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DSG 3033 (Canterbury Rugby)

(This re-skin is based on a specific shunting locomotive in real-life. Said real engine is DSC 2678).

DSC 2678 was built at New Zealand Railway's Hillside Workshops, entering service in 1966. The locomotive was originally numbered as DSC 461, and was one of 70 members of her class. The first 18 were built in England, while the rest were made in New Zealand, just like me and Rolling Line. DSC 461 was renumbered as 2678 in 1978, as part of the introduction of the then-new Traffic Monitoring System or TMS.

Originally outshopped in a plain red livery, DSC 2678 was repainted in the International Orange/Fruit Salad livery sometime during the 1980's. In 1992, the locomotive was apparently repainted in a dark blue livery (of sorts), but no photographs survive to confirm this.

Six years later - in 1998 - DSC 2678 was modified again. This time she had the large single-lens headlight (which she carried from new) replaced with a smaller double-lens headlight. Personally I think this made her look nicer, as I don't really like the look of the single-lens light. 2678 was also fitted with shunter's refuges back in 1998. Shunter's refuges are noticeable extensions to the engine's frame at both ends. Each side has steps, and the driver can stand on the refuges when the engine is moving wagons around in yards. They are designed to allow the driver to operate the locomotive by means of a remote control.

Four years after receiving shunters' refuges, DSC 2678 had another unusual addition. This time she was repainted in a one-off variant of Tranz Rail black. The difference between 2678 and standard TR black was that 2678 had a distinctive red stripe on each side of the bonnets. From what I gather, the red stripe is a tribute to the Canterbury Rugby Team.

DSC 2678 has spent the majority of her life working in the South Island. Curiously she was re-allocated to the North Island (more specifically - the Tauranga) in 2016, and went on to stay in the Tauranga area until January 2020. It was around that time when I saw her in the consist of a freight train heading out towards Hamilton.

As of April 7th, 2020, DSC 2678 has returned to her old home - the South Island. Despite being 54 years old, she is still an active locomotive on KiwiRail's roster, and looks set to retain her unusual livery for the rest of her service life. And now for some information behind the locomotive who's number is on this re-skin.

DSG 3033 was built in Japan by a company called Toshiba, entering service in March 1981. She was the fourth member of her class, which comprises 24 engines. The class was designed for - and is still used on - shunting freight wagons (and sometimes coaches) in yards all around New Zealand (apart from Stewart Island, of course). As the DSG class were all introduced after the introduction of the TMS system, they never received pre-TMS road numbers like what happened with DSC 2678.

The entire DSG class was originally painted in the International Orange livery. In December 1991, DSG 3033 was re-painted in a similar medium blue to what DSC 2678 apparently received. This was replaced with the more recognisable Tranz Rail blue in December 1997. Around the same time, 3033 was fitted with shunter's refuges. This was two years after the privately-owned Tranz Rail company was launched. They would last until 2003, when Toll Rail took over.

Curiously only one DSG was ever painted in the Toll Rail livery, and it wasn't 3033. This engine continued running in Tranz Rail blue until November 2009, when she became one of the first of her class to receive the KiwiRail livery. Today every single DSG is in KR colours.

Today DSG 3033 is still proving to be a reliable engine, as is the rest of the DSG class. After being used in the South Island for most of her life, 3033 is now based in the North Island, and has been since late 2016. At the time of uploading, DSG 3033 is the shunter at the Kinlieth paper mill. There she shunts wagons carrying logs and newsprint for the big DL class locomotives to take away to Mount Maunganui.

On a personal note, I have seen both DSC 2678 and DSG 3033 on a few occasions. The former being due to her bizarre allocation to Tauranga for about three years. As for the DSG, I have seen her in Wellington once and at least twice at Kinlieth.