Red Flag 1-class locomotive

Red Flag 1 Red Flag 2
Red Flag 1 class 붉은기5043
Type and origin Power type Electric Designer Chŏn Chae-yun Builder Kim Chong-t'ae Works  North Korea Build date 1961-
Specifications Configuration: ​  • UIC Co'Co' Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Electric system/s 3,000 V DC Current pickup(s) Pantographs Traction motors NB-410 Couplers AAR knuckle
Performance figures Maximum speed 120 km/h (75 mph) Power output 2,250 kW (3,020 hp)
Career Operators Korean State Railway Class See text Number in class 150+ Numbers 5001-5099, 5100-5196+, 5200-5290+, 5300-5387+

Type and origin
Power type	Electric
Designer	Chŏn Chae-yun
Builder	Kim Chong-t'ae Works  North Korea
Build date	1961-

Career
Operators	Korean State Railway
Class	See text
Number in class	150+
Numbers	5001-5099, 5100-5196+, 5200-5290+, 5300-5387+

The Red Flag 1 (Korean: 붉은기1, Pulg'ŭn'gi-1) and Red Flag 2 (붉은기2, Pulg'ŭn'gi-2) class locomotives are multi-purpose electric locomotives built by the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works and operated by the North Korean State Railway.

As a result of its being one of the first successes of the Ch'ŏllima Movement, along with being the most numerous of all locomotive types on North Korea's railways, it has become a distinctive symbol of North Korea, featured on postage stamps, propaganda posters, at the Arirang Festival, and even a mural at a station of the P'yŏngyang Metro. In 2001, Kim Jong-il awarded the Hero of Labour title to the Red Flag 1 class in recognition of its long-standing service, and the type has also been awarded the Order of the Red Banner Of the Three Great Revolutions three times.

When Korea was partitioned after the end of the Second World War, the Korean State Railway had inherited a number of aJapanese-built electric locomotives from its colonial-era predecessor, the Chosen Government Railway. Following the end of the Korean War, the railway network underwent large-scale reconstruction, part of which was the expansion of electrification.

Expanding electrification of North Korea's rail network meant that the fifteen locomotives inherited from the Chosen Government Railway would be insufficient, As a result, the Ministry of Railways bought a number of new electric locomotives from Czechoslovakia in the mid 1950s (the Škoda Type 22E₂). Political concerns, such as desire for self-reliance and the then-ongoing Ch'ŏllima Movement, however, led to the decision to undertake mass production domestically. To this end, a license to build the Škoda Type 30E was bought, including technology transfer. At least one was built to the original design, but the primary focus was on the development of a larger, indigenous design based on the Type 30E. The result was the Red Flag 1 (붉은기1, Pulg'ŭn'gi 1), designed by a team led by Chŏn Chae-yun. This was a universal locomotive considerably larger than the Type 30E, with Co'Co' axle arrangement and distinctive body work featuring a rounded front end and trapezoidal, inset cab windows The traction motors, transformers, auxiliary motors, master controller and other components used on the first prototype were imported from the USSR or China.