DRG Class E 44

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DRG Class E 44
DB Class 144/145
DR Class 244
244 103-8, Germany, Thuringia, Railway Museum Weimar (Former depot Weimar) (Trainpix 151337).jpg
244 103 at Weimar railway museum, 2015
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
Builder Henschel & Son, Krauss-Maffei, Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf, SSW (E 44.0),
AEG, BMAG (E 44.5)
Build date1930–1945 (E 44.0 originals),
1950–1965 (E 44.0 replicas and rebuilds),
1931–1935 (E 44.5)
Total produced176 (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 diameter1,250 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 centres6,300 mm (20 ft 8 in),
5,640 mm (18 ft 6 in) (E 44.5)
Length:
​
 • Over buffers15,290 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)
Width2,960 mm (9 ft 8+1⁄2 in),
3,190 mm (10 ft 5+5⁄8 in) (E 44.5)
Height3,950 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 weight78.0 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 steps15
Running step switchmanual 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 speed90 km/h (56 mph),
80 or 90 km/h (50 or 56 mph) (E 44.5)
Power output:
​
 • 1 hour2,200 kW (2,950 hp),
1,600 kW (2,150 hp) (E 44 501–505)
 • Continuous1,860 kW (2,490 hp)
Tractive effort:
​
 • Starting196 kN (44,000 lbf)
Career
NumbersE 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)
RetiredDB: 1983/1984
DR: 1991
Disposition21 preserved, remainder scrapped
[1] [2] [3] [4]

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.

Contents

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Schäffer. "Die Baureihe 144 (E 44)". db-loks.de (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Köthe, Lutz. "Elektrische Lokomotive E44 044". lutz-koethe.hpage.com (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Baureihe E 44". eisenbahn-museumsfahrzeuge.de (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Baureihe E 44.5". eisenbahn-museumsfahrzeuge.de (in German). Retrieved 23 September 2025.
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