#3245
Rhodesia Railways class DE2
Zimbabwe ·built by Dick, Kerr & Co.· from 1955· Zimbabwean diesel locomotive class
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 0545 BulawayoZimbabwe 19920731: MaltaGC (Nigel Tout)· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
Rhodesia Railways class DE2 are a type of diesel locomotive built for operations on Rhodesia Railways in the 1950s. The first entered service on 22 June 1955. All were built in England in two batches by English Electric; 1200 to 1222 at Dick, Kerr & Company in Preston and 1223–1234 at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows in 1958.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 71 years ago, in 1955.
- 1.3 MW is about 15 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 17.1 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1955–1958
- in service from
- 1955
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 35
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- Zimbabwe
- builders
- Dick, Kerr & Co., Vulcan Foundry, English Electric
- operators
- National Railways of Zimbabwe
- top speed
- 97 km/h
- power
- 1.3 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- (1′Co)(Co1′)
- length
- 17.1 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7321056, Wikipedia: Rhodesia Railways class DE2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.