International Railroad Discussion > "New" Alcos in Vietnam!

I basically had no idea what I would see regarding freight train operations in Vietnam. I was certainly curious and pleased to see as much freight activity as I did. The first surprise was seeing what looked unmistakably like an Alco on the point of a freight train in a third-track siding near the station Ga Ngoc Lam, north of Hue. This was the train that I photographed several of the freight cars as we rolled past and posted last Friday. I would later see a second unit in Da Nang.

1. VNR D13E-class #719 was built by DLW (Diesel Locomotive Works) of India in 2002! India calls it a model YDM4 but my source on Vietnamese locomotives says it is the equivalent of a DL535A or RSD30. It has an Alco 251D6 engine developing 1350 hp. Of 25 units built, most were built in the 1980s and I did not see any of those older units.

2. A few days later at the station in Da Nang was another D13E-class that refused to come out from under the platform and in fact pushed to the left out of sight. I like everything about this unit which is also from the 2002 batch.

3. A detail shot of the cab. I do wonder what all that writing is on the 'plaque' to the right of the builder's plate. The end of the first line references the unit number D13E-720.

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Nice looking locomotive. Thanks to share the photos with us.

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Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

Interesting, the short hood is slightly lower than on the YDM4s I've seen in India & Myanmar.

Hello NMlurker,
do you have a better view of the plaque to the right on the third picture? I might try my luck. I can also ask somebody who knows much better than me. I had the chance to be in Hanoi’s main station when an Alco as shown departed. The engineer was actually quite happy to see somebody who enjoyed that stuff. He also showed a photo of some bloke in the shops together with some personnel. However, these Alcos lack the burbling.
Cheers
kbs651

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