Chabówka 2021-05-18
SN61 series railcar.
SN61 is a railcar that was manufactured at the Ganz-MAVAG plant in Budapest, Hungary. The company “Ganz vállalatok” was founded in 1844, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It took the name Ganz in honor of Ábrahám Ganz, a Swiss-born Hungarian engineer and iron producer. In 1959, during the socialist era in Hungary, the Ganz company was merged with the MÁVAG company – “Magyar Királyi Államvasutak Gépgyára”, or “Machine Factory of the Royal Hungarian State Railways”, which was founded in 1874. It is worth mentioning that in 1945, after the nationalization of Hungarian industry, the “Royal” was crossed out of the name.
The Ganz-MÁVAG company in Poland is known for its deliveries of SM41 series diesel locomotives and SN52, SN60 and SN61 series motor cars. Poland also bought Mávag buses, later Ikarus, from the Hungarian company.
The SN61 car was designed for the order and use of PKP, based on SN52 and SN60 motor cars. The SN61 series of railcars were manufactured in Hungary from 1960 to 1975. A total of 250 railcars of this type were manufactured and all of them were delivered to PKP.
A single SN61 railcar can pull up to three trailer cars. The SN61 vehicle was used on non-electrified local lines with lower traffic intensity. Depending on the number of passengers, one, two or three passenger cars were attached. The railcar can operate in multiple traction, up to three cars together, which was not practiced.
When Poland switched from steam traction to electric traction, more and more passenger cars were manufactured with electric heating systems. However, there were still many steam-heated passenger cars. Since the SN61 motor car had a Clayton RO 500 heating boiler, in winter long-distance trains (express and express-express, both forms are correct) were put together as follows: EU07 or ET22 locomotive, SN61 motor car and 8-10 passenger cars. For example, trains on the Warsaw – Kraków – Zakopane or Kraków – Wrocław – Poznań – Szczecin route ran in this way. Importantly, the heating boiler heated the attached cars, and the SN61 car itself was heated from the combustion engine system, with water from the cooling system.
The SN61 series cars were withdrawn from service in the early 90s of the 20th century. Several examples have survived, including two fully operational ones. One in the Open-Air Museum in Chabówka SN61-168. The car has a classic paint job, although a bit faded: light green – dark green. The second SN61-183 is in Szczecin and was renovated in 2014. The car was painted yellow – green.
SN61 construction.
At both ends, the car has driver’s control stations and it is possible to control multiple times even three working cars of this type. The SN61 car is not symmetrical. In the front, behind the cabin, there is equipment installed that is not at the other end. Also in this part there is a driving bogie, and at the other end only a rolling bogie. The diesel engine is placed in the car body. To muffle noise, the engine is covered with acoustic screens. In this part there is also a fuel tank, a water tank for the boiler and electrical cabinets. Behind the engine compartment there is a luggage compartment with five seats. Further on there are two passenger compartments separated by an entrance vestibule. The compartments are class 2 and are normally divided into smoking and non-smoking compartments. There are 24 seats in each compartment. The layout, type of seats and interior design are identical to those in the EN57 series car. The seats are medium soft and covered with leather. Metal (aluminum alloy) luggage racks are placed above the windows along the walls. There are six windows in each passenger compartment. Further on in the car there is a heating compartment and a toilet. All parts of the car are divided by walls with sliding doors. Most of the interior is finished with plywood: painted on the ceiling and polished on the walls. The floor is made of wood and has a thick insulating layer and is covered with linoleum.
Although the car has eight doors (four on one side and four on the other side), there is only one double door for passengers on each side, located closer to the center of the car. They are double, but limited by a central fixed pillar. Only these doors have steps for entry from both low and high platforms. The rest of the doors have ladders.
T-T SN61 data:
The service weight of the car is 57,800 kg, and its total length is 24.215 m, width 2.960 m, height 4.120 m. Wheel diameter 0.940 m. Design speed 108 km/h. The car has 48 seats, plus 5 bench-type seats in the luggage compartment. The car can take a maximum of 111 passengers. The car was designed in the B’2′ axle configuration.
The driving bogie has a wheelbase of 3,800 m. The transfer from the mechanical transmission to the wheel axles is by cardan shafts. The rolling bogie has a wheelbase of 2,500 m and a typical wagon suspension. The brakes are air. Under the body of the wagon there are compressed air tanks and a cabinet with batteries.
The SN61 wagon has a single Ganz-Jendrassik diesel engine, a 12-cylinder 12JV 17/24 with a power of 500 HP (368 kW), at 1,250 rpm. The last 50 examples of the SN61 series wagons used a Henschel engine with similar parameters. The transfer of drive from the engine to the wheels is by means of a mechanical transmission. The engine draws air from an intake located on the roof. The engine exhaust is also located on the roof.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman