"BTW, I have 2 Lionel 44 tonners. They don't even like like they come from the same prototypes. Maybe I'll just call them 88 tonners. It is my railroad."
The rough story is this: Lionel mis-named their original 44T; that was never the prototype of their PW loco, which does actually have a prototype. GE made other small switchers - the 70T WbB just offered I think, as an example. The Lionel PW "44T" is actually patterned after the GE 80T unit, I do believe. Maybe someone here with more "critter" knowledge will confirm or correct me.
Lionel's to blame for the eternal 44T misdirection.