The electric locomotives with the numbers EG 511 to EG 537, better known under the later designation E 711, were developed for use in front of freight trains and were among the first electric locomotives in Germany to be put into regular service. Because of their shape, they (like the E 93 and E 94) were called “crocodiles”. Another obvious nickname for this series was also "flatiron".
The basis of the locomotive was formed by the two motor bogies with half-height hoods, each of which contained a traction motor. Power was transmitted to each of the two axles via gears, jackshafts and coupling rods. The bogies were coupled to each other and synchronized with each other by means of a shaft.
The two driver's cabs and the engine room were housed on a bridge frame between the bogies. The transformer was cooled by oil, which was circulated in a closed circuit through externally mounted, open coolers.
With an hourly output of 780 kW, it could keep up with most steam freight locomotives of the time, although they were much more complex to operate and maintain. In addition, due to the relatively low top speed of 50 km/h, a high tractive effort was achieved. In 1931 and 1932 it was converted for 65 km/h.
Between 1914 and 1921, 27 locomotives were delivered, which were initially used primarily in Silesia. After the introduction of locomotives with well over 1,000 kW, they were increasingly pushed into lower services and some were relocated to Basel or central Germany.
The Reichsbahn took over all locomotives except for the EG 512, which had already been decommissioned, and renamed them 71 11 to 71 37 in line with their original numbers. After the Second World War, the number of locomotives had already fallen sharply. The part that came to the Bundesbahn was used on the Wiesenbahn and Wehratalbahn until 1958. The only locomotive on the territory of what later became the GDR had to be handed over to the Soviet Union in 1946 and returned in 1952. A total of three pieces have survived to this day.