Elettro(auto)treni/EMU-DMU

In the 30's the FS had started a massive electrification of the Italian railways. 

On the completed 'direttissima' line, between Milan and Rome, the ETR200 class was launched, transporting the elite with speed and elegance. 

However not all lines could be electrified, so FS commissioned to FIAT a combustion engine train that would equal the speed and comfort of the ETR200. 

This was the Auto Treno Rapido 100 i.e. ATR100.

FIAT used a lot of the technology that had been employed in the succesful Littorine.

However the result was not equally successful. A wheel arrangement (1A)2’2′(A1), so only 2 motorised  wheelsets propelling a mass of 82,100 kg, meant that the train was prone to slippage at the start and had poor climbing performance.

The ATR100 construction programme started in 1936 was finished only in 1940. With WWII raging, the services for which the ATR100 were designed were not needed. At the end of the war, only 5 of the 9 built had survived bombing.

They were put back in use, initially to serve mass transport and later, after a complete overhaul, for 1st class services.

But soon the electrification of the network made these trains obsolete and in 1961 they were all retired and scrapped.

Like other trains of the same epoch, I loved the ATR100 and always wanted to realise it.

Trouble was that the train has a very narrow lower body and very long bogies. A combination that makes an accurate model of the train unable to negotiate the tight radii of the Z scale.

I had two options: to inflate the model or to tweak the wheel arrangement.

The first option would have altered the aestetics of the prototype. The second option could maintain it. I went for the second.

So I rendered the model in perfet scale and printed it in transparent resin [1],[2]

I transformed the wheel arrangement suppressing all bogies and mounting all the wheelsets on the chassis. So I turned the train from (1A)2’2′(A1)  wheel arrangement into a 3B3.

The two head units have 3 wheelsets, the outermost made in plastics and without flange. The central unit has a 2 wheelsets powered by a central dual-shaft motor.

All wheelsets are suspended by means of springy metal leves that have conical recesses, where the conical ends of the wheelset engage.

The articulation between the central section and the outer ones is realised by means of  two magnetic cylinders that roll between convex nickel plates mounted at the bulkhead end of each sections.

I am happy to see that the train moves at all, considering that for long time I thought it was a model that could not be made.

The class ETR200 (Elettro Treno Rapido = Fast Electric Train) was conceived in1934 and delivered in a first batch of 6 in 1936. A second batch of 8 was delivered in 1938.

The design specifications were ambitious (commercial speed of 130km/h) but during the development of the train the fascist government required even higher performance.

The expectations were met, thanks to the aerodynamic design (the so called 'viper head' was developed in the wind tunnel at Turin Polytechnic) and the use of light alloys ,the train was fast.

On 20 July 1939 ETR212 established the world record for commercial speed running over the 315 km between Florence and Milan at the average speed of 164km/h with peak speed of 203 km/h.

I have always admired the aesthetics of this train and I had intended to model it sooner or later. The occasion came with the creation of my third generation of bogies with 3 metres (in reals scale) axle distance.

With these new bogies, I could realise the motor plant in the Jacobs bogies (previous generations did not allow that)

So here is the result (still to be painted) of the modelling effort  

The first riding tests went well.

to be written

The first single specimen of the Tren Articulado Liger Goicoechea Oriol was tried on Spanish railways in 1942, showing the benefit of the simple yet revolutionary idea of Alejandro Goicoechea: constructing a perfectly isostatic support for a train by using single axles connected by triangular mounts. 

Somehow the first TALGO was not a success. The TALGO company could not afford to build more trains because of the war raging in Europe.

The TALGO owners contracted the American Car and Foundry (ACF) company to build 3 trains. 

About the engines, as ACF had only  experience in making coaches, General Motors was tasked to develop what became the RENFE 350 locomotive.

ACF thought it could sell TALGO trains in the US. So they also built a fourth train, named Talgo 1955  which was used as demonstrator around the US. Eventually  only three additional trains were sold by ACF to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, making the iconic Jet Rocket train.

The 3 trains made for RENFE arrived in Spain in 1949. The first service between Madrid and Irún was started in summer 1950 and continued till end of 1964. 

A 2-part documentary on youtube shows the construction (1) and deployment (2) of the TALGO II.

The three locomotives were named,  on request of the Oriol family (at that time sole owner of the TALGO company) as 'Virgen de Aranzazu',  'Virgen de Begoña' and 'Virgen del Pilar'. When the ACF 'TALGO 1955'  was eventually purchased by RENFE and brought to Spain, it received the name 'Virgen de Montserrat'.

I think the TALGO trains are ideal trains for railroad modelling.  The  very short coaches (only 6147 mm in the prototype) are well suited for the small radii of the track used in layouts.

My model is as usual 3D printed. The model of the entire train is made of 5  different parts:

1. locomotive shell

2. locomotive chassis for rokuhan shorty components

3. viajeros  coaches shells

4. equipajes coaches

5. testero coach

Each coach hosts just one wheelset and includes the couplings See the two ends of a coach in (4).

Before printing an entire train (the TALGO usually had between 12 and 16 coaches) I printed a small set (5) , to try how the track riding properties were. 

After few adjustments I printed a 12 coaches train.

It runs very well (6) and I really like the way it slithers on the track.

The TALGO II trains could only travel in one direction so they needed to turn around on dedicated wyes like the famous "triángulo de Aravaca" near Madrid.

My model also travels well in reverse (7).

After having modelled almost all Italian trains, I started to model all trains FIAT sold in Spain in the 40's, 50's and 60's 

Having modelled the Littorinas, the TAF and TER I realised the incredible variety of the Spanish railways.

Spain got for many years trains from all over the world, yet the most exotic varieties were Spanish born.

The Talgo trains are extremely unique and an iconic contribution of Spain to the world of railways.

So I got hooked up by the Talgo. Before I show you how I'd like to give you a bit of history.

The first single specimen of the Tren Articulado Liger Goicoechea Oriol was tried on Spanish railways in 1942, showing the benefit of the simple yet revolutionary idea of Alejandro Goicoechea: constructing a perfectly isostatic support for a train by using single axles connected by triangular mounts. 

The TALGO company could not afford to build more trains. 

In 1950 they managed to have financial backing to have new trains built by the American Car and Foundry (ACF) company. ASF thought it could sell TALGO trains in the US. Only three trains were sold to by ACF to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, making the iconic Jet Rocket train.

This second generation had quite some operational issues: only four trains were too few to make a frequent service, the first Talgas had minimal power and finally the trains were irreversible, so they had to be turned around in purposely designed wyes. 

Welcome the third generation. The TALGO III was designed in 1962 to overcome the issues of the second generation. 10 train sets were made from the beginning, very powerful locomotives (the so called 2000T) derived from the V200 were ordered to Krauss-Maffei, finally the trains were made reversible. 

I liked very much the aesthetics of TALGO III trains with the 353 locomotives. So I decided I would make it.

I designed the elements for a 6 coach TALGO III made of 2nd class terminal + 2nd class middle + cafeteria + 1st class + 2nd class + baggage car terminal.

All cars are printed in a single print with a FDM printer. I will make better prints when I know everything works. 

Regrettably I have not found an easy solution for motoring the SERIE 353. 

However I discovered that the Talgo III that made the Miranda-Bilbao-Miranda route used two specially modified serie 350 in tandem.

The tiny serie 350 could easily be motorized using a a Rokuhan Shorty.

So I designed and printed few shells of the 350 and also designed and printed a chassis that could host, without modifications, the components (bogies, motor and PCB) of the shorty. 

In the 90's and early 2000 DB run TALGO VII trains between Berlin and Munich. These were called DB InterCityNight

Having modelled the TALGO III I thought I could develop this train with the same recipe.

A typical InterCityNight had 8 different types of cars (1) .

I managed to make the first type of car: a WLAz889.

I printed three of WLAz889 with a FDM printer, to check how they would come out and compose.

Each car still misses details (such as the wheel suspension and bearing).

I also made a first set of decals. These are meant also to simulate the glass panes thanks to unprinted areas.

The cars came well together and the coupling works on the rokuhan standard curves.

I made the cars type Ddz 881 and Dz882., which terminate the train at the two ends.

The car with two wheelsets is very important as now the train can actually run

So I now can test the dynamic behaviour of the cars.

Here they are very unlikely being pulled by a  SNCF BB67309