PRR class E44
| PRR E44 | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| E44 | E44a | |
| Numbering: | 4400-4459 | 4460-4465 |
| Number: | 60 | 6th |
| Manufacturer : | General Electric | |
| Year of construction (s): | 1960-63 | 1963 |
| Axis formula : | Co'Co | |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm | |
| Length over coupling: | 21,184 mm | |
| Width: | 3000 mm | |
| Height: | 3900 mm | |
| Fixed wheelbase: | 4000 mm | |
| Smallest drivable radius: | 83 m (coupled), 75 m (locomotive alone) | |
| Service mass: | 174.5 t | 170.0 t |
| Friction mass: | 174.5 t | 170.0 t |
| Wheel set mass : | 29 t | 28.5 t |
| Top speed: | 113 km / h | 153 km / h |
| Continuous output : | 3281 kW | 3728 kW |
| Starting tractive effort: | 427 kN | 418 kN |
| Performance indicator: | 18.8 kW / t | 21.9 kW / t |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 1016 mm | |
| Power system : | 11 kV, 25 Hz | |
| Power transmission: | Overhead line | |
| Number of traction motors: | 6 GE 752 | |
| Drive: | Paw camp | |
| Translation levels: | 20:63 | 22:61 |
The class E44 of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) were 66 procured 1,960 to 1,963 electric locomotives from General Electric .
history
In 1959, the PRR signed a long-term lease with General Electric for 66 E44 rectifier - freight train - locomotives for 32 million US dollars .
These locomotives were intended to replace the aging P5a locomotives. They were derived from the EL-C locomotives delivered to Virginian Railway a few years earlier and were very similar to the diesel locomotives built at the time .
Even before the last E44 was delivered, progress in rectifier technology made it possible to improve the locomotive. The Ignitron - rectifier had, in fact always problems with the ignition circuit and the water cooling. The 37th E44 delivered was therefore equipped with an air-cooled silicon diode rectifier, which eliminated the above-mentioned disadvantages and also enabled a considerable increase in output. The E44 with silicon rectifier was so successful that the last five units of the order were equipped in the same way and thus had an output of 5000 HP (3728 kW). They were named E44a. Gradually, the remaining E44 were converted to E44a.
The E44 were extremely successful. The 66 locomotives were intended to replace all 92 P5a locomotives. In use, the first E44 already showed that they were able to provide more than one and a half times the traction power of the P5a. In the heavy duty of ore and coal trains, even the unmodified E44s were able to run 20% heavier trains than the P5a or the GG1 . The availability was already 92% during the introductory phase. During the first years of service, the maintenance costs of the P5a were only a third as high and only a quarter of those of diesel locomotives in the same service.
The locomotives remained in service with the successor companies Penn Central and Conrail . Only with the separation of freight and passenger traffic in the north-east corridor from the end of the 1970s did the use of locomotives decrease. After Conrail led their freight trains completely over the non-electrified routes of the former Reading Company and the Lehigh Valley Railroad from 1981 , the E44 were turned off.
Eight locomotives were sold to NJ Transit . Since they were purely freight locomotives, they were unsuitable for passenger train traffic. They were therefore not used by the NJ Transit and were resold to Amtrak in 1986 . There they were given the track numbers 500 to 507 and were retired by 1991.
The locomotive with the number 4465 was donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1991 and is shown today in its delivery condition.
Constructive features
Electric Construction
The 11 kV 25 Hz AC voltage of the contact line was a main transformer and twelve Ignitron - mercury arc rectifier six GE -752- traction motors supplied. The traction motors were identical to those of the diesel-electric locomotives.
In contrast to the earlier PRR locomotives, the drives were designed as pawl bearing drives . The locomotives also had an electric brake . It had a continuous output of 4400 HP (3281 kW) and a maximum starting tractive effort of 89000 lbs (427 kN).
mechanical construction
The locomotive body rests on two three-axle bogies with tatzlager drive . The wheelbases between the outer and central axles are 1753 mm, while between the central and inner axles it is 2210 mm.
The driver's cab is located above one of the bogies and carries two single-arm pantographs . It is wider than the other superstructures so that there is a good view of the route on both sides. The superstructures of the vehicles on both sides are higher than the driver's cab and extend to the bumper beam. On both sides of the superstructure there is a walkway on the frame that connects the four steps that are located near the bumper beams. The front of the driver's cab has doors that lead to the catwalks. Since the superstructures are rectangular and there are no bevels, the locomotive has an angular appearance. That is why they were also called bricks .
Web links
literature
- William D. Middleton : When the Steam Railroads Electrified , 2nd Edition, 2001, ISBN 0-253-33979-0