Bachmann China CD00305 Class DF4D #1893 'Chairman Mao' of the Beijing bureau

The original locomotive "The Chairman Mao" was introduced in 1946 after the end of the war with Japan. At this time the country had suffered from the ravages of war and much of the transport infrastructure was in ruin. The railway needed to be brought on stream as quickly as possible, so the Chinese railway industry set about repairing an old locomotive "1751-304" and when completed it was named "Chairman Mao" by the central government. The "Chairman Mao" locomotive first began service in the Haebin region and was used by the People's Liberation Army throughout the country during the period of the civil war in 1949. In 1977 the original steam locomotive was withdrawn from service and replaced by a diesel electric locomotive "DF4A 0002". In 1991 the locomotive was upgraded to a "DF4B 1893" to commemorate the great achievements of Chairman Mao. A new version of the locomotive was introduced in 2000, known as "DF4D 1893" and is currently managed by the "Chairman Mao" locomotive unit division, serving in a section of the Beijing Railway Bureau, between Fengtai and Hengshui on the Beijing-Kowloon Line. The DF4D locomotive is manufactured at the Tai Lin works. It is a diesel electric locomotive powered by a 16V240ZJD diesel engine, with a maximum power of 2940KW and a top speed of 100km/h. It has CO-CO bogies. The maximum tractive effort is 480kN with a continuous tractive effort of 341kN. The DF4D is the principal locomotive of the third generation of electric locomotive.