Locomotives.....
D8E
Bo-Bo Diesel Electric
These locomotives were built in Vietnam in 2002 for use on prestige passenger services and were numbered 1001-1002. Only two were built and they seem to have been less than completely successful. As far as is known they are the only locomotives built from scratch in Vietnam. Only one seems to be currently in operation. They seem to have had a lot of trouble with the nose shape. Note the damaged and poorly repaired nose below. I caught a glimpse of one when I was in Saigon last year (2009). No idea whether it was operational. The locomotives seem to have been designed to pull coaches painted in the same colour scheme, but in reality pull anything in the passenger fleet. They look vaguely like the British HST or the Australian XPT power cars, so I wonder if the were designed to 'top and tail' passenger trains the way that the HST and XPT does. I don't think this has ever happened.
DATA:
Image Gallery
Click on thumbnail for full size image
Bo-Bo Diesel Electric
These locomotives were built in Vietnam in 2002 for use on prestige passenger services and were numbered 1001-1002. Only two were built and they seem to have been less than completely successful. As far as is known they are the only locomotives built from scratch in Vietnam. Only one seems to be currently in operation. They seem to have had a lot of trouble with the nose shape. Note the damaged and poorly repaired nose below. I caught a glimpse of one when I was in Saigon last year (2009). No idea whether it was operational. The locomotives seem to have been designed to pull coaches painted in the same colour scheme, but in reality pull anything in the passenger fleet. They look vaguely like the British HST or the Australian XPT power cars, so I wonder if the were designed to 'top and tail' passenger trains the way that the HST and XPT does. I don't think this has ever happened.
DATA:
| Class |
D8E |
| Country of
Manufacture |
Vietnam |
| Year Built |
2002 |
| Year in service |
2003 |
| Number in Class |
2 |
| Road Numbers |
1001-1002 |
| Length |
16577 mm |
| Width |
2860 mm |
| Height |
3910 mm from
rail. |
| Weight |
54367 kg
(54.3 tonnes) |
| Maximum Speed |
120 kph |
| Continuous Speed |
11.7 kph |
| Axle load |
14 tonnes |
| Engine |
Caterpillar
CAT3412E - Made in USA |
| Engine Rated at: |
641 kw/871 hp |
| Engine type |
V12 cylinder
|
| Fuel Tank |
1500 litres |
| Continuous Tractive Effort |
105 kn/23600 lbs |
| Minimum Radius |
95/75 metres |
Image Gallery
Click on thumbnail for full size image
Steam Locomotives generally used the traditional
French classification system. A steam locomotive with a 2-8-2 wheel
arrangement is classified as 141 class, a locomotive with 4-6-2
wheel arrangement is classified as 231 class etc. Pretty straight
forward, except what did if two classes had a 2-8-2 wheel
arrangement I'm not sure. It didn't happen so wasn't a problem?
Diesel locomotives have a completely dfferent clasification system.
All diesel classes start with the letter 'D' (for diesel?) then a number which I believe is related to the locomotives power output. The third character defines Electric' (E) or hydraulic (H).
e.g. D5H class = Diesel + 500 hp + hydraulic.
Again, what happens if two classes are the same I don't know.
I am still investigating pre 1975 classifications. Some are the same e.g. 141 steam class, and some are different e.g. 'BB' class instead of D9E.
Created with Kompozer
the Open Source Web Designer
Railways in Vietnam
website © 2009-2010 David Gurnett
Update April 25, 2010
All images remain the copyright of their
original owners and are reproduced purely
for the purposes of research.
Please feel free to contact me at
railwaysofvietnam@gmail.com