The Red Flag 6-class ( ko, 붉은기6 ''Pulg'ŭn'gi''-6) is a http://www.cchere.com/topic/3893100 two-section, permanently coupled

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 ...

built by the

Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works The Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works () in P'yŏngyang is North Korea's largest manufacturer of railway equipment. Established in November 1945 in Sŏsŏng-guyŏk, P'yŏngyang near the P'yŏngyang Railway University and the Korean Stat ...

and used by 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 P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–19 ...

for heavy freight trains on mountainous lines.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō),

Description

As the electrification of the

's network continued into the 1980s, the Red Flag 1 and Red Flag 2 class locomotives were the dominant type in service under the wires. However, with the electrification of steep mountain lines, it was realised that a more powerful locomotive was needed. Therefore, the

Kim Chong-tae Electric Locomotive Works The Kim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works () in P'yŏngyang is North Korea's largest manufacturer of railway equipment. Established in November 1945 in Sŏsŏng-guyŏk, P'yŏngyang near the P'yŏngyang Railway University and the Korean State ...

began design work on an articulated locomotive to operate freight trains on the difficult mountainous sections. Using the Red Flag 2 class as a starting point, the Red Flag 6 (붉은기6, ''Pulg'ŭn'gi''-6) class was developed. The result was a permanently coupled Bo'Bo'+Bo'Bo' articulated locomotive with eight capacitors, made up of two sections; these sections are single-cab versions of the Red Flag 2. The Red Flag 6 class is thus an articulated descendant of the Škoda Type 30E, which had formed the basis for the design of the Red Flag 1 and Red Flag 2 after North Korea bought a licence to build the type, including technology transfer, from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. The first prototype was shown in 1981. Numbered in the 6000 series, production of the new design began in 1986, and was put into service in 1987 to haul freight trains on the

P'yŏngra Line The P'yŏngra Line is an electrified standard-gauge trunk line of the Korean State Railway in North Korea, running from P'yŏngyang to Rason, where it connects with the Hambuk Line.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), I ...

. These four-bogie, eight-axle articulated units are long, weigh and produce . They have a maximum speed of and can pull .http://www.cchere.com/article/3895102 Trial runs with passenger trains were undertaken, but the type is now mainly used on east-west freight trains on the P'yŏngra Line. The first prototype received a cream over red paint scheme, but production units are painted in the standard light blue over dark green livery.

Named locomotives

There are three known named Red Flag 6 locomotives: * Bright future-type (광명호, ''Kwangmyong-ho'') - one known locomotive, painted in cream over blue with a white stripe, * Thousand-ri of liberation No.1 (광복의천리길1호, ''Kwangbokuicholligil1-ho'') - one known locomotive, *Thousand-ri of liberation No.2 (광복의천리길2호, ''Kwangbokuicholligil2-ho'') - one known locomotive, painted in light green over dark green.

References

{{DPRKloco Locomotives of North Korea Kim Chong-tae Works locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1981 Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ locomotives