Whether referred to as an E94 or BR 194 or Iron Pig, the German bred E94 electric freight locomotive was developed to tackle the steep grades of Southern Germany just as the more famous Swiss Crocodiles were created to combat the Gotthard line in Switzerland. Equipped with just six axles, weighing over 120 tons and measuring nearly 19 meters in length, the "German Alligator" could haul a 1,000 ton train up a 1.6% grade.
A total of 200 locomotives were constructed with the majority going to the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gessellschaft. Most of the production occured in the early years of World War II in Austria and Germany. At the war's conclusion, most went to the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and the Austrian Federal Railways. The final units rolled out of the locomotives shops in 1953 with some units lasting in service for 50 years. In fact, some still run today, controlled by various clubs and museums.
The E94 designers drew heavily on the locomotive's predecessor the E93 but the electrical systems were significantly different thanks to the incorporation of rheostatic braking which required a higher locomotive stance in order to house the enclosure for the braking resistors. Each locomotive truck utilized three traction motors mounted parallel to the drive axles via a sprung suspension mount - a traditional drive train often found on street cars.
The center section of the E94 is supported on the truck frames on large pivots giving the locomotive an articulated apearance and it's popular "Alligator" nickname. The center section contains the main transformer fed from overhead pantographs which in turn pull power from the catenary lines centered above the rail line. A passageway inside the center section allows crew members to traverse the locomotive from one end to the other.
Like the popular Swiss Crocodile of 2012, this all-new die-cast O Scale model is fully outfitted with digital sound, LED lighting and motorized operating pantographs and are available in both 3-Rail high-rail wheeled versions and 2-rail Fine Scale wheeled versions. Choose from four exciting liveries, two in Deutsche Bundesbahn schemes and two in Austrian Federal Railway schemes.
