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The New Zealand EW class locomotive was a class of electric locomotive used in Wellington, New Zealand. The classification 'EW' was due to their being electric locomotives allocated to Wellington. For two decades until the advent of the DX class they were the most powerful locomotives in New Zealand. == Introduction == The EW class were first ordered by New Zealand Railways from English Electric through their New Zealand agents Cory-Wright & Salmon in 1951 as a replacement for the earlier ED class electric locomotives on passenger duties. It was felt that the ED class was not suitable for this, and so EE was commissioned to build a twin-section articulated electric locomotive for use on the Wellington 1.5kV DC electrified system. The new EW class was the first locomotive class in New Zealand to utilise the Bo-Bo-Bo wheel arrangement, which would subsequently be copied on the Mitsubishi DJ class and Brush EF class. However, the EW class was different in that the central Jacobs bogie was placed under the articulation of the two body halves with limited sideplay, whereas the DJ and EF classes have a single fixed body with sideplay in the central bogie. During this time a proposal was made about building a Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo electric locomotive, which would essentially be a pair of EW class locomotives permanently coupled together as one locomotive. This was initially classified EWO, but later received the classification EX. However, this did not proceed as the CME felt that it would not be possible to re-engineer the EW class, which had been designed to work in Wellington, for the 1 in 33 gradients between Arthur's Pass and Otira. The locomotives would also need major alteration such as the fitting of rheostatic brakes, as used on the EO class, and multiple-unit equipment. It was intended that the EW class would work on all trains in the Wellington area, as well as banking trains between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「New Zealand EW class locomotive」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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