what is it?
The Indian locomotive class WCM-2 was a class of 3 kV DC, later 1.5 kV DC electric locomotives that was developed in 1956 by Vulcan Foundry and English Electric for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), Direct Current (C), Mixed traffic (M) engine, 2nd generation (2). They entered service in 1957.
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 70 years ago, in 1956.
- Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 43 years (1957–2000).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1956–1957
- in service from
- 1957
- retired
- 2000
- status
- retired
- number built
- 12
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇮🇳 India
- builders
- English Electric, Vulcan Foundry
- designer
- Vulcan Foundry, English Electric
- operators
- Indian Railways
- top speed
- 121 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,676 mm Indian broad gauge
- electric system
- Before conversion: 3.0 kV DC Overhead, After conversion: 1.5 kV DC Overhead
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- weight
- 113 t
- nicknames
- BlueBird
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q96095979, Wikipedia: Indian locomotive class WCM-2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.