New Zealand DX Class Locomotive - in Service - Numbering

Numbering

The DX class was originally numbered from DX 2600 to DX 2648 - which in common with NZR practice of the time was based on power output (2600 hp).

With the introduction of the computerised Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) in 1980, the class was renumbered. The DX class received four-digit numbers starting with 5, in which the fourth number is a check digit for the number. The locomotives were numbered in order, with DX 2600 renumbered DX 5016 (6 being the check digit) and DX 2648 renumbered DX 5517. The numbers 500x, 515x, 534x and 549x were not used as these as these numbers do not generate a valid check digit, and DX 2639 never received a TMS number as it had been withdrawn by then.

The DXB and DXC sub-classes have kept their original TMS numbers, while the DXR class received new TMS numbers beginning with 8, numbered irrespective of their DX number. DX 5045 received a new TMS number using the DXB algorithim (5520) when it was upgraded and returned to service following being involved in a fatal derailment at Te Wera in 2002 (when re-introduced into service, the DXB classification was used to denote what is now the DXC sub-class).