Red Flag 7-class locomotive

Red Flag 7

Type and origin Power type Electric Builder Kim Chong-t'ae Works  North Korea

Specifications UIC class Bo-Bo+Bo-Bo Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) Electric system(s) 3,000 V DC Current collection Pantographs Couplers AAR knuckle

Performance figures Maximum speed 120 km/h (75 mph) Power output 5,418 kW (7,266 hp)

Career Operators Korean State Railway Class 붉은기7 Pulg'ŭn'gi-7 Number in class ≥4 Numbers 7001-7004

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 and used by the Korean State Railway for heavy freight trains on mountainous lines.^[1]

Description

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.^[1]

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.^[3]

References

1. Kokubu, Hayato. 将軍様の鉄道 (in Japanese). Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō. ISBN 978-4-10-303731-6.
2. "【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. "Nordkorea - "Amidampf und Russendiesel"" [North Korea - "USA steam and Russian diesels"]. FarRail tours (in German). Archived from the original on July 9, 2008.