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KiwiRail DXC 5477 (Te Huia Logo)

(A stand-in for DFB 7077, the 2nd of three DFB's that will be set aside and dedicated to Te Huia when it starts running. DXC 5477 was chosen as the 2nd number variant because her number has the same two rear digits as DFB 7077).

DXC 5477 was built by General Electric in 1976, entering service in June of that year. She was originally numbered as DX 2645, and was one of the last DX's to be built. The DX class came to a total of 49 engines, although one of them was written off and scrapped after an accident in 1977. This engine was DX 2639.

The DX's were notable for their first livery, which was Clockwork Orange. This livery was never carried by any class other than the DX. 2645 was renumbered as 5477 in 1978 as part of the introduction of the Traffic Monitoring System. The locomotive remained in the Clockwork Orange livery into the 1980's, as proven by a picture I found of the engine sitting in Wellington yard. In the picture the engine has the International Orange style numbers on the side.

In October 1984, DX 5477 was repainted in the International Orange livery. She remained in this livery until well into the 2000's. This happened with a few others DX's, such as 5379 and 5419. 5477 has spent most of her post 1980's life operating in the South Island. In the late 1980's she had her original 2-piece windscreen replaced by a large one-piece design. This was done to improve driver visibility, which coincided with the introduction of single-man crewing.

DX 5477 was unfortunate enough to be repainted in the unsightly Toll Rail livery in August 2005. Numerous modifications were made to the engine around the same time. These included the installation of General Electric's Brightstar engine management system, AAR heavy drawgear and an upgraded cab. After Toll Rail was replaced by the state-owned KiwiRail in July 2008, 5477 remained in the Toll Rail livery for a few more years. In the first few years of KiwiRail's existence, the engines that took a while to be repainted in KR colours simply had their Toll Rail logos replaced with KiwiRail stickers.

It wasn't until March 2010 when DX 5477 was repainted in the KiwiRail livery. Around this time the locomotive was reclassified as DXC 5477. Today the locomotive is still in service with KiwiRail, and is allocated to the South Island. She is getting on for 44 years old.

On a personal note, I have only seen DXC 5477 once in person. The date was November 10th, 2018. On that day I saw DXC's 5477 and 5425 arriving at Christchurch's Middleton yard with the empty Tranz Alpine coaches.