1.
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
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Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works were a railway equipment manufacturer based in Winterthur in Switzerland. Much of the mountain railway equipment was constructed by them. The company was founded in 1871 by the British engineer Charles Brown, SLM built both steams and electric locomotives, including the crocodile type. From 1992, SLM returned to producing steam locomotives designed around advanced steam technology principles and this included rebuilding DR Class 52.80 locomotive number 528055. In 1998 the Cog-Railway division was sold to Stadler Rail, the Engineering division via Adtranz to Bombardier Transportation, the remaining Business was renamed as Sulzer-Winpro AG and as part of a Management Buyout in 2001 renamed in Winpro AG. The Advanced Steam division was sold in 2000 to DLM AG, in October 2001 the Measurement Division was sold to PROSE AG. Winpro AG was sold on 7 September 2005 to Stadler Rail, SLM Factories Jakob Buchli - a railway pioneer with the SLM
2.
Brown, Boveri & Cie
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Brown, Boveri was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Baden, Switzerland, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown, in 1970 BBC took over the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1988 it merged with ASEA to form ABB Group, a company producing DC Motors, AC motors, generators, turbochargers, transformers, some of BBCs technology went into German U-boats of World War II, such as the depth controls. BBC Brown Boveri was established in 1891, the company was one of only a few multinational corporations to operate subsidiaries that were larger than the parent company. The merger with ASEA, a company which was praised for its management, was expected to help Brown Boveri reorganize. Brown Boveris early activities included manufacturing electrical components such as motors for locomotives. At the same time, in the Swiss domestic market, production increased while sales remained static. In 1924 Brown Boveri devalued its capital by 30 percent to cover the losses it had incurred, in 1927 the agreement with Vickers ran out and was not renewed. During the same time, Brown Boveris various subsidiaries grew rapidly, industrialization throughout Europe created strong demand for the companys heavy electrical equipment. For the next few decades Brown Boveri grew as fast as technological developments in electrical engineering, the company, nevertheless, excelled at power generation, including nuclear power generators, and prospered in this field. Electrification in the Third World also provided Brown Boveri with substantial profits, in 1970 Brown Boveri began an extensive reorganization. The companys subsidiaries were divided into five groups, German, French, Swiss, medium-sized, each of these groups was further broken down into five product divisions, power generation, electronics, power distribution, traction equipment, and industrial equipment. Throughout the 1970s, Brown Boveri struggled to expand into the US market, while Brown Boveri counted a handful of major U. S. S. markets. During the electrification of the British West Coast Main Line in the early 1970s, in 1974 Brown Boveri acquired the British controls and instrument manufacturer, George Kent. The newly acquired company was renamed Brown Boveri Kent, in the mid-1970s growing demand in the Middle East for large power-generating facilities distracted the company from its push into North America. Oil-rich African nations, like Nigeria, attempting to diversify their manufacturing capabilities also created new markets for Brown Boveris heavy electrical engineering expertise, in the early 1980s Brown Boveris sales flattened out and the companys earnings declined. In 1983 Brown Boveris German subsidiary in Mannheim, West Germany, in spite of an increase in orders, the companys cost structure kept earnings down. In 1986 the parent company acquired a significant block of shares in the Mannheim subsidiary, in the later 1980s Brown Boveri took steps to reduce duplication of research and development among its various groups
3.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
4.
Railway electrification system
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A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure, selection of an electrification system is based on economics of energy supply, maintenance, and capital cost compared to the revenue obtained for freight and passenger traffic. Different systems are used for urban and intercity areas, some electric locomotives can switch to different supply voltages to allow flexibility in operation, Electric railways use electric locomotives to haul passengers or freight in separate cars or electric multiple units, passenger cars with their own motors. Electricity is typically generated in large and relatively efficient generating stations, transmitted to the railway network, some electric railways have their own dedicated generating stations and transmission lines but most purchase power from an electric utility. The railway usually provides its own lines, switches and transformers. Power is supplied to moving trains with a continuous conductor running along the track usually takes one of two forms. The first is a line or catenary wire suspended from poles or towers along the track or from structure or tunnel ceilings. Locomotives or multiple units pick up power from the wire with pantographs on their roofs that press a conductive strip against it with a spring or air pressure. Examples are described later in this article, the second is a third rail mounted at track level and contacted by a sliding pickup shoe. Both overhead wire and third-rail systems usually use the rails as the return conductor. In comparison to the alternative, the diesel engine, electric railways offer substantially better energy efficiency, lower emissions. Electric locomotives are usually quieter, more powerful, and more responsive and they have no local emissions, an important advantage in tunnels and urban areas. Different regions may use different supply voltages and frequencies, complicating through service, the limited clearances available under catenaries may preclude efficient double-stack container service. Possible lethal electric current due to risk of contact with high-voltage contact wires, overhead wires are safer than third rails, but they are often considered unsightly. These are independent of the system used, so that. The permissible range of voltages allowed for the voltages is as stated in standards BS EN50163. These take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation, railways must operate at variable speeds. Until the mid 1980s this was only practical with the brush-type DC motor, since such conversion was not well developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century, most early electrified railways used DC and many still do, particularly rapid transit and trams
5.
Overhead line
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An overhead line or overhead wire is used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses, or trains. Overhead line is designed on the principle of one or more overhead wires situated over rail tracks, the feeder stations are usually fed from a high-voltage electrical grid. Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph and it presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram, non-electric locomotives may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and this article does not cover regenerative braking, where the traction motors act as generators to retard movement and return power to the overhead. To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire or catenary. This wire approximates the path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of catenary to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as droppers or drop wires. It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link, the whole system is then subjected to a mechanical tension. As the contact wire makes contact with the pantograph, the insert on top of the pantograph is worn down. The straight wire between supports will cause the wire to cross over the whole surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve, causing uniform wear. On straight track, the wire is zigzagged slightly to the left. The movement of the wire across the head of the pantograph is called the sweep. The zigzagging of the line is not required for trolley poles. Depot areas tend to have only a wire and are known as simple equipment or trolley wire. When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was only at low speeds. Compound equipment - uses a second wire, known as the auxiliary
6.
Current collector
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Those for overhead wires are roof-mounted devices, those for third rails are mounted on the bogies. Typically, they have one or more spring-loaded arms that permit the working engagement with the rail or overhead wire, the collector arm pushes the contact shoe against the contact wire or rail. As the vehicle moves, the shoe slides along the wire or rail to draw the electricity needed to run the vehicles motor. The current collector arms are electrically conductive but mounted insulated on the vehicles roof, an insulated cable connects the collector with the switch, transformer or motor. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. Electric vehicles that collect their current from an overhead line system use different forms of one- or two-arm pantograph collectors, the current collection device presses against the underside of the lowest wire of an overhead line system, which is called a contact wire. Most overhead supply systems are either DC or single phase AC, three phase AC systems use a pair of overhead wires, and paired trolley poles. Electric railways with third rails, or fourth rails, in tunnels carry collector shoes projecting laterally, or vertically, the contact shoe may slide on top of the third rail, on the bottom or on the side. The side running contact shoe is used against the bars on rubber-tired metros. A vertical contact shoe is used on power supply systems, stud contact systems. A pair of shoes was used on underground current collection systems. The contact shoe on a contact system is called a ski collector. The ski collector moves vertically to accommodate variations in the height of the studs. Contact shoes may also be used on overhead conductor rails, on bars or on trolley wires. Most railways use three rails, while the London Underground uses four rails
7.
Pantograph (transport)
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A pantograph is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train, tram or electric bus to collect power through contact with an overhead catenary wire. It is a type of current collector. Typically, a wire is used, with the return current running through the track. The term stems from the resemblance of some styles to the mechanical pantographs used for copying handwriting, the pantograph was invented in 1879 by Walter Reichel, chief engineer at Siemens & Halske in Germany. A flat slide-pantograph was invented in 1895 at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The familiar diamond-shaped roller pantograph was invented by John Q. Brown of the Key System shops for their commuter trains ran between San Francisco and the East Bay section of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. They appear in photographs of the first day of service,26 October 1903, for many decades thereafter, the same diamond shape was used by electric-rail systems around the world and remains in use by some today. The most common type of today is the so-called half-pantograph. Louis Faiveley invented this type of pantograph in 1955, the half-pantograph can be seen in use on everything from very fast trains to low-speed urban tram systems. The electric transmission system for electric rail systems consists of an upper. The pantograph is spring-loaded and pushes a contact shoe up against the underside of the wire to draw the current needed to run the train. The steel rails of the act as the electrical return. As the train moves, the shoe slides along the wire and can set up standing waves in the wires which break the contact. This means that on some systems adjacent pantographs are not permitted, pantographs are the successor technology to trolley poles, which were widely used on early streetcar systems. However, many of these networks, including Torontos, are undergoing upgrades to accommodate pantograph operation, as a precaution against loss of pressure in the second case, the arm is held in the down position by a catch. For high-voltage systems, the air supply is used to blow out the electric arc when roof-mounted circuit breakers are used. Pantographs may have either a single or a double arm, double-arm pantographs are usually heavier, requiring more power to raise and lower, but may also be more fault-tolerant. On railways of the former USSR, the most widely used pantographs are those with a double arm, some streetcars use double-arm pantographs, among them the Russian KTM-5, KTM-8, LVS-86 and many other Russian-made trams, as well as some Euro-PCC trams in Belgium
8.
Rhaetian Railway
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The Rhaetian Railway, abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Inaugurated in 1888 and expanded from 1896 onwards in various sections, the Rhaetian Railway serves a number of major tourist destinations, such as St Moritz and Davos. One of the RhB lines, the Bernina Railway, crosses the Bernina Pass at 2,253 metres above sea level and connects with the Italian railway network at Tirano, Lombardy. In 2008, the RhB section from the Albula/Bernina area was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Albula-Bernina line is the first rail line in the world to be photographed and put on Google Street View. The establishment of the Rhaetian Railway traces back to Dutchman Willem Jan Holsboer, Holsboer founded the Lanquart-Davos AG to begin construction of a standard-gauge line, but the mountainous terrain lacked sufficient space. On 29 June 1888, a ceremony took place for a narrow-gauge railway instead. In 1895, Holsboer changed his companys name to the Rhaetian Railway to reflect his plans for network expansion, in 1897, a referendum was held for the Rhaetian Railway to bid on operations of the Graubünden/Grisons State Railways. During the years 1907 to 1910, the Rhaetian Railway, in collaboration with the federal and cantonal governments, in 1896, the Chur-Thusis line opened, this was followed by the Albula line in 1903 and the series of expansion projects carried on until 1922. All RhB lines are 1,000 mm metre gauge wide,321 km is electrified at 11 kV16.7 Hz. The network contains 84 tunnels and 383 bridges, the maximum gradient is 7% on the Bernina railway, 6% on the Chur–Arosa line and 4. 5% on Landquart–Davos line. Current passenger services as operated by the RhB, In 2002 the annual traffic carried by the RhB was 300 million passenger-kilometres and 54 million tonne-kilometres of freight, 80% of the passenger income comes from tourist traffic, although 40% of passengers are local commuters. The Landquart-Davos line is the oldest in the Rhaetian Railway network, after leaving Landquart, the line to Davos crosses the river Landquart, and then generally follows the river upstream as far as Klosters, crossing the river several times along the way. Just beyond Klosters, there are two tunnels, one of these is for the Vereina line. The other, the Klosters loop tunnel, takes the Davos line at a 45 degree angle towards the west, the line to Davos then loops back towards the east, inside the Cavadürli loop tunnel, and continues through dense larch and other coniferous forests to the Davos Laret. The highest point on the line is the stop, Davos Wolfgang. Then the line back down and along Lake Davos to Davos Dorf. The connecting line from Davos Platz to the Albula Railway at Filisur passes through wild gorges, the Davos–Filisur line is 19 km long, runs through 14 tunnels extending a total of 4,200 m in length, and crosses 28 bridges. Starting in the Rhine valley, the Landquart-Thusis line runs more or less parallel with the Swiss Federal Railways Sargans-Landquart-Chur standard gauge line as far as Chur, the line to Thusis then simply follows the course of the Rhine to Bonaduz
9.
Grisons
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Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The name Graubünden translates as the Grey Leagues, referring to the origin in three local alliances, the League of Gods House, the Grey League, and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions. Grisons is also home to three of Switzerlands ethnic groups and the subsequent languages of Swiss German, Italian and Romansh are all native to the canton and it is the only officially trilingual canton and the only canton where the Romansh language has official status. Area-wise Grisons is Switzerlands largest canton at 7,105.2 square kilometres,19. 2% larger than the Canton of Bern, only about a third of this is commonly regarded as productive land of which forests cover about a fifth of the total area. The canton is entirely mountainous, comprising the highlands of the Rhine, in its southeastern part lies the only official Swiss National Park. In its northern part the mountains were formed as part of the thrust fault that was declared a geologic UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, in 2008. Another Biosphere Reserve is the Biosfera Val Müstair adjacent to the Swiss National Park whereas Ela Nature Park is one of the regionally supported parks. Elevations in the Grison Alps include Tödi, at 3,614 metres, many of the mountain ranges feature extensive glaciers, such as at the Adula, the Albula, the Silvretta, the Bernina, the Bregaglia and the Rätikon ranges. The mountain ranges in the area are very deep, some being considered the deepest valleys in Europe. These valleys were settled by the Raetians. Grisons borders on the cantons of St. Gallen to the northwest, Glarus, Uri to the west and it also shares international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The inhabitants of Grisons are called Bündner or Grisonians, most of the lands of the canton were once part of a Roman province called Raetia which was established in 15 BC. The current capital of Grisons, Chur, was known as Curia in Roman times, the area later was part of the lands of the diocese at Chur. In 1367 the League of Gods House was founded to resist the power of the Bishop of Chur. This was followed by the establishment of the Grey League, sometimes called Oberbund, the name Grey League is derived from the homespun grey clothes worn by the people and was used exclusively after 16 March 1424. The name of this later gave its name to the canton of Grisons. A third league was established in 1436 by the people of ten bailiwicks in the former Toggenburg countship, the league was called League of the Ten Jurisdictions
10.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
