NSB Di 3
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 Di 3a number 616 on display at the Norwegian Railway Museum in Hamar | |||||||||
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NSB Di 3 is a class of diesel locomotives which was used by Norges Statsbaner (NSB) on non-electrified stretches of the Norwegian state railway system, such as the Nordlandsbane, the Rørosbane and the Raumabane.
The locomotives were built by NOHAB between 1957 and 1969 and powered by a General Motors GM 16-567C/E engine. 35 were built, 32 of them being designated Di 3a. Three other locomotives were intended for the Finnish railway company VR, but went to NSB when VR cancelled the order. A little longer and with a slightly different wheel arrangement, they were designated Di 3b. All the Di 3 engines featured a bulldog nose, the only locomotive type in Norway to do so.
In the NSB numbering scheme the Di 3a locos received numbers 3 602 to 3 633 while the b-series was numbered 3 641 to 3 643. They were the dominant engine on the unelectrified stretches before being supplemented by the more powerful NSB Di 4. The last regular use of a Di 3 was on 26 December 2000, although the class remained in sporadic service until 7 January 2001. In passenger traffic, they were replaced by NSB BM93 multiple units [1], while NSB Di 8 engines took over their light freight train duties. Although the class is now retired from service on NSB, some locomotives have been sold to Kosovo and Italy and five were sold to Ofotbanen AS.
The Di 3 was one of the most reliable locomotives NSB ever had. They were sometimes used as back-up engines for NSB Di 6 locomotives which turned out to be remarkably unreliable and which were returned to the factory before the Di 3 was retired [2].
History
In 1952 the Norwegian authorities decided that 50% of the railway network was to be electrified, so 80% of the traffic would be driven by electric locomotives. For the remaining 20% of the operation, in addition to offer an alternative to steam locomotives while the network was electrified, NSB acquired a diesel-electric test engine from NOHAB in Trollhättan in Sweden on licence from General Motors Electro-Motive Division in May 1954. This locomotive received the classification Type 64 No. 2246 and was frequently tested on Nordlandsbanen. The experience from the tests were good and the locomotive was found sufficient.
NSB ordered five new locomotives (603-607) that were delivered in 1957. The test engine was also bought and given the number 602. Danske Statsbaner (DSB) in Denmark also bought the same locomotives and gave them the designation MY. Later the same year NSB ordered an additional eight engines (608-615) that were put into service on Dovrebanen, Nordlandsbanen, Gjøvikbanen and Bergensbanen. In 1958 an additional six Di 3 were delivered and put into service on the southern part of Dovrebanen to operate south to Hamar. A few weak bridges in the southern Gudbrandsdalen had been reinforced to tolerate the heavy locomotives. The same year, Di 3 was put into service on the night train on Raumabanen where they and steam engines both operated until 1965.
Di 3 622-623 and 641-643 were originally ordered by the Finnish Railways (VR), but the order was cancelled during production. They were offered to NSB, which accepted the offer. Three of the engines were already finished, but built differently from the rest of the Di 3 series: four of the six axles were powered, they had a higher maximum speed but lower traction, thus given the designation Di 3b. The engines entered service in 1960.
Electrification of lines
At the beginning of 1961, 17 of the total 25 Di 3 units were stationed in Trondheim district, while two were in Hamar district and six in Bergen district. At this point Di 3 had just been taken into service on Rørosbanen, that had a number of weak bridges. In February 1961 the line Oslo - Hønefoss was electrified, allowing all trains on Bergensbanen to be pulled by either electric or diesel locomotives. A year later in February 1962 Nordlandsbanen was finished extended to Bodø and Hønefoss - Ål was electrified. Rørosbanen was upgraded by reinforcing bridges, and from May 1964 Di 3 was in regular traffic on the line. The same year Bergensbanen was finished electrified, freeing five of the six Di 3 units to other lines. The last engine was kept at Finse Station for snow removal and as a reserve. In 1965 the engines 624-629 were delivered to NSB resulting in the end of steam driven express trains on Rørosbanen.
In 1967 the electrification of Dovrebanen north to Otta was finished, and the next year it reached Dombås. This meant that Di 3 could be freed for other lines and at the same time Valdresbanen was reinforced to tolerate Di 3. In 1969 the last of the four engines, 630-633, were delivered and the last remaining steam engines could be taken out of service. In 1970 the entire Dovrebanen was finished electrified and the use of Di 3 could be concentrated on Nordlandsbanen, Meråkerbanen, Rørosbanen, Raumabanen, Solørbanen and Valdresbanen, and this operational pattern continued about as long as NSB used the locomotives.
The end of an era
The Di 3 engines were the only locomotives on the non-electrified sections of the railway until 1981 when they received competition from the considerably more powerful Di 4, that was put into service on Nordlandsbanen. This, and the termination of passenger traffic on Valdresbanen in 1989 meant that the Di 3 were more often put to freight traffic. In the 1990s NSB started to look for a replacement for the soon 40 year old locomotives. They were supposed to be replaced by two new engines, 12 Di 6 and 20 Di 8, where Di 6 was to pull heavy trains and Di 8 light trains.
The purchase of Di 6 turned out to be a big fiasco, but the Di 8 units were good enough to take over the freight trains from Di 3, while the Di 6 trains were returned to Siemens in Germany. The remaining trains pulled by Di 3 were replaced by diesel multiple units, either the older Type 92 or the brand new Type 93. The last train to be pulled by Di 3 was the main train on Rørosbanen on December 26 2000, pulled by Di 3 623 and 629. After this Di 3 was used sporadically on Nordlandsbanen until January 7 2001 in a pair with a Di 4 on parts of the line. After this date the use of the engines was not allowed, and the locomotives were slowly retired after dominating the non-electrified NSB network since the end of the 1950s.
New service
NSB started retiring the engines in the 1990s, but unlike its Danish counterparts, they didn't primarily end up at Swedish railway companies. A lot of the trains were chopped up, but eight of the locomotives were sold to Italy and Kosovo. Five of the locomotives were bought by Ofotbanen AS in 2001 and are mostly used for lumber transport. They have received a dark green color with yellow and white details.
Two of the engines have been preserved by the Norwegian Railway Museum and are in operatable order. This is locomotives number 602 and 616 and are operated by GM-Gruppen, who work with preserving General Motors locomotives from Scandinavia and keeping them in a historically correct order.
| No. | Type | Delivered | Retired | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 602 | Di 3a | October 16 1954 | October 11 1995 | Owned by the Norwegian Railway Museum, operated by Norsk Museumstog (NMT) |
| 603 | Di 3a | April 25 1957 | Owned by Ofotbanen AS | |
| 610 | Di 3a | February 19 1958 | April 19 1995 | Stored by NSB in Trondheim |
| 616 | Di 3a | August 22 1958 | 1997 | Owned by the Norwegian Railway Museum, operated by Norsk Museumstog (NMT) |
| 619 | Di 3a | October 24 1958 | 2001 | Sold to the United Nations and sent to Kosovo |
| 621 | Di 3a | December 16 1958 | Owned by Ofotbanen AS | |
| 622 | Di 3a | July 2 1960 | Sold to Sicily | |
| 623 | Di 3a | August 18 1960 | Owned by Ofotbanen AS | |
| 626 | Di 3a | May 21 1965 | Sold to Sicily | |
| 628 | Di 3a | August 1 1965 | Owned by Jernbaneverket | |
| 629 | Di 3a | September 13 1965 | Owned by Ofotbanen AS | |
| 630 | Di 3a | June 28 1969 | Sold to Sicily | |
| 631 | Di 3a | July 18 1969 | Sold to Sicily | |
| 632 | Di 3a | September 4 1969 | Owned by Ofotbanen AS | |
| 633 | Di 3a | October 16 1969 | 2001 | Sold to the United Nations and sent to Kosovo |
| 641 | Di 3b | July 2 1960 | 2001 | Sold to the United Nations and sent to Kosovo |
| 642 | Di 3b | July 2 1960 | Reserve engine at Ål Station, owned by NSB | |
| 643 | Di 3b | December 9 1960 | 2001 | Sold to the United Nations and sent to Kosovo |
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