January 17, 2016

2223 GERMANY (Saxony) - Electric locomotive 254 114 in Leipzig Bavarian station

Electric locomotive 254 114 in Leipzig Bavarian station, on 11.07.1986

The DRG Class E94 is an electric heavy freight locomotive built for Deutsche Reichsbahn since 1940, with the bulk of deliveries taking place in the same year. 146 units of the six-axle locomotive with 3300kW and a maximum speed of 90 km/h were built until the end of the WWII. After the war, new units were ordered and delivered as late as 1957. The power of the last 23 locomotives of this series had been increased to 4680kW.

As from 1968 the maximum speed of these locomotives was raised to 100km/h and due to considerable technical differences they were classified as E94.2 (later 194.5). After the war 44 units remained in Austria and were renamed as class 1020. Most of the E94 units that had been located within the Soviet occupied zone were transferred to the Soviet Union and returned to the DR (Deutsche Reichsbahn, German Democratic Republic) in 1952.

In total were manufactured 231 units. Railway aficionados still call the type Grünes Krokodil (Green Crocodile) because of the resemblance to the  Swiss crocodile. In 1985 the DB decommissioned the last "Crocodiles" while the DR kept them in service until 1990. The ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) trusted their "Crocodiles" until 1995. 15 units of class E94 and 18 units class 1020 have been preserved, some of which are still in operation today and are used in heavy freight service by some private railway companies.

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting a Tagetes, belong to the set Blumen, about which I wrote here.


The last stamp was issued on December 3, 2015, to mark the 250th Anniversary of Freiberg University of Mining and Technology.

References
DRG Class E94 - Wikipedia
Class E94 H0 - ESU

Sender: Wolfgang / wolf753 (postcrossing) DE-4877009
Sent from Fulda (Hesse / Germany), on 11.01.2016
Photo: Gunter v. Hartwig

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