As early as 1913 the RhB purchased 7 units of the class Ge 2/4 small electric locomotive. This locomotive was so to speak a half Ge 4/6 as far as propulsion and electrical equipment were concerned. The 8.70 meter / 28 foot 6 inch long and 37 metric ton heavy locomotives had a performance of 210 kilowatts / 285 horsepower and reached a maximum speed of 45 km/h / 28 mph. The requirements set for these locomotives were a bit too much for them, problems kept cropping up mostly in the area of the electrical equipment. Between 1943 and 1946 three units were converted to switch engines with a central cab and they were rostered as road numbers 211 – 213. Two more locomotives were thoroughly modernized. They were given a new traction motor, additional resistance brakes – a pantograph was removed for these resistance brakes so that these two locomotives, road numbers 221 and 222, developed almost double the performance as the original version, namely 428 kilowatts or 582 horsepower. At the same time the weight was lowered to 30 metric tons, and the maximum speed climbed to 55 km/h / 34 mph. In 1998, road number 221 was scrapped, road number 222 continued as a museum locomotive and it can be encountered on the entire core network of the RhB on special runs.
Highlights
This is a model of the RhB class Ge 2/4 electric locomotive, road number 222, in the version as it presently exists as an historic locomotive. The roof has a pantograph and resistance brakes. The pantograph has a mechanism and can be raised and lowered in digital operation. The paint scheme and lettering is prototypical for Era VI. Both driving wheelsets are driven by a powerful, ball bearing motor, and there are traction tires. The locomotive is equipped with an mfx/DCC decoder with many sound and light functions such as headlights / marker lights that change over with the direction of travel, cab lighting, and much more.
Length over the buffers 38 cm / 14-15/16.
