Red Flag 7-class locomotive

The Red Flag 7-class (Korean: 붉은기7 Pulg'ŭn'gi-7), also known as the Red Flag 2.16 class (붉은기2.16 Pulg'ŭn'gi-2.16) is a two-section, permanently coupled electric locomotive built by the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works in North Korea and used by the Korean State Railway for heavy freight trains on mountainous lines.[1]

Red Flag 7
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
BuilderKim Chong-t'ae Works
 North Korea
Specifications
Configuration:
 • UICBo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′
Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electric system/s3,000 V DC
Current pickup(s)Pantographs
CouplersAAR knuckle
Performance figures
Maximum speed120 km/h (75 mph)
Power output5,418 kW (7,266 hp)
Career
OperatorsNorth Korea Korean State Railway
Class붉은기7 Pulg'ŭn'gi-7
Number in class≥4
Numbers7001-7004

Description

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Following the success of the Red Flag 6-class articulated locomotives, the Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works set to the development of a successor in the early 1990s. The new design integrated updated mechanical and electric components, allowing for a maximum speed of 120 km/h[1] with a power output of 5,418 kilowatts (7,266 hp).[2] They are essentially an upgraded, two-part version of the Ch'ŏngnyŏnjŏl Kinyom-class locomotives, which are a locally manufactured derivative of the Francorail-MTE CSE26-21-type diesel locomotives received by the Korean State Railway from France in the 1980s.[3]

The first two prototypes were numbered 7001 and 7002, and both were painted in different variations of a red and yellow livery. Misleadingly, 7001 wore "Red Flag 6" nameplates on the cab ends; 7002, however, carried new nameplates inscribed with the new designation, Red Flag 2.16 class, after the birthdate of Kim Jong-il.[1]

Aside from the two prototypes, locomotives of this class have not yet been noted on rail lines generally seen by foreigners, though two have been seen inside the Kim Chong-t'ae Works plant.[2] 7002 was on display at the Museum of the Three Revolutions in P'yŏngyang for a time,[1] but by the spring of 2007 it had been removed and put into service in the northern part of the country.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kokubu, Hayato (January 2007). 将軍様の鉄道 (in Japanese). Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō. p. 98. ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6.
  2. ^ a b "【原创】朝鲜铁路机车车辆概况一览 -- 一介书生" [[Original] Korea List of railway rolling stock before - scholar]. cchere.com (in Chinese). July 2, 2013.
  3. ^ Kokubu, Hayato (January 2007). 将軍様の鉄道 (in Japanese). Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō. p. 102. ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6.
  4. ^ "Nordkorea - "Amidampf und Russendiesel"" [North Korea - "USA steam and Russian diesels"]. FarRail tours (in German). Archived from the original on July 9, 2008.