#1868
SBB Be 4/6 12301
🇨🇭 Switzerland ·built by Oerlikon Works· from 1919· class of 1 Swiss test electric locomotive
what is it?
The Be 4/6 12301 was a locomotive ordered by Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB, Swiss Federal Railways) in June 1917 to test the electrification of the Gotthard railway. It was one of four test units ordered. It was used for passenger and freight services from 1919 to 1937, and was destroyed in a fire in 1963.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 107 years ago, in 1919.
- Weighs about as much as 18 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 16.2 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 44 years (1919–1963).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1919
- in service from
- 1919
- retired
- 1963
- status
- retired
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- builders
- Oerlikon Works
- operators
- Swiss Federal Railways
- top speed
- 75 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- (1’B)+(B1’)
- length
- 16.2 m
- weight
- 107 t
- nicknames
- Doryphore
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1430132, Wikipedia: SBB Be 4/6 12301 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.