#1957
SBB Ae 4/8
🇨🇭 Switzerland ·built by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works· from 1922· class of 1 Swiss prototype electric locomotive
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SBB Ae 4 8 11000 Grossmutter Anfangs der 1920er Jahren: unknown - repro by CoCo11417· Public domain
what is it?
The Ae 4/8 was a prototype locomotive of the Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen (Swiss Federal Railways) (SBB) for the testing of electrical operation. The locomotive was equipped with two different drives, therefore acquiring the nickname Bastard. Because of its three-part locomotive body it also acquired the nickname Tatzelwurm.
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 104 years ago, in 1922.
- 1.9 MW is about 22 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 21 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 21 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1922
- retired
- 1964
- status
- retired
- number built
- 1
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- builders
- Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Brown, Boveri & Cie
- operators
- Swiss Federal Railways
- top speed
- 90 km/h
- power
- 1.9 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- catenary
- wheel arrangement
- (1′Bo1′)+(1′Bo1′)
- length
- 21 m
- weight
- 127 t
- nicknames
- Bastard, Tatzelwurm, Grandmother
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1516766, Wikipedia: SBB Ae 4/8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.