With the numbers 1 to 5, the LAG procured a series of five electric locomotives between 1905 and 1930 for various areas of application. Although they looked very similar on the outside, they had big differences, especially in terms of power. Its historical importance is due to the fact that the LAG 1 was the first locomotive in Germany to be developed for single-phase alternating current. On its main line between Murnau and Oberammergau, a 5 kV and 16 2/3 Hz power system was used, which was only converted to the current system in 1954/55. All engines in this class had two axles, each driven by a nose-suspended motor. The cab was in the middle to allow good visibility in both directions. On either side was a box-like hood, the top sloping towards the ends. In addition to a number, they were given women's names (in the order 1 to 5) Katharina, Pauline, Hermine, Johanna and Adolphine.

The first engine was delivered in 1905 with mechanics and electrics from the Katharinahütte in Rohrbach and SSW and was intended for use in front of freight trains. It had an hourly output of 206 kW, a continuous output of 160 kW and weighed 23.5 tonnes.

Numbers 2 and 3 were almost identical and were delivered by Krauss and SSW in 1909 and 1912. In contrast to number 1, they were built for passenger transport in order to relieve the railcars used. With an hourly and continuous output of 352 and 306 kW, they were significantly more powerful. In 1938 and 1940 they received a modernization of the electrical equipment, which also included the installation of a dead man's switch.

169 005 (formerly No. 5 “Adolphine”) in June 2012 in Koblenz-Lützel

Urmelbeauftragter

The LAG 4 of 1922 was an exception as it initially had a cab at the rear end. It was created from one half of a double locomotive that Siemens had already built in 1902 for high-speed tests with three-phase current. It got new motors, which together delivered an hourly and continuous output of 268 and 237 kW. In 1934, after a transformer fire, it received new machinery that corresponded to those of the other machines.

The last of the five examples was built in 1930 by Maffei and SSW for heavy freight trains. In addition to a beefier appearance with a larger cab and increased overall length, it delivered significantly higher power than its predecessors. The hourly output was now 605 and the continuous output 565 kW.

When the LAG was taken over by the Reichsbahn in 1938, the locomotives were given the designations E 69 01 to E 69 05. When the line was converted to 15 kV in 1954, the four newer engines were also converted for this system. Only road number E 69 01 was retired because it was 49 years old at the time and had clocked up 1.5 million km. The rest were retired between 1977 and 1982 and were at times the oldest electric locomotives in the Bundesbahn. All pieces can still be viewed today. While number 1 is in the Lokwelt Freilassing, number 3 in the DB Museum Koblenz-Lützel and number 4 in front of Murnau station, the other two are still operational. The No. 2 is mostly exhibited in the DB Museum Nuremberg and the No. 5 belongs to the Bavarian Localbahn Association and is used frequently.

After the Milwaukee Road had electrified 438 miles in Montana with 3,000 Volts DC, they also ordered four electric switchers from General Electric. These locomotives were built in 1916 and 1919 and were designated class ES-2. They were steeplecab locomotives with a B-B wheel arrangement and a central pantograph on the cab roof. To raise the pantograph with pressurized air when the battery was empty, an emergency trolley was provided to power the compressor.

The locomotives were only used in Montana in the Butte area, while the Milwaukee Road's other electrified section in Washington preferred steam and later diesel power for switching. With an output of 670 hp over one hour and 475 hp continuously, they later got additional weights to improve adhesion. One was scrapped in 1952 because it was surplus, but the others survived until the end of electric traction on the Milwaukee Road in 1974.

In order to be able to take traffic further into the center of Paris, the PO built a new line around 1900, some of which ran underground. Operation here was via 600 V direct current, partly via third rail and partly via an overhead line. In manufacturing the locomotives, support was sought from General Electric, which had already supplied technology for the Baltimore Belt Line.

collection P. Mérard

The eight locomotives built first were of the steeplecab type with a central driver's cab. Seven of these were converted from 70 to 100 km/h in 1904. After further sections were electrified, a further five were built by 1912, which had two driver's cabs and a central luggage compartment. After the 1,500 V system had established, they were converted to this system. Later, half of them were further converted into shunting locomotives with a top speed of 50 km/h and significantly lower power. The decommissioning took place between 1965 and 1967.

After the electrification of the Valtellina Railway or Ferrovia della Valtellina, the class 34 of the Rete Adriatica was not only the first electric locomotive to be used there, but also the first in the world to be operated with three-phase alternating current. The locomotives were ordered from Ganz in Budapest, which at the beginning of the century was considered the world leader in the field of electric traction and also supplied the line equipment. Two pieces were made, which were given the numbers 341 and 342. The locomotives each consisted of two halves, which together formed a large, generously glazed driver's cab.

The three-phase alternating current was transmitted via the two-pole catenary and the rails and its frequency dictated a given driving speed. The four traction motors were each connected directly to an axle without a gearbox, and the wheel diameter of 4 ft 7 in was chosen so large that the line speed of 36 km/h was sufficient for freight trains. This meant that after the start-up phase, the locomotives stabilized at a maximum of 22 mph, regardless of the loading. The locomotives were taken over by the FS in 1905 and were renamed class E.430 in 1914. They pulled freight trains on the Valtellina Railway until 1928 and were then relocated to Bolzano and Franzensfeste in South Tyrol to be used as shunting locomotives for assembling trains over the Brenner Pass. The 341 or E.430.001 is now located in the Technical Museum “Leonardo da Vinci” in Milan.

The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad operated an electrified interurban network that had its core between Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and developed tourist areas south of Spokane. In 1913, a Baldwin-Westinghouse steeplecab locomotive was procured for shunting tasks, which was given the number 502.

As is usual with interurbans, it was a DC locomotive with as many standard components as possible. Four Westinghouse 301-D-2, each with 100 hp, were used as traction motors, which were also used in large numbers in trams or interurban railcars.

E 1102 at the Newport Railway Museum

Zzrbiker

At a time when Melbourne's suburban electrified network was the longest in the world, two steeplecab locomotives were ordered. They were used for shunting and freight trains and had the same traction equipment as the multiple units built at the time. In contrast to other steeplecabs, part of the electrical equipment, including the motor, was located between the cabs. A few years later, ten more were ordered with a boxcab body. They proved their superiority over steam locomotives and remained in service even after the introduction of the more modern class L electric locomotives. After two locomotives were destroyed in an accident in 1954, the remaining ten were scrapped between 1981 and 1984.