China's railways are changing very rapidly. With so many locomotives and classes and gradual electrification, what is in China one day, will probably not be the same a few months down the track.
Please select a Chinese diesel passenger locomotive class - DF4b - DF4d - DF9 - DF11 - ND5
The DF4b Diesel is the most numerous class of diesel locomotive in China. It comes in 3 main colour schemes, Green and gold, Orange and yellow and green and light blue. Other colour schemes exist, but these are usually advertising paint schemes, ie. The Ningbo Cigarette Factory (tut, tut!)or China Buisness Daily Newspaper. Passenger DF4's are painted Orange (or advertising liveries as mentioned above) and are geared for 120kph operation. Some other DF4's do passenger work but these are usually workers trains or local workings.
DF4b diesel departs Hang Zhou Dong station, China - January 12, 2000.
A local passenger train worked by DF4b 1340 somewhere inbetween Beijing and Shanghai. January 26, 2000.
Here are two orange DF4b's at Shanghai. The first picture is at the locomotive depot, and the second is taken from a platform at Shanghai station. January 16, 2000.
Here are a selection of photos with orange DF4b's at Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PRC - May 28 2001. Note in the second last picture the variety of passenger car liveries!
2 more pictures of DF4b's with passenger trains taken from the Rainbow bridge at Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PRC - May 28 2001.
There is a relatively good vantage point quite close to the station in some gardens. I know you can't see the wheels but there are very few 'legal' places where one can get pictures from so this one is pretty good. Here a DF4b is crossing through the gardens and heading north, May 28 2001.
Here is a collection of DF4b's with passenger trains I have taken from different places around China. I do not know of the exact locations, but they are on the Hong Kong-Beijing, Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai to Hong Kong lines. Once again, note the advertising livery, this time of the Ningbo Cigarette Factory, January 2000.
Here are 3 photos of a Green and Gold DF4b. This is my favourite color scheme for the DF4b's. They look sensastional with a string of green and gold passenger cars. These pictures were taken at Shanghai station after some awkward negotiating with the conductors.
DF4b 9383 looking superb at Ghanzhou station February 4, 2000. The portrait photograph made it into Connections magazine, June 2000 edition.
A DF4b with 2 passenger cars came into Shenzhen, dropped off a track team, turned around and went back again. Here is the photo sequence, May 28 2001, Guangdong Province, China.
The DF4d diesel locomotives are one of the main production diesel locomtives in China and are primarily used for 120kph express passenger operation. All are painted dark red and cream, and there are well over 500 examples. Slowly these locomotives are being replaced by the more modern DF11 diesels and electric type locomotives and these may soon be put into freight service. The later DF4d diesels have a more rounded front end than the earlier models.
Here are some pictures of DF4d diesels at the Shanghai passenger diesel terminal. There are a nice selection of passenger diesels here including DF4b's, d's, and DF11's. Interesting to note in some of these pictures are the DF4d in advertising livery, in this case advertising the main Chinese buisness newspaper, China Buisness Daily. January 31, 2000.
Here is DF4d 0459 somewhere in the middle of China with a fairly sizeable passenger train of 17 cars. I got this picture out the window of my Beijing bound train. January 15, 2000.
DF4's are commonplace all over China, here are a few from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, PRC - May 28, 2001. You can compare the front end of these locomotives to the pictures of the DF4d's I shot in Shanghai. Personally I prefer the rounded design over the more Volvo looks.
There are only two DF9 diesels in existence and are subsequently very difficult to find. These were the engines upon which the DF11 was based on. The DF9's operate up to 140kph express duties. Both engines are dark blue and cream.
I was pretty lucky to get DF9 on film I was just about to leave my spot at Shenzhen gardens to go and find my wife who was shopping somewhere in the city. Here is class leader (out of two engines) DF9 0001 departing Shenzhen and heading somewhere north. Guangdong Province, PRC - May 28, 2001
A DF9 (either 0001 or 0002) heading through the Shenzhen hump yard, May 28 2001.
The DF11 diesels are the most modern in mainline passenger express operation today. There are at least 200 examples and probably more and they are still in production, although rumoured not for long. All are painted in dark blue and cream and DF11 0128 currently carries the prestigous title of the Pioneer Train, commemorating Communism, if communism is to be commemorated...
Here is a small selection of photographs of DF11 diesels around Ghanzhou. Ghanzhou (Canton) is the capitol city of Ghangdong province, PRC. DF11's around this area bear low numbers, ie. DF11 0001 - DF11 0030? where the DF11's 0100 and up are found in the more northern areas of China. February 4, 2000.
DF11's heading for Shenzhen. Some of these trains went as far as Hung Hom (Hong Kong's international railway station). May 28, 2001.
When I visited Shanghai, I only saw 2 DF11's. Most of the passenger work at the time was done by the DF4b's, DF4d's and ND5's. My guess is the DF11's are becoming more popular as they seem to be more common across the whole country.
A nice pan shot with DF11 0012 heading for Hung Hom, April 30, 2001. The highway up into the New Territories follows the mainline for about 3 kilometers like this.
Here are 2 passenger trains at Fanling. A short walk from the station is a pedestrian bridge which crosses the tracks and offers a fabulous vantage point for trains. Frequency for international trains in the Hong Kong area varies from every 1/2 hour to 1 hour. DF11's and SS8 are the most common locomotive hauled trains.
Here is DF11 0012 on both occasions heading a Ghanzhou train. May 6 2001 and May 26 2001.
DF11 0012 Ghanzhou with a train of Aluminium coaches at University station, Hong Kong SAR. The interior of the coaches looks very nice inside. On my 2001 trip to Hong Kong, I encountered 0012 times. here she is on May 15, 2001.
DF11 0013 at Hung Hom station, May 15, 2001.
Here is DF11 0012 and DF11 0013 at Sheung Shui. Sheung Shui is the last station under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, after this station is Lo Wu where Chinese visas must be acquired before hand.
DF11 0009 at Universtiy station, 7th of September 2001. DF11 0009 is under lease from the Guangshen Railway company which operate this service.
DF11 0009 with the return trip to the mainland, photographed at Kowloon Tong. September 7 2001.
The ND5 locomotives are apparently fairly rare engines. I saw a fair few however around Shanghai working local passenger trains and in some local yards from my train window. They come in two color schemes, a blue/green and a Dark Green with a red stripe. I saw the latter in operation. These locomotives were imported from the USA.
ND5 locomotive passes the passenger diesel locomotive depot, Shanghai, PRC - 31st of January 2000.
ND5 is departing Shanghai station with a local paseenger working, Shanghai, PRC - 1st of February 2000. A dark green and gold DF4b can be seen in the foreground.
I spotted another ND5 out the window of my Hong Kong bound train. This was taken somewhere outside of Shanghai, PRC - 1st of February 2000.
Best viewed in 800x600 screen resolution. All pages, images and text are Copyright, 2001.
