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KiwiRail DXB 5448

(Here’s how I read the numbers of - not just these five KiwiRail number variants - but all DX’s in general):

Fifty Four Forty-Eight
Fifty One Sixty-Six
Fifty Eighty
Fifty Sixty-eight
Fifty Sixteen

DXB 5448 - in my opinion - has had the strangest service live of any DX.

She was originally numbered as DX 2642 and built by General Electric in 1976; being one of the last DX’s to enter service. In 1978 - just two years after entering service - she was renumbered as DX 5448.

2642 / 5448 - like all other DX’s - was first out-shopped in the Clockwork Orange livery, and was initially allocated to the North Island. She was still running there when - in 1986 - she was repainted in the International Orange livery; I have found one photograph to confirm this. Nine years later - in September 1995 - 5448 was repainted in the Tranz Rail blue livery. The next year - 1996 - saw her fitted with air intakes or ‘chutes’ on both sides. 5448 was then transferred to the South Island.

DX 5448 was involved in a nasty head-on collision in October 1999, which took place at Waipahi in Otago. The DX was the 2nd engine on southbound freight train 919 (DFT 7254 was in the lead). Train 919 had stopped on the mainline but within Waipahi station limits, and then DC 4202 with northbound train 938 collided head-on with train 919, which resulted in the tragic death of DFT 7254’s driver. A full report on the crash can be found here:
https://www.taic.org.nz/sites/default/files/inquiry/documents/99-122.pdf

As for the three locomotives, one was written off and scrapped with the other two were gradually returned to service. DC 4202 was the engine that didn’t survive the accident, as she was damaged beyond repair and scrapped on sight. DFT 7254 remained out of action until 2006, when she was reclassified and renumbered to DFB 7348 and put back into service.

DX 5448 - on the other hand - retained her original number. In 2005 she was reclassified as DXH 5448; the “H” referring to Heavy drawgear, otherwise known as couplings. The engine remained in Tranz Rail colours all the way through the Toll Rail era, and it wasn’t until 2010 - two years after the launch of KiwiRail - when 5448 was finally repainted. Her new livery was KiwiRail, of course.

Bizarrely - for a DX numbered higher than 5166 - 5448 didn’t retain her ‘chutes’ post-overhaul. Instead they were removed, and the engine was reclassified as DXB 5448. This was due to frame issues still plaguing the engine after the Waipahi accident. She stayed in the North Island for a couple of years, and has since been transferred back to the South Island.

5448’s new life as a DXB hasn’t gone entirely smoothly; in July 2012 the engine tipped over near the town of Hinds. Thankfully the driver wasn’t injured, and no rolling stock was damaged as 5448 wasn’t pulling anything. KiwiRail were still able to run trains through Hinds as the DX had derailed on a crossing loop, so there was still one track available for service.

After this unfortunate incident, 5448 was righted and returned to service again. On a personal note, I saw 5448 twice whilst on a visit to Christchurch in November 2018.

The first occasion was on November 10th, when she was in the shed at Christchurch’s Middleton Depot. Two days later I saw 5448 again, but this time it was at the nearby Annex Road level crossing. The DXB was double-heading with DC 4559 on a freight train from Rolleston.

Nowadays DXB 5448 is still based in the South Island and is still in service, which is quite impressive given that she’s now 45 years old.