China Railways SS1

The Shaoshan 1, abbreviated SS1, is a type of AC-powered electric locomotive used by China Railway, and it was the first Chinese electric main line locomotive. The Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works built it with the assistance of the Soviet Union, following the design of the Soviet N6O electric locomotive, the SZD VL60. It takes industrial-frequency single-phase AC power and has a Co-Co axle arrangement. The first prototype, numbered 6Y1-001 and using an ignitron-controlled rectifier, was produced in 1958, and six more prototypes followed between 1962 and 1966, with a silicon semiconductor-controlled rectifier from number 004 onwards. After studying the French 6Y2 locomotive, Zhuzhou reworked the design, and the eighth locomotive, built in 1968, was renamed SS1, the letters standing for Shaoshan. The model went out of production in 1988 after 826 had been built, 7 of the 6Y1 and 819 of the SS1. Twelve examples are listed as preserved, among them SS1-008 at the China Railway Museum.