Italian State Railway E.432

The E.432 was an electric express locomotive for the Northern Italian three-phase network. It was ordered in 1926 as an improved successor of the E.431, which did not live up to expectations. In 1928, Breda built 40 locomotives of this class. Soon these could be seen in nearly all corners of the three-phase network.

They still had four driving axles with one carrying axle on each end, connected to the adjacent driving axle via a Zara bogie. With a continuous output of 2,200 kW, they had 300 kW more power than the E.431 and were the most powerful locomotives on the three-phase network. A new feature on this network were the diamond-shaped pantographs on the E.432. Through serial-parallel switching and pole switching, the locomotives had four sustained speeds of 37.5, 50, 75 and 100 km/h. The resistors were not cooled by a closed water circuit, but by soda solution that evaporated through a chimney into the environment.

After World War II, their operations were limited to a smaller number of depots. Nevertheless, they were only withdrawn in 1976 when three-phase operations in Italy ceased. Today, two are preserved in museums. E.432.001 can be found at Pietrarsa, while E.432.031 is at Savigliano.