NZR DB Class - Introduction

Introduction

The DB class was introduced to the rail network in 1965-66 as a result of a requirement for a modern locomotive that could operate on the North Island lines that the Da class was excluded from due to their weight and axle load. While these were mainly branch lines, it also applied to the East Coast Main Trunk line, particularly the section beyond Paeroa through the Karangahake and Athenree gorges, until the opening of the Kaimai Tunnel in 1978. The class was virtually indistinguishable externally from the Da class, being of the same basic design and dimensions, and wearing the same livery. They were some 13 tonnes lighter with a V8 prime as opposed to a V12, though they shared the same A1A-A1A wheel configuration and traction motors for commonality with the Da fleet.

Read more about this topic:  NZR DB Class

Famous quotes containing the word introduction:

    For the introduction of a new kind of music must be shunned as imperiling the whole state; since styles of music are never disturbed without affecting the most important political institutions.
    Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)

    The role of the stepmother is the most difficult of all, because you can’t ever just be. You’re constantly being tested—by the children, the neighbors, your husband, the relatives, old friends who knew the children’s parents in their first marriage, and by yourself.
    —Anonymous Stepparent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)

    For better or worse, stepparenting is self-conscious parenting. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
    —Anonymous Parent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)