FS E.323 and E.324

FS locomotives E.323 and E.324
FS locomotive E.323.018 in service at Genova Brignole railway station on March 10, 1996.
Type and origin Power type Electric Builder Tecnomasio Build date 1st series: 1966-1967; 2nd series: 1970-1971. Total produced 30 E.323 + 10 E.324
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC C Wheel diameter 1,040 mm (41 in) Wheelbase: ​  • Leading 4,000 mm (13 ft) (1,500 + 2,500 mm [4.9 + 8.2 ft]) Length 9,240 mm (30.31 ft) Height 3,700 mm (12.1 ft) Loco weight 46 tonnes (45 long tons; 51 short tons) Power supply Direct current at 3 kV Gear ratio 1:15.8 (Vmax32 km/h [20 mph]); 1:7.54 (Vmax 64 km/h [40 mph]).
Performance figures Maximum speed 64 km/h (40 mph) Power output: ​  • 1 hour 210 kW (280 hp)  • Continuous 190 kW (250 hp) Tractive effort: ​  • Starting 147 kN (33,000 lbf)  • 1 hour 91.2 kN (20,500 lbf) at 6.66 km/h (4.14 mph)  • Continuous 82.4 kN (18,500 lbf) at 7.44 km/h (4.62 mph)

The E.323 locomotives and E.324 motor trailers were two sets of 3000 V direct current electric locomotives of the Italian State Railways (FS) used for shunting service in large rail yards and in embarking and disembarking from ferries.

Unlike the E.323s, the E.324s were locomotives lacking the driver's cab and pantograph and were used in double traction with multiple control with the former to double their performance.

They constituted the sequel to the FS E.321 and E.322 classes, of which they resumed the design of the electrical part, updated on the basis of experience in operation and technological advances, while the mechanical part was designed from scratch.^[1]

In the early 1970s, as part of a collaboration between the FS and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rome "La Sapienza," it was decided to use a unit from the E.323 class to develop the design and testing of an electronic converter suitable for powering a three-phase traction motor, an idea later abandoned as a result of developments in power electronics related to the design of the E.402 locomotives. This would have been the world's first application of a three-phase traction motor to a 3 kV DC locomotive.