The Chinese freight network is massive and has now taken over from steam as the backbone of freight work from the late 1990's. There are many freight diesels in China, some are restricted to particular areas, but most are universal engines which can pop up all over the network in a variety of paint schemes. The most common freight and shunting diesels are known as DF's. Below is a pile of photographs I have compiled shwoing the various freight diesels I have encountered in my time in China.
Please select a Chinese diesel freight locomotive class - DF1 -DF4b - DF5b - DF5d - DF7 - DF8b
The DF1's were the first mainline Chinese diesel locomotive appearing in the late 1960's/early 1970's. Externally they are nearly identical to the DF3's, and the following photographs may actually be DF3's so if someone with more knowlege of this has any information, please pass it on so I may correct this.
A DF1 with a local freight train at Ghanzhou station. This locomotive did a little bit of shunting before setting off. The DF1's were originally operated in tandem, back to back but over time they have been used seperately and most are now retired. February 1, 2000
The DF4b's are China's most common diesel, thousands of these exist, and like thier predecessors the 2-10-2 QJ steam locomotives, none are numbered in the 4xxx and 5xxx series. The main freight colour scheme is dark green with light blue stripe, although some advertising liveries exist as well as the older Dark Green and gold, even though this was a passenger livery. It is not uncommon to see 'Freight DF4b's on passenger workings, although these are usually for secondary or local passenger workings. The Freight DF4b's are geared for 100kph operation.
DF4b #1309 just outside Shanghai with a train of empty gondolas January 31, 2000. Note this is one of the early DF4b's, evidenced by the number and the small grill above the number plate.
I am unsure of where this station is but I believe it is in Southern China. DF4b with a very long train of oil tankers waits while our train shoots through, January 31, 2000.
Here is DF4b 7088 at a freight yard in Southern/mid China, January 14 2000.
DF4b 7598 at Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China on May 25, 2001. 7598 had been busy in Shenzhen this morning earlier it had brought in a two car workers train into the yard and it returned 2 hours later with a sizeable mixed freight. Here are some shots of the engine after it had uncoupled from its train.
The DF5b's are my favourite Chinese diesel. They are primarily used as shunting engines for yards but also work local freights as well. These can be seen all over China, but more so in the south, as the DF7's are more common in the north. The colour scheme for these engines are lightish blue with a white stripe and the obligatory bright red wheels which all Chinese locomotives wear.
Here is a DF5b 1134 at Shenzhen yard, May 25, 2001. This locomotive arrived with a small freight and performed some hump shunting duties before running light engine towards Ghanzhou. The year before I went on a previous trip to China, most of the engines looked to be in reasonable nick, now I have to say they all look filthy I can't recall seeing a cleaner engine than a DF5d. This goes especially for pasenger engines, but freight engines were also very dirty. Clean your engines, lads!
DF5b 1474 idling at a station in Guandong province, January 31 2000. Compare the condition to the above photos, which were taken a year later.
This photograph was taken in Southern China, I was told by Robin Gibbons exactly where but I have misplaced that email somewhere! Shown is a DF5b 1134 and a DF1/3. (I photographed DF5b 1134 a year later - see black and whites above) January 31, 2000.
The DF5d's are very new shunters, most being built in 1999. They are a souped up version of the DF5b's. I have never seen one of these in mainline operation, they all seem to be tied up as shunters in the big yards in southern China. I think in appearance value these are a bit of a disappointment, they look extremely bland and uninteresting. It seems that all of the Chinese characteristics of locomotive building are being lost. I guess they still have the red wheels!
Probably only weeks old, DF5d's are lined up just outside Ghanzhou station. The first loco is DF5d 0004.
DF5d 0004 shunting some YZ passenger cars, Shenzhen yard - May 25 2001.
DF5d 0004 at Shenzhen yard after finishing her duties at about 1pm, crept under the rainbow bridge (which crosses the yard) into the shade and shut down. 25 May, 2001.
DF5d 0003 near Shenzhen station on May 25, 2001.
Various shots of DF5d 0003 performing shunting work at Shenzhen. May 25, 2001.
Like the DF5's the DF7's also come in some different varieties, ie. DF7a/b/c/d. I know virtually nothing about the DF7's, so I'd appreciate any information about them.
Here are a vareity of shots with DF7's. They were taken in Guandong Province, Shanghai area and near Wuhan - January 2000.
The DF8b's are the largest single-engined freight locomotives in China. Here is one somewhere along the Kowloon/Beijing mainline - January 14, 2000. I have heard that more are going to be/have been produced, maybe up to 70 units?
I snapped this shot out of the window of our Beijing bound train somewhere in the south/mid regions of China.
Best viewed in 800x600 screen resolution. All pages, images and text are Copyright, 2001.
