Friday, March 6, 2015

Belgian SNCB diesel série 59 (type 201), 1950s, art


This diesel-electric Bo-Bo class comprised 55 units for use on the easy northern plains and the centre of the country. They were entirely built in Belgium by Cockerill, Baume & Marpent and Ateliers Métallurgiques of Nivelles. The diesel engine was a standard Hamilton, but built by Cockerill under license. The first unit was delivered in December 1954, and had green livery with yellow stripes with a big yellow star on its nose as shown.

Originally, the units had only two headlights whose color was determined by a color filter. It was only in 1971 that the lights were doubled on both ends with white and red lights on all the locos. During the 1960s, several units were equipped with a third white light located above the windshield.

The Série 59 operated both passenger and freight trains. In 1984 they were taken out of passenger service, and most were decommissioned in the late 1980s. A dozen units, however, were kept in activity until 2002 when all were withdrawn, but some are preserved by the SNCB and associations.

This was a Märklin HO model (37271).

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