The E 79 series comprised only two locomotives that were ordered by the Bavarian Reichsbahn group administration in 1923 to cope with the increased freight train weights on the Freilassing-Berchtesgaden route. Due to technical problems during development and production, they were not delivered until 1927 and were given the new Reichsbahn designation instead of the Bavarian designation EG 4. The body construction part came from Maffei in Munich and the electrical equipment was developed by Pöge Electricity AG in Chemnitz.

In order to be able to master the up to four percent steep inclines, the design envisaged heavy loomotives with a 1-C-1 wheel arrangement. However, since the necessary electrical equipment turned out to be significantly heavier than originally thought, the design was changed to the 2-D-1 wheel arrangement. Despite the two additional axles, the axle load reached almost 20 tonnes. The bogie was connected to the first coupled axle with a Krauss-Lotter bogie and the trailing axle was guided in a Bissel truck. Power was provided by two high-speed electric motors whose speed was reduced by a common reduction gear. This in turn transferred the power to two jackshafts, which finally drove the four axles with 1,250 mm wheels via coupling rods. 

In addition to freight trains, the two locomotives were also used to pull passenger trains, whereby the low power compared to other modern electric locomotives was noticeable. However, since they still had an adhesive weight of almost 80 tonnes, they were increasingly used as pusher locomotives on the steep and winding route. In the years that followed, the two machines were not really convincing in operation. In addition to the small number of locomotives, the procurement of spare parts was made more difficult by the fact that Pöge was not one of the typical companies that supplied assemblies for Reichsbahn locomotives. In addition, one of the two locomotives stood out in particular with excessively frequent defects. After delivery of the considerably lighter and nevertheless more powerful E 44, the two E 79s could be dispensed with and they were retired in 1941 and 1942 respectively.

The F 2x3/3 was the counterpart to the Fb 2x2/3 in the trial runs for the Lötschberg railway. It was ordered from the Swiss locomotive and machine factory in Winterthur and got the electrical equipment from Oerlikon. Unlike its competitor, it was a single-frame locomotive standing on two bogies. These each had three coupled axles and no carrying axles and were coupled to one another. The series motors acted on the inner axles via jackshafts and diagonal rods. Because the axles were fixed in the inner frame, the running characteristics had to be compromised. Since the couplers and buffers were also located on the bogies, the locomotive frame was relieved of the pulling and pushing forces.

Since the housings of the engines were open, it was found that the targeted hourly output of 1,000 hp could be maintained without the ventilation switched on and that this could also be used effectively as a continuous output. The locomotive thus reached 42 km/h at a gradient of 1.55 percent with a car load of 500 tonnes. At 2.7 percent, it was still able to maintain the same speed with 310 tonnes and was therefore superior to the Fb 2x2/3. The fact that the top speed later had to be reduced from 70 to 60 km/h due to the chassis design was accepted. The locomotive continued to be used and was renamed Ce 6/6 according to a new scheme, but was increasingly used on flatter routes with the appearance of the more powerful Be 5/7. In 1928 it was sold to the Bern-Neuchâtel Railway and remained in service there for another 40 years. It was then scrapped, but one bogie with attached traction motor has been preserved and can be viewed in the Lucerne Museum of Transport.

The later E 77 was one of the first series of electric locomotives that the Reichsbahn procured simultaneously for several directorates, i.e. for several former state railways. They were developed as lighter multi-purpose locomotives, which should primarily be used in front of freight trains and, if necessary, also in front of passenger trains. At the time of their commissioning, the Munich engines were given the Bavarian designation EG 3 and the Halle machines were given the consecutive Prussian numbers EG 701 to EG 725.

The locomotives consisted of two chassis groups supporting a three-part body. Each chassis consisted of a carrying axle with 1,000 mm wheels and two powered axles with 1,400 mm wheel diameters. In each of these two chassis was an electric motor with an hourly output of 940 kW and a continuous output of 800 kW. After the rotational speed was reduced by a reduction gear, the motors delivered their power to the two coupled axles via a crankshaft and diagonal rods. The two outer parts of the car body were firmly attached to the running gear. In addition to some of the electrical equipment, they accommodated the driver's cabs, which initially had connecting doors on the front sides, which were later removed. The middle part of the body formed a bridge between the ball pivots of the chassis groups and contained the transformer. Bellows and transition plates ensured that one could move between the driver's cabs or access the electrical equipment without having to leave the locomotive.

The 56 pieces delivered between 1924 and 1926 were not completely convincing due to some technical problems. The initially unsatisfactory running characteristics were subsequently improved by installing the carrying axles movable with spring return. However, this conversion could not prevent the engines from continuing to run unsteady in the top ten km/h of their speed range. Another point of criticism were the connections between the three parts of the body, which contained many moving electrical connections. The latter were often the reason for problems and defects.

In the course of time, all Munich locomotives ended up in the Reichsbahn divisions in Halle and Hanover. After the war, three locomotives were too badly damaged to repair. Of the 53 remaining, 42 went to the Soviet Union. Individual parts were also taken away by the rest, so that they could no longer be used. In 1952 and 1953, 38 returned to the GDR, of which only ten could be refurbished. These were used until enough new electric locomotives were available, so that all but E 77 10 were retired by 1968.

The locomotives of the class E 91 were heavy freight locomotives for use in the mountains, which had been developed on the basis of the E 77 procured from 1924. In contrast, however, the E 91 featured six powered axles, higher power and lower speed for greater pulling power.

Like its predecessor, it was a locomotive with a three-part body, which was mounted on only two long bogies. Above each bogie were two motors, which gave their power to the coupled wheels via a common jackshaft. The structure of the bogies was similar to that of the E 77, but instead of the carrying axles there was a third coupled axle. 

The first pieces were delivered for the Bavarian and Silesian network with Bavarian or Prussian numbers. The Bavarian engines were first designated as EG 5 with the numbers 22 501 to 22 516 and the Prussian ones as EG 581 to 594. A short time later the former became the E 91⁰ with the serial numbers 01 to 16 and the latter to the E 91⁸ with serial numbers 81 to 94, although they were almost identical. The only recognizable difference was the gangway doors on the front sides of the EG 5. In 1927 further examples were added, which were delivered directly with road numbers E 91 17 to 20. With an hourly output of 2,200 kW, a top speed of only 55 km/h and the high adhesive weight, the engines were able to achieve very high tractive forces on inclines. At one percent, a 1,200-tonne freight train could be pulled at 35 km/h. If it was used in front of passenger trains, these could be pulled at 500 tonnes on the same gradients at 45 km/h.

In 1929, the Reichsbahn procured twelve more units that were supposed to be even better suited for steep sections. Particular attention was paid to the descents, as conventional brakes could easily become exhausted there with heavy trains. For this reason, an electric brake was installed, which had previously been tested on the E 95 02. Although they didn't increase power, they used the latest advances in technology to reduce weight. Despite the newly added braking system, the weight of the locomotives was reduced by over seven tonnes. They were delivered as E 91⁹ with the serial numbers 95 to 105 and stationed in the Silesian network.

In the years that followed, the Reichsbahn left the former Bavarian machines in Bavaria, while the Prussian machines also came to other parts of the country, including the southwestern region. Some examples were retired by the end of the war, the remaining Silesian machines came to the Eastern Zone a few months after the end of the war. The latter fared like almost all electric locomotives in the east, they were taken to the Soviet Union and returned to the GDR in 1952/53 in poor condition. A planned preparation for the Rübelandbahn was abandoned, since isolated operation with the 25 kV/50 Hz power system was being set up there.

The Bundesbahn had received 23 of the original 46 engines and continued to use them in freight service on electrified mountain routes. Between 1957 and 1960 all locomotives of the slightly different types were modernized according to the same pattern. They were redesignated as class 191 in 1968, but decommissioning began the following year. This was completed by 1975 and today only 191 099 is in good condition. It is currently in the Augsburg railway park and used to run as a museum locomotive with some parts of the 191 100, which today is sitting only almost complete on the outside.

In the twenties, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway ordered both freight and passenger locomotives for their 1,500 Volts DC electrification. While the passenger locomotives were known as EA/1, the freight design shown here was the EF/1. The electrical part was supplied by Metropolitan-Vickers, but was based on drawings by BBC. The mechanical part of the first ten locomotives built in 1928 came from the Swiss SLM and 31 more were built by Vulcan Foundry in the UK.

The locomotives had a crocodile layout and each of the outer, articulated parts stood on three axles and housed a double motor with 650 hp per half. These motors were connected to the axles via a crank axle and an SLM inclined rod drive. For use on inclines like the Bhor Ghat with three percent, they had a regenerative brake. Despite a rigid wheelbase of 4,596 mm (15 ft 1 in), they were able to negotiate curves with a radius of 150 meters.

SBB Historic

The crews gave them the nickname “Khēkaḍā”, what means “crab” in the Marathi language. When Indian Railways were founded, they got the designation WCG-1, what stood for broad gauge, DC, freight and first generation. From the seventies, they were increasingly used for shunting service. They were withdrawn in the first years of the 21st century and two are preserved as static exhibit.

The Norfolk & Western Railway had Westinghouse electrify 27 miles of the route over the Elkhorn Grade in the years 1913 to 1915. This had become necessary because the route had an average gradient of two percent, which is why the 3,000-ton coal trains had to be pulled by several heavy Mallet steam locomotives. In addition, the 3,100 feet long Elkhorn Tunnel was only allowed to be used by the steam locomotives at 6 mph and was therefore a major bottleneck. The Baldwin-Westinhouse cooperation supplied twelve heavy double locomotives for operation on the 11 kV and 25 hertz electrified route.

These locomotives consisted of two halves, in each of which two bogies with two driven axles each had a double motor. These motors were operated with three-phase current, which was generated by a rotating phase converter. For the first time in history on heavy freight locomotives, these motors could be used for electrical braking. Although two double locomotives were still usually required for a train, traffic could be significantly accelerated. In each case, one LC-1 was offset against three class Z-1 mallets.

When an additional 25 miles of this line was electrified in the 1920's, four more double LC-2 class locomotives were ordered. In these, the four driven axles were mounted in a common frame and the leading and trailing axles were mounted individually. While the hourly output of the LC-1 was 2,400 kW, it was 3,540 kW for the LC-2. All locomotives were retired in 1950 because after the Second World War a second, double-track Elkhorn Tunnel was built, which only had a gradient of 1.4 percent.