The Red Flag 5000-8/1 (붉은기, ''Pulg'ŭn'gi'') is a class of universal mainline
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...
s built by the
Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works for the
Korean State Railway
The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song.
History
...
.
In 1981, the Korean State Railway took delivery of seven
Francorail-MTE CSE26-21 diesel locomotives from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, followed by five more in 1985.
Due to oil shortages in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was decided to develop a new electric locomotive based on these diesels. Like all locomotive development in the DPRK, this work was carried out by the
Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works in
P'yŏngyang.
Apparently intended as a replacement for the
Red Flag 1-class locomotives, these locomotives, of which at least 41 have been built, incorporate components copied from the original French parts. Used for mainline passenger and freight service, they are painted in the standard light blue over dark green livery, or its newer light green/dark green variant.
Named locomotive
There is one known named locomotive:
* Commemoration of the 7th Congress of the
General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea
The General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK; ) is the sole legal trade union federation in North Korea. GFTUK was formed on November 30, 1945 as the General Federation of Trade Unions of North Korea. In January 1951, it was reorganized ...
(조선직업총동맹 제7차대회기념호, Chosonjigopchongdongmaeng che7chadaehoekinyom-ho), numbered 5437, painted in light green over dark green.
References
{{DPRKloco
Kim Chong-tae Works locomotives
3000 V DC locomotives
Bo-Bo-Bo locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of North Korea