MÁV Class M44 is a Hungarian shunting engine built from 1954 to 1971, and used by multiple railways, including

Hungarian State Railways Hungarian State Railways ( hu, Magyar Államvasutak, MÁV) is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt." (passenger transport), "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance), "MÁV-Trakció Zrt." and "MÁV Cargo Zrt" (freig ...

(MÁV), Polish State Railways (PKP),

Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways ( bg, Български държавни железници, translit=Balgarski darzhavni zheleznitsi, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and the largest railway carrier in the co ...

(BDŽ),

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

(JŽ), and some industrial railways in the former countries of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. All versions used the Ganz–Jendrassik XVI Jv 170/240 V16 4-stroke naturally aspirated diesel engine producing 600 HP (420 kW).

History

The Hungarian railway system was in a very bad shape after the ending of the war, and modernisation became important for MÁV. Ganz has built 2 generator locomotives for the suburban electrified railways during the war. MÁV needed a heavy shunting locomotive to replace the previously used old and obsolete steam locomotives, with relatively high power and acceleration. Ganz has designed a diesel electric locomotive with the then-biggest series built engine made by them, the Ganz XVI Jv 170/240. The first 2 prototypes were built in 1954, and they got the designation M424 5001 and 5002. After the good results of the tests, mass production had started. Other railways bought from this design, with similar results. After nearly 70 years, the original prototypes are still operational, and the class is still in active service, albeit with decreasing numbers.

References

SM40/41
*Translated from the Hungarian article.

History

References

See also