Last Saturday morning I was at Edinburgh's Waverley Station walking around the platforms. I saw this Class 90 Freightliner locomotive and thought of the E-44 units I saw in the late 70s.
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He means Sulzers, like this:
Most Americans on these boards will think of a quite different six-motor locomotive, the PRR E44 electric.
Quite true, it helps when we agree on the definitions. Consider that to a lifelong PRR fan, E6 means a quite different locomotive than it would to a diehard diesel fan (like myself).
I too was struggling a bit to see the resemblance between a small 4-axle double cab UK electric locomotive and the large, twice as heavy, Pennsy E44 electric...
When I wandered around the Strasburg museum hall, the sheer size and 'presence' of the E44 in gloss black was the thing I remembered most from my visit:
I think it is more likely that the original poster was seeing the first electric locomotive lettered for a freight operator he had seen since the E-44.
And while the Class 90 is small it is significantly more powerful than an E-44 and faster (100 mph). The class 90 is the last of the series of locomotives introduced with 25kV electrification and arguably the most successful. It is one of the most reliable locomotives in the UK and has regularly stood in for class 91 and class 92 when required (which at various times was quite often).
Since Freightliner is a subsidiary of Genessee and Wyoming, I guess it is owned by an American Railroad.
Peter
Correct! I was riding the National Limited in 78(?) from Indy to NYC.
First view of electrics for a California boy.
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