NSB El 3

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "NSB El 3" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Norwegian. (November 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Norwegian Wikipedia article at [[:no:El 3]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|no|El 3}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

NSB El 3 was an electric locomotive used by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) to transport iron ore on the Ofoten Line. Five twin-locomotive sets were in service from 1925 to 1967.

The Swedish part of the ore line, the Iron Ore Line, was electrified in 1915 but Norway kept using steam locomotives until the Norwegian electrification in 1923. As Norwegian traction the El 3 was chosen along with five triple-engine El 4 units. Eight El 3 were built with delivery on August 9, 1925, two more on October 19, 1929. The El 3 and El 4 had about the same characteristics and used for the same purpose and ordered simultaneously; choosing two models like this is atypical for railway companies because of higher maintenance costs.

By 1922 SJ had placed an order on the new Of-locomotives, yet NSB chose to base the El 3 on the older Oe. Build by ASEA, they were equipped with quill drive and regenerative braking; the latter only caused problems though, excessively increasing the current that caused damage. They only served on the Norwegian lines until 1949, after which they were where put into through trains to Kiruna. In 1950 LKAB decided to increase the mine output, requiring trains now to haul 3,100 tonnes (3,051 long tons; 3,417 short tons). In 1953-54 the locomotives were rebuilt to three triple-engine sets and supplemented with eight El 12. When LKAB chose to increase train weights more in the late 1960s, NSB responded with the order of the El 15. All El 3 and El 4 units were taken out of service with the delivery in 1967, none being preserved.

• Jernbane.net page on El 3 with pictures (in Norwegian)