a speed of 125 km/h or freight trains weighing up to 2,000 tons at a speed of 70 km/h. The EU07 locomotive is built in a classic layout, i.e. it has driver and assistant cabins at both ends. Two pantographs (current receivers). Traction supply voltage 3,000 V. Bo’Bo’ axle arrangement. The locomotive is powered by four EE541A electric motors with a rated voltage of 1,500 V. Each motor is placed on one axle. The permissible operating temperature of the motor is 180 °C, which is why the motors are cooled by an appropriate compressed air installation.

Multiple control sockets are located on the fronts of the locomotive, thanks to which it is possible to drive two coupled locomotives of the same type (4E with 4E and 303E with 303E) by controlling both locomotives from the first cabin. The exception are EU07 locomotives from number 241 to 244, which can only be coupled with EP08, because these are 4Ea type locomotives (EP08 no. 002-005) equipped with sliding bearings, which turned out to be inappropriate for the assumed operating speed of EP08, and therefore they were renamed EU07.

Differences between type 4E and 303E.

There is a change in the timing, so only the same types of locomotives work together in multiple traction. Type 303E has a grooved body, which is self-supporting. Type 4E weighs 80,000 kg, and type 303E weighs 83,400 kg. Type 4E is 15,920 mm long, and type 303E is 16,310 mm long. Type 303E can have a Soviet coupler installed and buffers (buffers) removed. Other blades under the headstock are also installed.

EP07 locomotive.

The EP07 electric passenger locomotive (Factory Types: 4E, 303E and 303E-FPS, Fabryka Pojazdów Szynowych) is a series of standard gauge electric passenger locomotives. These are rebuilt copies of the EU07 locomotive. The rebuilt was carried out in the years 1995 – 2008 by various ZNTK plants. Modernizations were carried out by, among others: ZNTK Oleśnica, ZNTK Mińsk Mazowiecki, HCP Poznań, NEWAG Nowy Sącz. Initially, it was planned to modernize only 303E locomotives (Poznań), but 4E locomotives (Wrocław) were also rebuilt.

The locomotive designated EP07 in PKP is a rebuilt EU07 locomotive, adapted to passenger trains moving at a speed of 125 km/h, the same as EU07, but they maintain this speed more easily. In the EP07 designation, the letter “P” means passenger. In the 1980s, the letter “P” was translated as an express passenger train. Rebuilding of locomotives to EP07 has been carried out in ZNTK since 1995. The designation was changed from EU07 to EP07, but the serial number remained the same. In the period 2005-2008, 69 EP07 locomotives were built, which were marked with new numbers from 1001 to 1069.

The main change was the replacement of the EE541 electric motors with LKB535 motors. The gear transmission between the engine and the locomotive wheels was also changed. Now the ratio is 76:21, and it was 79:18. LKB535 engines at lower RPM give the locomotive higher speed. Now, however, the EP07 locomotive is not suitable for freight trains, because it has a hard start. Multiple traction was abandoned. Air conditioning was installed.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman