#4344
New Zealand DH class locomotive
🇺🇸 United States ·built by General Electric· from 1978· class of 6 New Zealand diesel-electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. DH 2868, DL 9095 and DL 9135: Alex Burgess· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The New Zealand DH class locomotive is a type of diesel-electric heavy transfer and shunting locomotive in New Zealand's national railway network. The class consists of six heavy shunt U10B type locomotives built by General Electric United States at their Erie, Pennsylvania plant in 1978. Five of the class are used in the Auckland area for heavy shunting duties, including services around Auckland and the Port of Auckland, while one is based at the Port of Tauranga in Mount Maunganui.
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 48 years ago, in 1978.
- 672 kW is about 8 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 9 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 11.2 m long: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 1 years (1978–1979).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1978
- in service from
- 1978
- retired
- 1979
- status
- in service
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Diesel-Electric Shunter
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- General Electric
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Corporation, New Zealand Railways Department
- top speed
- 112 km/h
- power
- 672 kW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- length
- 11.2 m
- weight
- 54 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q16926777, Wikipedia: New Zealand DH class locomotive (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.