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The E44s, PRR's Last Freight ElectricsPerhaps the last and most advanced freight electric locomotives to ever operate in the U.S. were built for the Pennsylvania Railroad by General Electric. Dubbed E44s the electrics featured the latest technologies available and were quite efficient workhorses. The E44s began arriving on the Pennsy in the late 1950s and eventually wound up with three different owners after the Penn Central collapse of the 1970s handed them over to Conrail in 1976. Conrail was never particularly interested in electric freight operations, especially after the North East Corridor was given to Amtrak, which resulted in high fees to use the line for freight service. Because of this, and other factors, Conrail gave up on electric operation in the mid-1980s.
The Pennsylvania Railroad had the most extensive electric operations of any private carrier in the country, most of which is still operated today by Amtrak and regional commuter systems. Beginning in 1915 the Pennsylvania Railroad began to electrify portions of its eastern main lines where commuter and passenger operations were the heaviest and by the late 1930s electrification had reached south to Washington, D.C., west to Harrisburg, and north to New York City. In all, most of the PRR’s system east of Harrisburg was electrified by the late 1930s. It was during this time, 1935, that the Pennsylvania Railroad unveiled an all time classic, the legendary GG1 electric. Able to operate bi-directionally, cruise along effortlessly with both freight and passenger trains at over 100 mph, and a sleek design from renowned industrial designer, Raymond Loewy (who also gave the locomotive its famous “cat whisker” pinstripes), the Gs owned the rails along the eastern electrified lines and were a common sight for nearly 50 years, outliving the Pennsy herself into the early Conrail era. Despite the PRR’s enormous success, following World War II and the traffic downturn of the 1950s, the future was uncertain for the carrier. Mounting losses and old-fashioned management practices were bringing down the iconic Pennsylvania Railroad (so legendary was the PRR that even as things continued to worsen, no one felt anything terrible would befall the railroad) and by the 1950s she was getting desperate. It was during this time that the Pennsylvania Railroad began exploring the idea of merger with bitter and longtime rival, New York Central.
What resulted was the ill-fated Penn Central Corporation on February 1, 1968. The new mega-railroad quickly began losing money and by 1970 had declared bankruptcy. Realizing the severity of the situation the federal government stepped and setup the Consolidated Rail Corporation, which comprised the skeletons of several bankrupt Northeastern carriers, and began operations on April 1, 1976. The E44 freight electric was an Ignitron-rectifier built by GE in 1959 as the PRR needed a new freight locomotive to replace its aging fleet of P5s and supplement its GG1s (which by the late 1950s were used in both freight and passenger service). The new E44s employed a C-C wheel arrangement and were capable of producing 4,400 hp (thus their name E44; Electric, 4,400 hp). In total the Pennsylvania would come to own a fleet of 66 E44s, that were quite similar to the Virginian’s EL-C rectifiers, albeit a bit more powerful. From a technical standpoint the E44 used six GE Model 752 E5 traction motors. The primary difference, internally, of the E44 was its means of converting AC current to DC. The first E44s the Pennsy received used Ignitron tubes to convert the current. However, the last batch of locomotives used newer and less maintenance intensive, air-cooled silicon diode rectifiers. These upgraded locomotives were dubbed E44As to distinguish them from the original models. The E44s were used all across the PRR’s AC electrified territory, particularly over the North East Corridor. After the collapse of the Penn Central and creation of Conrail the locomotives were used sporadically until 1981 when most were stored at the PRR’s old Enola Yard. By the mid-1980s all had been sold by Conrail, interestingly two buyers of which were Amtrak and NJ Transit, which intended to use them in passenger service. Dissatisfied with their performance both passenger carriers elected to sell them either outright or for scrap. Today, at last one E44 has been preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania near Strasburg.
For more reading about the PRR's E44s and other electrics consider Electric Locomotives from Brian Solomon. Not only does the book give a nice overview about the Pennsy's electrified operations it also covers American electric locomotive technology in general. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing these books please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".
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