343 - Märklin 3356 electric locomotive SBB Crocodile Be 6/8 III in green, gauge H0

Märklin 3356 electric locomotive SBB Crocodile Be 6/8 III in green, gauge H0 Electric locomotive of gauge H0 by Märklin, article number 3356, model of the SBB Crocodile of the Be 6/8 III class. Three-part articulated body with long noses, green plastic housing, wheel arrangement 1'C+C1' with rod drive, two pantographs. The packaging is not original; the box bears a label with the number 3356 and shows storage marks. The locomotive's function has been tested and is present. Played-with condition. The track section shown serves only for presentation. The absence of smaller, delicate add-on parts cannot be entirely ruled out. The SBB procured the Ce 6/8 III as a further development of the first Crocodile Ce 6/8 II; in 1926 and 1927 nine machines each entered service, a total of 18 with the numbers 14301 to 14318. The mechanical part was supplied by SLM Winterthur, the electrical part by the Oerlikon Machine Works. Their task was heavy goods-train service over the Gotthard ramps, where at a gradient of 10 per mille they hauled 1,400 tonnes at 35 km/h. After an increase in output they ran as Be 6/8 III and received in the 1950s the new numbers 13301 to 13318, which the model also bears. The nickname Crocodile, arising from the articulated form with the far-projecting noses, passed well beyond Switzerland into the vocabulary of railway enthusiasts.