The Red Flag 7-class ( ko, 붉은기7 ''Pulg'ŭn'gi''-7), also known as the Red Flag 2.16 class (붉은기2.16 ''Pulg'ŭn'gi''-2.16) is a 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 gas ...

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 ...

in North Korea 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 1945–195 ...

for heavy freight trains on mountainous lines.

Description

Following the success of the Red Flag 6-class articulated locomotives, the

set to the development of a successor in the early 1990s. The new design integrated updated mechanical and electric components, allowing for a maximum speed of 120 km/h with a power output of . They are essentially an upgraded, two-part version of the Ch'ŏngnyŏnjŏl Kinyom-class locomotives, which are a locally manufactured derivative of the Francorail-MTE CSE26-21-type diesel locomotives received by the Korean State Railway from France in the 1980s. The first two prototypes were numbered 7001 and 7002, and both were painted in different variations of a red and yellow livery. Misleadingly, 7001 wore "Red Flag 6" nameplates on the cab ends; 7002, however, carried new nameplates inscribed with the new designation, Red Flag 2.16 class, after the birthdate of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

. Aside from the two prototypes, locomotives of this class have not yet been noted on rail lines generally seen by foreigners, though two have been seen inside the Kim Chong-t'ae Works plant. 7002 was on display at the Museum of the Three Revolutions in

P'yŏngyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population ...

for a time, but by the spring of 2007 it had been removed and put into service in the northern part of the country.

References

{{DPRKloco Standard gauge locomotives of North Korea Kim Chong-tae Works locomotives 3000 V DC locomotives Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′ locomotives