DRG Class E 44
| Industry | Railway |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 |
| Products | Electric locomotives (E 44 series) |
Overview
The E 44 series comprises electric locomotives designed for mixed-traffic duties, originally constructed for the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) beginning in 1930. This class is divided into two distinct technical variants: the E 44.0 and the E 44.5 subclasses.
E 44.0
The initial prototype, designated E 44 001, was constructed in 1930, followed by an additional 175 units numbered from E 44 002 to 175 and E 44 178, produced up until the conclusion of the Second World War.[1] Between 1950 and 1955, Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) commissioned eleven locomotives, delivered as E 44 176, 177, and E 44 179 through 187.[1] Two further locomotives were converted from E 244 prototypes in the years 1963 and 1965, receiving the numbers E 44 188 and 189.[2] This brought DB’s operational fleet to a total of 125 units.[3] By 1960, Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) had refurbished 46 locomotives that were returned from the Soviet Union. In a reclassification effort in 1968, DB renumbered its E 44 series to class 144, while those equipped with rheostatic braking—previously known as E 44W—were redesignated as class 145.[2] DR followed suit in 1970 by reclassifying these locomotives as class 244.[2] The final DR units were withdrawn from service in 1991. Preservation efforts have saved nineteen locomotives bearing the numbers E 44 001, 002, 044, 045, 046, 049, 051, 084, 103, 108, 119, 131, 137, 139, 143, 146, 148, 150, and the variant 170W.
E 44.5
Between the years of 1931 and 1935, one prototype along with eight additional E 44.5 locomotives entered service under numbers E 44 101 to E 44 109; these were renumbered to E 44 501 through E 44 509 starting in 1938.[4] Differing technically from the E 44.0 series, these units were specifically designed for operation on the Bad Reichenhall to Berchtesgaden railway route and primarily remained active there until their retirement by DB in 1983.[4] Two locomotives—E 44 502 and E 44 508—have been retained for preservation.
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E 44 136 at Leipzig Hauptbahnhof in May of 1958
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E 44 077 at München Ost station in the year 1967
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Locomotive number 144 505 at Freilassing depot during April 1979
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