One of SBB Cargo’s principal maintenance depots is located at Bellinzona. At this depot both locomotives and goods wagons are serviced, modified, re-sprayed and re-equipped for further service. The workshop, with over 400 male and female staff, is one of the main employers in the canton of Ticino.

In addition to carrying out maintenance and other tasks, Bellinzona Industrial Workshop is currently adapting locomotives for cross-border freight operations between Switzerland and Germany. During the summer of 2003, work will commence on overhauling and modifying 13 SBB series Re 4/4 II universal locomotives, each with an in-service weight of 85 tonnes and a power rating of 4,452 kW - after work is completed they will bear the new designation Re 421. ”The make-over will take 11⁄2 years including project planning, technical preliminaries and workshop drawings,” explains Marco Guscetti, head of the locomotive modification project at Bellinzona. The cost of adapting the locomotives is a good investment in the opinion of the 45-year-old mechanical engineer because SBB Cargo’s strategy is to gain new traffic on the North-South axis between Cologne, Switzerland and Italy. Locomotives equipped for cross-border operations are indispensable.

Loco make-over in two phases
Before the Re 421 can run on the German rail system modifications have to be made to mechanical and electrical installations and the safety systems also have to be adapted. Work will be done in two phases. First, preliminary mechanical modifications and then fitting new equipment followed by operational testing.

In the first phase corrections are made to the locomotive’s external profile. Different profiles are required for the German rail (DB) system, so the snow plough on the front of the vehicle has to be reduced in size and the handrails used by drivers to enter and leave the cab and the oil and water separators on the body of the loco have to be repositioned. Compressed air cylinders are overhauled and checked to see that they conform to the German requirements for these components. New mounts and cable ducts are affixed to accommodate supplementary safety equipment. The locomotive is then sprayed in SBB Cargo’s corporate colours, red and blue, concluding the first phase.

During the second modification phase, Ivo Antognini - a skilled craftsman in the loco-motive maintenance department - carries out such tasks as regulating the contact pressure of a German-type current collector. ”Fine adjustment of pneumatically operated parts such as current collectors requires experience and the right touch because they are fragile, complex components. It’s important to prevent damage to the pantographs otherwise delays to services will occur and catenaries will also be damaged,” he explains. The Swiss series Re 421 loco has two current collectors, one of which is being replaced with a German type. The safety system used on the German Federal Railway has to be built in, the speedometer and tachometer have to be replaced and a German rail radio system also has to be installed. Then the machine is equipped with all the safety systems needed for both railways.

Air-conditioning for traction engines
In addition to performing mechanical modifications, the Bellinzona Industrial Workshop is also equipping driver’s cabs with air-conditioning. No luxury, rather an important feature: temperatures in the cabs often reach 45°C in the summer. The metal bodywork of the locomotive is transformed into an oven that does not cool down overnight. Building in a powerful air-conditioning system is complicated, but vital for the drivers. ”Openings are made in the side walls of the locomotive and service doors are added. Cable ducts are mounted, then the air-conditioner unit is mounted along with the electronic components, everything has to be cabled up and then tested in operation,” explains Fabrizio Mengozzi, the craftsman responsible for this stage. By the end of August 2003, a preliminary series of three Re 420 locomotives will be fitted with air-conditioning.

SBB Cargo’s rolling stock service
The Rolling Stock Servicing Unit, SBB Cargo’s second largest organisational unit, will continue to provide rail maintenance services on the whole North-South axis. First class infrastructure staffed by expert mechanics is already available at Bellinzona and at Biel engineering works and eleven other locations. Both principal maintenance depots are ideally situated geographically and from the access points of view. Bellinzona is at the junction of the important rail routes to Luino and Chiasso. Biel is on the southern line at the foot of the Jura mountains.

Bellinzona IW.- centre for locomotive and goods wagon maintenance
Bellinzona is the main depot for the greater part of the goods wagon and locomotive fleet while Biel repairs diesel traction engines, rail tractors and tank wagons. ”This means we maintain all of Cargo’s main-line locomotives. This includes general repairs and regular servicing of locomotives while still ensuring that they are used as economically as possible. In addition we modify various vehicles,” explains Marco Brocco, deputy manager of Bellinzona IW. Traction engine components such as electric motors, transformers, compressors and wheel bogies are also kept in good condition. Our second area of competence is providing total maintenance for 11,500 goods wagons, 1,800 wagons used by track maintenance and 2,100 vehicles belonging to Hupac AG.