Märklin 30501 - Double Set - SBB/CFF/FFS - 11412 Zurich + 11410 Basel - MFX - MHI

About the locomotives - for enthusiasts

60 years of Ae 6/6 service In the late 1940s, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) once again intensively reviewed the problem of rail transport over the Gotthard route. Extensive research led to the conclusion that for the ever-increasing train load, a new locomotive type with six series of drive axles, without leading axles, with a weight of around 120 tons and a power of 4,300 kW had to be built. After a development and manufacturing period of almost three years, both prototypes of the Ae6/6 were completed and put into service in the autumn of 1952 and January 1953. With the overcoming of a few teething problems and especially the installation of laterally elastically mounted wheel sets as well as a reduction of the wheel flange of the middle bogie wheels, SBB started series production in 1954. In the years 1955 to 1966, a total of 118 more units were delivered. It soon became clear that the Ae 6/6 11401-11520 were a great success and that a "new Gotthard locomotive" was shining on the horizon. The only drawback of the Ae 6/6 remained the bogies, which acted as a downright "rail thumper" on certain sections and caused excessive wear of the superstructure. The first 25 locomotives are often called Canton locomotives, because they bore the coats of arms of the 25 Swiss cantons. On the sides of the locomotive body were chrome trim strips and at the ends a nose. These decorations as well as the coats of arms on the side walls were very popular and made these powerful locomotives popular throughout Europe. The other 95 series locomotives received the coats of arms of cantonal capitals as well as important towns and cities. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Ae 6/6 served exclusively as the Gotthard locomotive in both passenger and freight traffic. A real competitor only appeared in 1975 with the arrival of the almost twice as powerful Re 6/6. The former Gotthard stars now had to make do with lesser services and moved to the central region and the Jura. Since the mid-1990s, they were almost exclusively found in freight service. A first major wave of decommissioning took place in 2009/2010, and in December 2013, the last scheduled deployment ceased. The Ae 6/6 had been retired.