Prelude

In 1908 the first electric train in the Netherlands ran from Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 to Den Haag and Scheveningen. It was electrified with a 10,000 volt AC power supply. After World War I the Dutch government decided to install a committee to investigate electrification of the Dutch State Railways, Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

, formed in 1917 but officially only instigated in 1937. For that, the committee members traveled the world to visit existing electrified railways. In the early 1920s they came to the conclusion that a 1500 volt DC system would be the best choice. Most Dutch electrified rolling stock were EMU

Electric multiple unit

An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

's. During World War II the German occupiers used these EMU sets to haul heavy freight trains for their war effort.

Origin of the Class 1000

NS management already had contact with the Swiss company Oerlikon

Oerlikon Contraves

Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products...

 about ordering a series of electric locos before the war. They were to be based on the Swiss Ae 4/6 type. In 1942 the series was ordered, but the war prevented delivery. The order was subsequently changed to suit Dutch needs. The "Schweizerische Lokomotivenfabrik Winterthur" (SLM) would build 3 complete locos and deliver the electrical equipment for the remaining 7. These 7 would be built in the Netherlands, by Werkspoor. The series would be numbered 1001-1010 and had 6 axles in a 2-2+2+2+2-2 or (1A)'Bo(A1)' configuration. This configuration was already used successfully on the electrified railway network on Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

, then a Dutch colony, but in the Netherlands it was a failure due to its complicated technology and high maintenance. The series was delivered in 1948 and stayed in use until 1982, despite its high failure rate. One loco, 1010, built by Werkspoor, is preserved as a static object in the Dutch National Railway Museum.