Key takeaways
- The E 17 is an express electric from the standard-locomotive programme of the interwar years.
- Wheel arrangement 1'Do1': four coupled driving axles between two carrying axles – that sets it apart from the three-axle E 04.
- Later designation 117: the Deutsche Bundesbahn turned the E into a leading one.
- A platform idea a hundred years ago: standard electrics used shared components for various tasks – the same principle you know today from the Vectron and TRAXX.
- Purely historic today: there are no regular services left, and sightings depend on museums.
Contents
Fact file
| Vehicle type | Electric locomotive for express trains |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | AEG |
| Years built | late 1920s |
| Wheel arrangement | 1'Do1' (four coupled driving axles between two carrying axles) |
| Electrification system | 15 kV / 16.7 Hz AC |
| Later designation | DB Class 117 |
| Status | withdrawn, individual locomotives preserved in museums |
Identifying features
Is this really the class in front of you?
- Four coupled driving axles, with a smaller carrying axle each in front and behind
- Interwar-era box body with a visible frame under the locomotive body
- Drive components visible from the side between the frame and the driving wheels
- Markings reading E 17 with a two-digit serial number, later 117
- No bogies in the modern sense – the running gear sits in the main frame
- Found exclusively in a museum setting
Updated: August 2026 – Four large driving wheels, two small carrying wheels, a body on a visible frame: the Class E 17 dates from the time when German electric locomotives first emerged from a shared construction programme. This page places the class, explains its designation, and shows what’s still there to see today.
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What is Class E 17?
The E 17 is an express electric locomotive from the standard-locomotive programme of the late 1920s, built by AEG for the 15 kV AC network. Its wheel arrangement is 1’Do1’: four driving axles coupled together, with one carrying axle each in front and behind. At the Deutsche Bundesbahn it later became Class 117.
What’s interesting is less the individual machine than the programme behind it. Up to that point, practically every state railway and every electrified group of routes had its own locomotives. The standard electrics were meant to put an end to that: shared design principles, reusable components, plannable maintenance. Anyone looking today at the platform logic behind the Siemens Vectron finds the same basic idea there, in modern form.
How to place the class in the field
Classic electrics are harder to tell apart from one another than modern classes, because they resemble each other in basic shape and era. The route therefore runs via the running gear, not the front.
Count the driving axles
Four coupled driving axles point to E 16, E 17 or E 18. Three driving axles suggest the E 04.
Compare the drive side
If large round discs sit on just one side, it's a Buchli locomotive. On the E 17, both sides look the same.
Assess the body shape
Angular and functional rather than streamlined – the latter would point to the E 18.
Read the markings
E 17 with a two-digit serial number, or 117 under the DB numbering. That settles the matter.
How to put such features into a reliable order is described in the guide to identifying classes. The modern, twelve-digit vehicle number that even historic vehicles carry in today’s register is explained in the guide to the UIC number.
Placing it: platform thinking a hundred years ago
The parallel between the standard electrics of the 1920s and today’s manufacturer platforms isn’t a gimmick – it helps with understanding. Both times, it’s about deriving many variants from a few base designs.
| Aspect | Standard electric of the 1920s | Modern platform locomotive |
|---|---|---|
| Client | one national railway administration | manufacturer develops on spec |
| Variant formation | wheel arrangement and drive per task | electrification system, train protection, approval |
| Target scale | standardisation within one country | use in several countries |
| Typical quantity | double figures | triple figures, across Europe |
| Recognisability | via running gear and drive | via front, roof and number |
The consistent further development of this idea in the post-war era is seen in the Class 110 (E10), which emerged as part of an entire class family.
The difference between the two eras lies mainly in ambition. The standard electrics of the 1920s were meant to standardise construction within one railway administration; today’s platform locomotives are meant to work across national borders. What’s stayed the same: in both cases, vehicles emerge that strongly resemble each other externally and can only be told apart cleanly via the number. Anyone who’s understood that goes about it the same way with old and new classes alike.
Practical tip: start with the running gear
With classic electrics, looking at the front and the paint scheme quickly leads you astray, because many vehicles were rebuilt and repainted over their lifetime. The running gear, on the other hand, stays put – so always count the axles first.
Don't lose historic sightings
Record the number, location and date on the spot – it's rarely possible to reconstruct that cleanly afterwards.
Spotting practice for museum vehicles
You don’t come across an E 17 by chance. Anyone wanting to see one plans a visit to a collection such as the DB Museum Koblenz – and that changes the whole approach.
Research the date on site
Museums and societies announce opening hours and event days. Without a date, the vehicle often stands inaccessible in a hall.
Adjust for indoor light
Hall lighting is dark and colour-cast. Expect high sensitivity and check your white balance.
Document technical details
Photograph the running gear, drive components and markings individually. These images carry the informational value of your sighting.
Respect house rules and barriers
Museum grounds are private property, track areas are off limits. Staff instructions apply without exception.
A carefully kept sighting log is worthwhile for recording alongside it – especially for vehicles you might only see once in your life.
Recording historic vehicles properly
With vehicles in regular service you can correct a sighting later – the locomotive keeps running, and you’ll see it again. With historic machines it’s different: your record may well be the only one you’ll ever have of this vehicle. Recording it carefully is worth the effort accordingly.
Four pieces of information always belong together. The vehicle number, ideally in the form it appears on the vehicle – for classic electrics that can mean the old markings and a modern register number side by side. The date, because locations change through loans and restorations. The place, named as precisely as possible, meaning the museum or event rather than just the town name. And the condition: operational, restored, in progress or stored – that’s the most changeable piece of information there is with historic vehicles.
It’s also worth taking a photo of the data panels. A builder’s plate, inspection marking and owner details later allow an identification that’s no longer possible from memory. Especially with vehicles that have been relettered several times, this close-up shot is often worth more than the overall view.
It’s also important to separate changeable and fixed information. Class, wheel arrangement and year of build never change. Location, paint scheme, owner and operational status change constantly. Anyone who mixes both into one line ends up, in five years, with a note that no longer shows which part still holds true.
In the end, the same rule applies to museum vehicles as to advertising liveries in regular service: it’s not the place that’s special, but the moment. A locomotive under restoration looks completely different in two years’ time – and nobody but you will have recorded this intermediate stage.
Common mix-ups
It points to the E 17 if …
- you count four coupled driving axles between two carrying axles
- both sides of the vehicle look the same
- the body looks angular and functional
- the markings read E 17 or 117
Take a closer look if …
- the running gear is hidden or partly dismantled
- the vehicle stands in a subsequently applied paint scheme
- only a front view without markings is available
It's not an E 17 if …
- large drive discs sit on just one side – that's the E 16
- the locomotive is styled in streamlined form – that points to the E 18
- you count only three driving axles – then the E 04 comes into question
The direct comparison vehicles are found under Class E 16 and Class E 04.
Conclusion
The E 17 isn’t a spectacular vehicle, but an instructive one: it stands for the moment when German electric locomotives stopped being one-off builds. You can recognise it by wheel arrangement, frame construction and markings; you’ll only encounter it where engineering history is preserved.
In short
Four driving axles between two carrying axles, the same view from both sides, markings reading E 17 or 117: that's how you place this standard electric. Everything else is settled by a museum visit.
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Summary
- The E 17 belongs to a generation of vehicles in which German electric locomotives were, for the first time, designed to shared principles.
- Its design instantly reveals the era: carrying axles, frame construction and externally visible drive technology.
- The renaming to Class 117 follows a simple pattern that applies to all classic electrics.
- For spotters it's a museum subject you have to plan for – spontaneous sightings are practically ruled out.
Frequently asked questions
What is Class E 17?
The E 17 is an express electric locomotive from the standard-locomotive programme of the interwar years, built by AEG. It has the wheel arrangement 1'Do1' and ran in the 15 kV AC network. At the Deutsche Bundesbahn it later ran under the number 117.
What was the standard-locomotive programme?
The attempt to stop designing locomotives separately for every railway administration and every route, and instead build them to shared design principles. Components were meant to be reusable, and maintenance and spares stocking simpler. It's essentially the same idea that today sits behind manufacturer platforms such as the Vectron or TRAXX.
How do I recognise an E 17 in a museum?
Count the wheels: four large driving wheels in the middle, with a smaller carrying wheel each in front and behind. The locomotive body sits visibly on a frame, and the drive technology can be made out from the side. The markings E 17 or 117 confirm the identification.
What does the E before the number mean?
It simply stands for electric locomotive. In the old system, low numbers roughly marked express locomotives and high numbers freight locomotives. With the switch to pure digit designations, the E was dropped, and E 17 became 117.
What sets the E 17 apart from the E 16?
Both have four coupled driving axles, but different drive solutions. The E 16 carries its Buchli drive as large discs on just one side of the vehicle and is unmistakable as a result. The E 17 looks the same from both sides – that alone is already the decisive distinguishing feature.
Does Class E 17 still run in regular service?
No. The class is withdrawn; individual machines survive in the museum sector. Whether one of them is operational changes with restoration projects and deadlines. Don't rely on older information – check current announcements.
Why do old electrics have carrying axles?
Because the running gear sat in the main frame, and the locomotive had to run smoothly at higher speeds. Carrying axles guided the vehicle through curves and distributed the weight. With bogie construction from the 1950s onwards, this design became unnecessary – which is why modern locomotives no longer have carrying axles.
How do I document a sighting of historic vehicles?
With the vehicle number, location, date and condition, supplemented by photos of the markings. Historic vehicles change location through loans and restorations; without a date a sighting is hardly possible to place later. Structured recording pays off more here than it does in regular service.
Log your sighting of the Class E 17
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Related classes
Class E 18
Class E 18 was the express electric of the 1930s at 150 km/h – and one of the most beautiful. Here's how to recognise it and place its numbers.
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Class E 16 wears its most important feature openly: the Buchli drive with large discs on just one side. Here's how to recognise and photograph it.
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