New Zealand DC class locomotive

New Zealand DC class

DCP 4801 and DC 4346 with a mainline shunt south of Christchurch.

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Canada (original builder) Clyde Engineering, Australia (re-builder, 80 units) NZR Hutt Workshops, Lower Hutt, New Zealand (re-builder, 5 units) Build date 1961 – 1967 (as DA class) 1978 – 1981 (rebuilt as DC class)

Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC A1A-A1A Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Wheel diameter 1.25 metres (4 ft 1 in) Length 14.10 metres (46 ft 3 in) Width 2.72 metres (8 ft 11 in) Height 3.76 metres (12 ft 4 in) Adhesive weight 60.0 tonnes (59.1 long tons; 66.1 short tons) Loco weight 82.0 tonnes (80.7 long tons; 90.4 short tons) Fuel type Diesel Prime mover EMD 12-645C or EMD 12-645E RPM range 900 rpm Engine type V12 Diesel engine Aspiration Normally aspirated (Roots blower) Cylinders 12 Cylinder size ? x ?

Performance figures Maximum speed 100 km/h (62 mph) Power output 1,062 kW (1,424 hp) (645C) 1,230 kW (1,650 hp) (645E) Tractive effort 140 kN (31,000 lbf)

Career Number in class 85 Numbers DC 4006 – 4951 (TMS) DC 1551 – 1599 (original) First run 1978 Disposition 30 in service 41 withdrawn 14 scrapped including 1 sold to TasRail

The New Zealand DC class is a class of diesel-electric mainline locomotive on the New Zealand rail network, operated by KiwiRail on freight trains, and formerly on long-distance KiwiRail Scenic passenger trains. The class was rebuilt from the DA class in the late 1970s and early 1980s, mainly in Australia. After the DA class they were the most numerous class of diesel locomotive on New Zealand's railway network, and remained numerically dominant until the mid-2010s when withdrawals began.

The locomotives started life as D^A class, built by General Motors Canada between 1955 and 1967. Between 1978 and 1983, 85 of the later-build D^As were rebuilt as EMD model G22AR, designated as the DC class, with upgraded engines, new cabs and low short hoods of a style similar to the DX class introduced earlier in the 1970s and the DF class being introduced at the time. Five were rebuilt at the Hutt Workshops near Wellington and the other 80 at Clyde Engineering in Australia.

Each locomotive has a General Motors 12-645C or 12-645E V12 diesel engine (the same as originally fitted to the DF class) and four traction motors, with an authorised maximum speed of 100 km/h. They are 14 metres long, has a height of 3756 mm (12 ft 4in) and weighs 82 tonnes. They can be readily identified as they are considerably shorter than the DF and DX classes and have their paired headlights arranged horizontally, rather than vertically on the DFs.

The five 49-series Hutt-built DCs originally retained the 12-567 engine, before later receiving the 12-645.