PRR FF1

PRR FF1
Type and origin
Power type Electric
Builder Altoona Works
with Westinghouse
Build date 1917
Total produced 1
Specifications
AAR wheel arr. 1-C+C-1
UIC class (1'C)(C1')
Imperial class 1C+C1
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia. 36 in (914 mm)
Driver dia. 72 in (1,829 mm)
Length 76 ft 6 in (23.32 m)
Height 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Adhesive weight 439,500 lb (199,400 kilograms; 199.4 metric tons)
Loco weight 516,000 lb (234,100 kilograms; 234.1 metric tons)
Electric system(s) 11 kV  25 Hz AC Catenary
Current collection Pantograph
Traction motors 4 × Westinghouse model 451 1,910 hp (1,420 kW) three-phase motors
Transmission Rotary converter supplied 25Hz three phase alternating current fed to motors able to run at one of two speeds and connected to the drivers through Jackshafts and side rods
Performance figures
Maximum speed 20.6 mph (33.2 km/h)
Power output 4,600 hp (3,400 kW)
Tractive effort Continuous: 87,200 lbf (388 kN)
Starting: 140,000 lbf (620 kN)

The Pennsylvania Railroad's class FF1 was an American electric locomotive, a prototype numbered #3931 and nicknamed "Big Liz". It was built in 1917 to haul freight trains across the Allegheny Mountains where the PRR planned to electrify. "Big Liz" proved workable but too powerful for the freight cars of the time with its 4600 available horsepower and astonishing 140,000 lbf (620 kN) of tractive effort. Pulling the train it regularly snapped couplers and when moved to the rear as a pusher its force was sufficient to pop cars in the middle of the train off the tracks.

It had a 1-C+C-1 wheel arrangement in two half-frames, connected in the center. Each frame had a pair of three phase AC induction motors driving a jackshaft through gearing and a spring drive; side rods then drove the wheels. Three phase power for the 4 massive motors was supplied from the single phase overhead supply via a large rotary converter housed in the body of the locomotive. Combined rated output of the motors was 7,640 hp (5,700 kW), but the converter could only supply a short term 4,600 hp (3,400 kW) or a continuous 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). With three-phase induction motors there was no way to control the speed of the motors; changing the wiring of the motor poles allowed for two speed settings, 10.3 and 20.6 mph (16.6 and 33.2 km/h), which were considered enough to drag heavy freight trains up and down steep grades.

Its intended use as an Allegheny climber never realized and its power too much for the rolling stock in service at the time, Big Liz was sidelined until being cut up for scrap in 1940.

References

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