State Mines Following a demonstration in 1955 with a diesel locomotive
G12 7707 built by
General Motors and
Electro-Motive Division in various European countries, including the
Netherlands, the
State Mines placed an order for five locomotives. The locomotives were built in 1956–1959 by
Henschel & Son, since 1957 called Henschel-Werke, in
Kassel under license from the
Electro-Motive Division (EMD), part of
General Motors. EMD built the diesel engines, the traction engines were supplied by Smit Slikkerveerbuilt on an example of EMD. The locomotives were technically identical to the type
G12 of EMD. Externally, the locomotives differed by a higher cab and extra windows for better all-round visibility. The first locomotive was ordered on , the
State Mines numbered the locomotives 151–155. The 151 was also the first GM locomotive built under license by
Henschel and was presented on at the transport exhibition in Hanover. The 151 entered service on . The 152–155 were delivered to the
State Mines in 1958 and 1959. The 151 had a higher cab than the other four locomotives. The five locomotives each got a different color, with the pattern of the painting matching. The 151 was blue, the 152 green, the 153 orange, the 154 red, and the 155 grey. Until 1970 (the 155 until 1971) they were used for pulling coal trains over the mining track
Staatsmijn Maurits -
Staatsmijn Hendrik, from the mines in
Brunssum and
Hoensbroek to
Nuth and the harbor in Stein.
Dutch Railways Due to the closure of the mines, the locomotives became superfluous and were subsequently sold to the
Dutch Railways, which could put them to good use due to the growth in train traffic. In the same period, the British Rail
Class 1500 locomotives were also taken over. The NS divided the locomotives into the series 2900. This was also the first series of diesel locomotives in the new grey-yellow paint style. Drivers who were used to a weaker NS 2200 in terms of engine power sometimes experienced wheel slip when switching on. They only served for more than four years with the NS, mainly from
Zwolle. Due to the reorganization of freight transport (including closure of various freight railway lines), fewer locomotives were needed after a few years and the small series 2900, which also had many breakdowns, was taken out of service in 1975.
Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha 1425 with
Talgo coaches. In the same year, 1975, they were sold to
Spain where they served with the
Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha (FEVE) in a blue livery and with the numbers 1421–1425 on the railway line between
Gijón and Lagreo/
Laviana. After this railway was converted to narrow gauge with a gauge of 1000 mm in 1982, the 1421–1425 were taken out of service and scrapped. == Summary ==