The two locomotives of the Henschel type EA 500 were built in 1966 for the Prosper coal mine at Bottrop. They had two 180 kW traction motors for use either under 15 kV AC or on battery power. Built in a modular way, they were closely related to the three-axle, 540 kW EA 800 also built for Prosper and to the four-axle, 720 kW EA 1000 built for other operators. The two EA 500, originally numbered E 9 and E 10, came to the Ruhrkohle AG in 1970 as E 489 and E 490. Although E 489 had to be scrapped after an accident only two years later, the other one was later renumbered into 290 and only withdrawn in 1997. Today it can be found on display at Hattingen.