Pennsylvania Railroad Class E44

Pennsylvania Railroad Class E44
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	General Electric
Constructed	1960-1963
Number built	E44: 22 E44a: 44Total: 66
Gauge	Standard
Service information
Fleet numbers	4400-4465

The Pennsylvania Railroad Class E44 were electric locomotives that were built in 1960-1963 by General Electric for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

For much of the 1950s, the Pennsylvania Railroad searched for a replacement for its aging fleet of P5a electric freight engines. It even considered pulling down the catenary in favor of dieselization. But, as the railroad announced, "In May, 1958, the Pennsylvania R.R. initiated three independent studies to evaluate the economic advantages and disadvantages of diesel-electric vs. electric locomotives in the electric territory. Completed in 1959, they unequivocally proclaimed the superiority of electrification."

By that time, however, the diesel had virtually wiped out the market for new electric locomotives. General Electric was the only remaining manufacturer of electric power. For what would become its last new electric engines, the Pennsy opted for an upgrade of the 3300 horsepower E33 electrics that GE had built just a few years earlier for the Virginian Railway. The Pennsy's brick-like, six-axle E44 freighters were the same size as the earlier design but developed 4400 hp, a power rating that no single-unit diesel would rival for decades. While previous Pennsy juice jacks had been straight AC - AC power from the overhead wire was stepped down in voltage and fed to AC traction motors - the E44s were rectifier engines. Like the Virginian E33s and the New Haven EP-5 "Jets," the E44s used Ignitron Rectifiers, a new technology for converting AC to DC, enabling the new electrics to use the same DC traction motors used in diesels. While the first 60 E44s were delivered with water-cooled, somewhat delicate ignitron tubes, the final six units were equipped with more rugged and reliable air-cooled, solid-state rectifiers. Most of the earlier engines were later updated.

Delivered between 1960 and 1963, the E44s were often double- or even triple-headed in heavy freight service, and even teamed up occasionally with GG1s. In the winter of 1966, E44s could also be seen assisting on the head of GG1-powered passenger trains, when fine snow caused the GG1s some electrical problems. The E44 fleet went on to serve a succession of owners, as former Pennsy rails came under the control of the Penn Central and later Conrail. After Conrail electric service ended in 1981, a number of units worked for Amtrak until they were retired; one Amtrak unit #4465 resides today at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, restored to its original Pennsy colors.

Stock list

Image	No.	Build date	Status
	4400	1960	Scrapped
	4428	1961	Scrapped
	4429	1962	Scrapped
	4430	1962	Scrapped
	4451	1962	Scrapped
	4455	1963	Scrapped
	4456	1963	Scrapped
	4457	1963	Scrapped
	4458	1963	Scrapped
	4459	1963	Scrapped
	4460	1963	Scrapped
	4461	1963	Scrapped
	4462	1963	Scrapped
	4463	1963	Scrapped
	4464	1963	Scrapped
	4465	1963	Preserved

Trivia

• It is not certain what exactly NJ Transit was looking for, but it evidently was not the E44.
• Engine #4448 is seen in a "Sesame Street" song, Everybody Sleeps.

Gallery

PRR 4448 as seen of the "Sesame Street" song, Everybody Sleeps.