DRG Class E 44

The class E 44 is a type of electric mixed-traffic locomotives built for Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) from 1930. There are two technical different subclasses, the E 44.0 and the E 44.5.

DRG Class E 44 DB Class 144/145 DR Class 244
244 103 at Weimar railway museum, 2015
Type and origin Power type Electric Builder Henschel & Son, Krauss-Maffei, Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf, SSW (E 44.0), AEG, BMAG (E 44.5) Build date 1930–1945 (E 44.0 originals), 1950–1965 (E 44.0 replicas and rebuilds), 1931–1935 (E 44.5) Total produced 176 (E 44.0 originals), 13 (E 44.0 replicas and rebuilds), 9 (E 44.5)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Bo′Bo′ Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Wheel diameter 1,250 mm (4 ft 1+1⁄4 in) Wheelbase 9,800 mm (32 ft 1+7⁄8 in), 9,150 or 9,700 mm (30 ft 1⁄4 in or 31 ft 9+7⁄8 in) (E 44.5) ​  • Bogie 3,500 mm (11 ft 5+3⁄4 in), 3,300 or 3,400 mm (10 ft 9+7⁄8 in or 11 ft 1+7⁄8 in) (E 44.5) Pivot centres 6,300 mm (20 ft 8 in), 5,640 mm (18 ft 6 in) (E 44.5) Length: ​  • Over buffers 15,290 mm (50 ft 2 in), 13,150 or 13,520 mm (43 ft 1+3⁄4 in or 44 ft 4+1⁄4 in) (E 44.5) Width 2,960 mm (9 ft 8+1⁄2 in), 3,190 mm (10 ft 5+5⁄8 in) (E 44.5) Height 3,950 mm (12 ft 11+1⁄2 in), 3,950 or 4,260 mm (12 ft 11+1⁄2 in or 13 ft 11+3⁄4 in) (E 44.5) Axle load 19.5 t (19.2 long tons; 21.5 short tons), 19.8 or 19.9 t (19.5 or 19.6 long tons; 21.8 or 21.9 short tons) (E 44.5) Service weight 78.0 t (76.8 long tons; 86.0 short tons), 79.2 or 79.6 t (77.9 or 78.3 long tons; 87.3 or 87.7 short tons) (E 44.5) Electric system/s 15 kV  16+2⁄3 Hz AC Catenary Current pickup Pantograph Traction motors nose-suspended, 4 off Head end power 800/1000 V 16⅔ Hz AC Running steps 15 Running step switch manual cam switch and resistors MU working push-pull (E 44B, E 44G) Loco brake Air (K-GP mZ), rheostatic (E 44W) Train brakes Air
Performance figures Maximum speed 90 km/h (56 mph), 80 or 90 km/h (50 or 56 mph) (E 44.5) Power output: ​  • 1 hour 2,200 kW (2,950 hp), 1,600 kW (2,150 hp) (E 44 501–505)  • Continuous 1,860 kW (2,490 hp) Tractive effort: ​  • Starting 196 kN (44,000 lbf)
Career Numbers E 44 001–175, 178 (E 44.0 originals) E 44 176, 177, 179–189 ( E 44.0 replicas and rebuilds) E 44 501–509 (E 44.5) Retired DB: 1983/1984 DR: 1991 Disposition 21 preserved, remainder scrapped
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E 44.0

One prototype numbered as E 44 001 was built in 1930 and further 175 units with the numbers E 44 002 to 175 and E 44 178 were built until the end of the Second World War.^[2] Eleven locomotives were ordered by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and delivered between 1950 and 1955 as E 44 176 and 177 and E 44 179 to 187.^[2] Two were rebuilt from E 244 prototype locomotives in 1963 and 1965 as E 44 188 and 189.^[1] Now DB had 125 units in service.^[3] Until 1960 Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR) repaired 46 locomotives they got back from the Soviet Union. In 1968 DB reclassified its E 44 locomotives to 144 and E 44W locomotives, equipped with rheostatic braking, to 145.^[1] In 1970 DR reclassified them to 244.^[1] The last locomotives were retired by DR in 1991. Nineteen locomotives with the numbers E 44 001, 002, 044, 045, 046, 049, 051, 084, 103, 108, 119, 131, 137, 139, 143, 146, 148, 150 and 170W have been preserved.

E 44.5

One prototype and another eight E 44.5 locomotives were put into service between 1931 and 1935 as E 44 101 to 109 and renumbered E 44 501 to 509 from 1938.^[4] They were technical different from the E 44.0 and were intended for the Bad Reichenhall to Berchtesgaden railway line and mainly used their until its withdrawal by DB in 1983.^[4] Two locomotives with the numbers E 44 502 and 508 have been preserved.

• 
  E 44 136 at Leipzig Hbf, May 1958
• 
  E 44 077 at München Ost, 1967
• 
  144 505 at Freilassing depot, April 1979