Bulldog noses in Norway
Class Di3
Click on a picture to enlarge
The Norwegian state railways NSB owned 35 Bulldog nose GM units called the Class Di3 built by Nohab (Nydquist och Holm AB in Sweden).
This locomotive class knew some different sub-series:
NSB class Di3a 602 was a Co'Co' locomotive with an 16-567B 1,700 hp engine built in 1954 (max. 105 km/h) (this loco was the original Nohab demonstrator 2246);
NSB class Di3a 603 - 623 were Co'Co' locomotives with an 16-567C 1,775 hp engine built between 1957 and 1959 (max. 105 km/h);
NSB class Di3a 624 - 629 were Co'Co' locomotives with an 16-567D1 1,775 hp engine built in 1965 (max. 105 km/h);
NSB class Di3a 630 - 633 were Co'Co' locomotives with an 16-567E 1,775 hp engine built in 1969 (max. 105 km/h);
NSB class Di3b 641 - 643 were A1A-A1A locomotives with an 16-567C 1,775 hp engine built in 1958 and 1959 (max. 143 km/h, later reduced to 105 km/h). The 641 (Nohab 2402) originally was meant for testing by the Finish VR on broad gauge. As VR didn't choose for the Nohab locomotives, the NSB took over
the Nohab 2402, 2416 and 2417 (the latter two were being built beforehand for VR and were nearly completed when VR lost interest) after conversion to normal gauge.
The last NSB Di3 unit went out of NSB train service on 6 January 2001. Since then the locomotives (in NSB red livery if no other livery has been mentioned) can be found:
the 602 is owned by the Norwegian Railroad Museum (JBM, Norsk Jernbanemuseum) in Hamar. Is has the classical
green/yellow stripe NSB livery and is under custody of the GM Gruppen Norge. It is in operating condition.
ex-DSB MY 1104 which was owned by GM Gruppen Norge and which stood for years in Eidsvoll (N)
has arrived back in Denmark on 24 October 2007. It is now residing in Struer Museum painted in a classic brown NSB livery. The GM Gruppen
plans to acquire Di3.605 which is now owned by Tågab in Sweden. The plan is to offer Di 3.605 to the Norwegian Railroad Museum (JBM) later on, in exchange for Di3.602;
the 603 is owned by the Norwegian Railroad Museum (JBM, Norsk Jernbanemuseum) in Hamar and carries a green/white stripes livery. It used to be a spare parts locomotive of Inlandsbanan in Sweden.
It currently stands in Støren;
the 610 temporarily stands at Marienborg yard near Trondheim for restauration and still wears the NSB classical brown livery (the loco is owned by GM Gruppen Norge);
the 616 is owned by the Norwegian Railroad Museum (JBM) in Hamar. It is under custody of the GM Gruppen Norge and wears the NSB classical red livery. The locomotive
normally stands as museum loco in Oslo West depot. It hauled some
excursion trains during Summer 2002 between Andalsnes and Björli and is in operating condition;
since 2002 the 628 (which is owned by the Norwegian rail infrastructure company Jernbaneverket; in yellow livery since autumn 2003) operates in the winters as snow plow locomotive in Voss on the Oslo - Bergen line;
the 603, 621, 623, 629, 632 and 642 were sold to Ofotbanen A/S (OBAS) on 19 November 2001 for tourist trains use on the Ofotbanen Narvik (Norway) - Kiruna (Sweden).
They were transferred from Trondheim (N) to Narvik (N) via Sweden on 7 January 2003. OBAS Di3.629 was painted green with white stripes in July 2003 and both OBAS
Di3.623 and Di3.632 got the same paint job in 2004. OBAS 603, 621 and 642 were spare part locos. The depot of the locos was Narvik (Norway).
Early 2007 Autolink (later called CargoLink) bought 40% of the shares of Ofotbanen and signed a contract with Ofotbanen to transport 600 trains per year
for USD 10 million. On 4 October 2008 the operating license of Ofotbanen was revoked and the company subsequently went into a bankruptcy procedure as Autolink did not
want to invest more money into Ofotbanen. CargoLink ceased its activities early 2016.
In February 2008 the Di.3 locomotives of Ofotbanen A/S (OBAS) were sold to shareholder Rail management AB. Since the end of 2008 these roundnoses are used for timber trains on the railway line Hamar
- Elverum - Støren, which are ordered by Swedish railway company Peterson Rail AB. At first they ran under the license of Peterson Rail, but since 13 January 2009 the trains are operated by Ofotbanen Drift A/S
itself, being the successor company of the in July 2008 discontinued Ofotbanen A/S. However, in June 2009 four of the five roundnoses (Di.3 603, 621,
623 and 632) were sold to Swedish railway company Inlandsbanan. Di.3 623 was damaged by fire in April 2014. The NoHAB-GM Foundation in Hungary wants to buy and refurbish this locomotive, because
it was the first NoHAB to visit Hungary in May 1960 as a GM demonstrator. Di.3 629 remained with Ofotbanen Drift which went insolvent on 4 May 2010 and is now positioned in Östersund with
Skandinaviska Jernbanor (Sweden). Di3.632 is currently owned by Inlandsbanan, but is not doing much.
In Kosovo
In January 2001 the Di 3.619, 633, 641 and 643 were donated by the Norwegian government to the Railways of Kosovo (ROK) as part of KFOR in Jugoslowakia, a division of the United Nations Mission
which temporary administrated 330 kilometers of railways in Kosovo. Since March 2001 Unmik Railways was responsible for the exploitation and rolling stock for KFOR. Nowadays the Kosovo Railways
are operating independently. The locomotive workings in Kosovo you will find here.
In Italy (Sicily)
The Di 3.626, 630, 631 and 622 were sold to construction company Impresa Salvatore Esposito in Caserta. The locomotives are currently active for nocturnal work trains on the isle of
Sicily. The 631 is renumbered to 97 76 000 0 363-1. In September 2011
the 3.622 and 3.626 (numbered NA 0002) were sighted in December 2013 on Sicily in Acireale. The 3.631 was spotted at Cinisi Terrasini in April 2019, this time numbered as IT-RFI 270227-8 and 99 83 948 4 007-3.
Former NSB Di3.630 was scrapped after it suffered major damage due to a runaway on the isle of Sicilia on 10 March 2006. All three remaining locomotives still carry the NSB red livery.