The class HGe 4/4 II is a narrow gauge electric locomotive for rack and adhesion operation. A first series of 5 locomotives was purchased starting in 1985 by the Furka-Oberalp Railroad and the SBB for the narrow gauge Brnig Railroad. These locomotives set new standards with a performance of 1,932 kilowatts that corresponds to about 2,600 horsepower and a maximum speed of 100 km / 63 mph and 40 km/h / 25 mph on rack routes. Since the locomotives turned out so well, additional units were purchased starting in 1990 so that ultimately the SBB and the FO each had 8 and the Brig-Visp-Zermatt Railroad had 5 units on their rosters. These locomotives are still currently in use, on the Matterhorn-Gotthard Railroad of the earlier FO and BVZ, on the Central Railroad of the former SBB-Brnig Railroad. As motive power for the Glacier Express trains on the MGB between Zermatt and Disentis, as well as the automobile shuttle train on the Furka Tunnel between Oberwald and Realp, the locomotives are marvelous performers. In recent years, the MGB has begun to give the locomotives a complete overhaul. In addition to new electronics, the headlights with LED technology and a new paint scheme mark external changes to the locomotives. These locomotives will thus be in service for many more years in the Swiss mountains. MGB Locomotive Number 3 DOM has different colleague promotion on both sides that has turned this unit into a real attention getter.
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