It is close to 65 years since an order for North American-built diesel locomotives was placed by East Pakistan. Richard Gennis takes a brief look at the Bangladesh Railways EMD ‘B12’ diesel class that is still working today.
Back in 1952 when East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) decided it was going down the diesel route, I doubt that few of the people involved in their purchase could have imagined that these locos would still be in use in 2016!
The Eastern Bengal Railway (as it was called then) took delivery of 40 metre gauge ‘B12’ locomotives from General Motors, built at its London plant in Ontario, Canada.
Monthly Subscription: Enjoy more Railway Magazine reading each month with free delivery to you door, and access to over 100 years in the archive, all for just £5.35 per month.
Click here to subscribe & save
They came in three separate batches, the first of the locos arriving in August 1953 and the final delivery was in April 1956.
Strangely there was only one other export customer for this type of loco and that was Brazil with only nine locomotives delivered with a B-B wheel arrangement.
Read more in October’s edition of The RM
