DR/DB Class 44

Updated: August 2026 – Five coupled axles, a high-mounted boiler and a third cylinder working between the frame plates: the Class 44 was the strongest standard freight locomotive among Germany’s standard-design classes. Around 1,989 locomotives were built from 1926, or from 1937 in the main series. This page shows you how to recognise them, what the three-cylinder engine means, and how to find a preserved locomotive today.

What is the Class 44?

The Class 44 is a heavy freight tender locomotive with the wheel arrangement 1’E and three cylinders. The first locomotives were built in 1926, the large series ran between 1937 and 1949; a total of around 1,989 locomotives were built. Maximum speed was 80 km/h, with early versions limited to 70 km/h.

Crews simply called it the Jumbo. It hauled the heaviest freight trains on the main lines and remained in service right up to the end of steam traction in Germany. After the 1968 computer renumbering, the Deutsche Bundesbahn classified the coal-fired locomotives as 044 and the oil-fired ones as 043. Today there’s no scheduled service left – preserved locomotives are heritage vehicles, including some at the Deutsches Dampflokmuseum Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg.

The three-cylinder engine: the feature that settles it

Classes 50 and 52 also have five coupled axles. What makes the 44 unambiguous is the engine.

The advantage of the three-cylinder design lies in smoother running: the force is distributed more evenly over the wheel rotation, which is easier on the track. The disadvantage is higher maintenance effort – one reason why the more simply built Class 50 was built in greater numbers. How to work through such features systematically is explained in the guide to identifying classes.

Placing it in service: the family of 1’E freight locomotives

Germany had several five-coupled freight classes that differed in build complexity and operating profile. This overview places them.

Class	Cylinders	Character	Typical use back then
44	three	elaborate build, high tractive effort	heaviest freight trains on main lines
50	two	low axle load, universal	freight and passenger trains down to branch lines
52	two	wartime design, simplified	mass traffic under wartime conditions
42	two	heavy wartime design	heavy trains on lines that could bear them
41	two, 1’D1’	faster, four coupled axles	express and parcels traffic

The table shows the actual thinking behind the class scheme: it’s not size that decides the number range, but the purpose. All the classes named fall between 40 and 59 – the range for tender freight locomotives. The faster variant with four coupled axles is the Class 41, the most numerous wartime design the Class 52.

Spotting and photography: what matters with the 44

The 44 is a rewarding subject, because its length and five coupled axles work well in a side-on view. Three practical points:

• Side view rather than a frontal shot. The engine with five coupled axles is the unique selling point. An angle of 30 to 45 degrees shows the front and the engine at once.
• A dark background for the steam plume. Against a bright sky, the steam disappears. Wooded slopes, cuttings or buildings behind the locomotive bring it back into the picture.
• Make the most of cold air. In low temperatures, the steam condenses more strongly. Winter special trips therefore regularly produce the more striking photos.

The full technique is covered in the guide how to photograph steam trains. To find out about running dates at all, the overview on heritage railway research helps – running days and events surface there early. And because encounters with this class are rare, it’s worth keeping a properly maintained sightings logbook with number, date and occasion.

What the 1968 computer renumbering means

Anyone comparing older and newer sources on the Class 44 inevitably stumbles across two numbering worlds. The reason is a pure administrative decision.

Until 1968, the Deutsche Bundesbahn classified its steam locomotives with a two-digit class number and a separate running number – for example 44 1234. With the switch to electronic data processing, a fully machine-readable scheme was needed. The two-digit class number became a three-digit class number, with the leading digit coding the vehicle type as well. Steam locomotives were given a leading zero.

Since renumbering was happening anyway, the Bundesbahn used the opportunity to separate build states that had previously sat within a single class:

• 044 became the number for the coal-fired locomotives.
• 043 became the number for the locomotives converted to oil-firing.

Nothing changed technically as a result of the renumbering. In practice, that means a locomotive appearing in a 1965 book as 44 xxx may be labelled 043 or 044 in a 1972 photo – it’s the same vehicle. With preserved heritage locomotives, there’s the added factor that societies deliberately restore their locomotives to a particular period condition. So always note the number that’s actually on the vehicle, not the one you expect.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The Class 44 can be reliably identified in two steps: count five coupled axles, then look for the third cylinder. That three-cylinder engine alone separates it from its two-cylinder sister classes and at the same time explains why it was more powerful, but also more complex. In regular service it’s long since history – as a heritage locomotive, it remains one of the most impressive German steam locomotives.