Belgian Railways Class 27

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Class 27 were the first of the Belgian Railways' large 1980s family of 144 electric locomotives. The family was made up of Classes 11 (12), 12 (12), 21 (60) and 27 (60). Classes 11, 12 and 21 were nearly twice as powerful as the preceding classes 22, 23 and 25. The Class 27 was more than twice as powerful as these 1950s locomotives. The family was heavily influenced by the Class 202 locomotives built in the mid 1970s. They were very reliable because of the trial and error development of their predecessors. This family came into service with M4 and M5 coaching stock and the AM80 and AM86 series of electric multiple units. This generation was a major modernisation even if the older M2 coaching stock remained active for more than a decade. These four sister classes were visually identical except for a few minor details. Class 11's livery was specific to the Benelux service, which they operated for most of their service lives. Class 27 locomotives have been the staple power for SNCB/NMBS for over 40 years. They worked all over the 3000 volt electrified lines including the occasional trip through to Luxembourg City. The arrival of Class 13 had little impact on Class 27 at the time as the 13s were occupied with trains of I11 coaching stock and goods trains working on newly electrified sections under 25,000 volts, 50 Hz, where Class 27s could not go. Class 27s were frequently engaged in pulling heavy freights from the Flemish ports to the sorting yard at Montzen, near the German border. They also pulled a number of passenger services including peak hour trains of M5 double deck coaching stock. They became very active on trains with the newer M6 stock. Locomotives 2742 to 2760 were modified with MUX and...