Steam locomotive class 44, DB, with coal tender in reworked edition, wheel arrangement 2-10-6, model of the 44 554. Body plastic, frame die-cast metal.
Drive on 2 tender axles and via drive-shaft on all 5 locomotive drive axles, four wheels on tender with traction tires, motor with flywheel.
A characteristic of the class 44 was her exclusive taste in fuel; she liked to be fed with best quality mineral coal. Apart from construction factors, coal and good firing are needed for maintaining a good head of steam. As in most other steam engines, experienced stokers knew tips and tricks to keep their "jumbos" happy.
It is not enough to simply "fill her up" with coal; stoking is hard and skillful work. Consider the following: Before starting, the fire must be high enough and glowing well to produce the necessary steam for the initially huge consumption, also the coal bed must withstand the strong exhaust blasts. During start-up and acceleration the fire-box door may on no account be opened. Only when the train is up to speed can stoking be continued, and each shovel must be placed just so. "Holes" must be immediately filled. If these thin-layered, lightly flaming spots burn through, the coal bed opens and cold drafts cause damaging areas of heat tension, and the steam pressure drops. The coal bed itself must be properly heaped with a higher bank on the door side. In standardized locos the bed can be flat, but care must be taken to fill out the corners properly. Too much coal causes a drop in temperature, and undue smoke development indicates incomplete combustion. Furthermore, the stoker must know the route being travelled. The fire must be built up long before an ascent is actually reached, and then the fire must be sufficiently burned down before the end of the ascent.
With good quality coal, the class 44 could produce over 1900 HP. She was licensed for 80 km/h and had an axle load of 19,3 t. Some of these engines are still operational today.
