Plymouth CR-8 locomotives

Last updated
Plymouth CR-8
Power&way locomotive near Daly City station.jpg
Plymouth CR-8 centercab diesel locomotive of BART
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-hydraulic [1]
Builder Plymouth
ModelCR-8
CR-8XT (heavier variant) [1] [2]
Build date1963-1990s
By location
    • 1963-1990s (American industrial railroads) [3]
    • 1963/4 (Vietnamese units)* [n 1]
    • 1963 and 1964 (Ponce & Guayama Railroad units)
    • 1971, 1979 (BART units)
    • October 1987 (MBTA unit) [4] [5]
    • c. 1994 (for Maryland Transit Administration) [6]
    • 1992-1993 (South Korean units) [7] [8]
Total producedAt least 21
Specifications
Gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (in Vietnam and Puerto Rico)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (South Korea and most of the US)
1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (BART units)
Length12.384 m (40.63 ft) over couplers
Height3.556 m (11.67 ft)
Loco weight52 t (51 long tons; 57 short tons)*
45 to 65 short tons (40 to 58 long tons; 41 to 59 t)‡ [9] [10] [n 2]
Prime mover two General Motors 12V7
Engine type two-stroke diesel
Cylinders V12
Performance figures
Maximum speed80 km/h (50 mph)
Power outputengine 500 hp (370 kW)
@ 2,100 rpm
Tractive effort 155 kN (35,000 lbf)
Career
Operators
In Thailand/Vietnam
Numbers
  • BART units: 5000, 5013 [12]
  • MBTA unit: 04443 [14] [15] [4] [16]
  • MTA unit: 801 [6]
  • Sungshin Cement Co.: 6-7 [7] [8]
  • Ponce & Guayama Railroad units: 40-42
In Thailand/Vietnam
    • RSR: 2001-10
    • US Army : 1988-1997 [n 3]
    • VR: D10H 31 to D10H 40 [n 3]
Locale
Withdrawnc. 1985 (in Vietnam); Early 1990s (Puerto Rico)
Disposition
Disposition, by operator
    • Vietnamese units: presumed scrapped
    • BART units: used for maintenance of way (MOW) trains
    • MBTA 04443: used on Red Line MOW trains
    • MTA 801: used on Baltimore Metro SubwayLink (formerly light rail) [6]
    • South Korean units: in service.
    • Ponce & Guayama Railroad units: presumed scrapped
Sources: [17]
*Data refers to Vietnamese locos unless noted. [n 4]
‡ General data

The Plymouth CR-8 was a class of 4-axle B'B' centre cab locomotive, built by Plymouth Locomotive Works in the United States, several of which were used on industrial sites.

Contents

Ten units (CR-8b) were briefly operated in Thailand in the mid-1960s. During the Vietnam War they were operated by the US Army in South Vietnam, and afterward became entered Vietnam Railways service as class D10H. A second class of Chinese-built locomotives, classed DFH21, have operated as D10H in Vietnam from around 1980 onwards.

History and design

The CR-8 class was available in weights from 45 to 65 short tons (40 to 58 long tons; 41 to 59 metric tons), with installed power ranging from 400 to 1,000 horsepower (300 to 750 kW) using hydraulic twin engines via a cardan shaft final drive, in gauges from 3 ft (914 mm) to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). [9]

The 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge American locomotives used in Vietnam used two General Motors 12V71 two stroke V12 engines. [17]

The locomotives were originally thought to have been operated on the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) as numbers 2001-2010 beginning in 1963 or 1964. [17] [n 1] They were transferred to South Vietnam in the late 1960s during the US involvement in the Vietnam War, and operated as numbers 1988 to 1997 by the US Army. After the war's end in 1975 they were reclassified D10H and renumbered 31 to 40 by Vietnam Railways. [17]

Several similar locomotives were used in the US by industrial operators, as well as MBTA and BART. A heavier model, the CR-8XT, [n 5] was used by companies including Bethlehem Steel and the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. [3]

Known owners

OwnerVariantQty.NumbersNotes
State Railway of Thailand CR-8102001-2010 Metre gauge; later to US Army as 1988-1997; [n 3] later used by Vietnam Railways as class D10 locomotives 31-40; presumed scrapped.
Bay Area Rapid Transit 25000, 5013Built to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge; 5000 originally built in 1971 as L-1, and 5013 built in 1979; in service on maintenance-of-way trains.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 104443In use for maintenance-of-way trains on the Red Line of the MBTA subway.
Maryland Transit Administration 1801Formerly used to tow broken-down light rail vehicles the Baltimore Light RailLink, now used on the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink. [6]
Martin-Marietta 147-0050Built in 1981 (serial number 7347) and formerly used in Woodville, Ohio; now owned by Stoneco and numbered 40.0001. [3]
Kaiser Sand and Gravel13707Built 1969 for various industrial operations in California, including in Radum and the Permanente Quarry. [3]
Ponce & Guayama Railroad 340-42 Meter gauge; #40 was built in 1963 (serial number 6199) and #41 - #42 were built in 1964 (serial numbers 6420 and 6421) [19] for use on this sugar railroad in Puerto Rico. They operated on the railroad until its closure in 1990. [20] All weighed 45 tons [19]
Jones & Laughlin Steel CR-8XT237-3837 built in 1967, and 38 built in 1975. Used in Aliquippa, PA. 37 later sold to LTV Steel. [3]
Bethlehem Steel 171Built 1963 for use in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later renumbered 30 for use in Lackawanna, New York. [3]
Sungshin Cement26, 7Built in 1992 and 1993 [3] for use on an industrial railroad in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea; used to haul cement and coal to Korail's Dodam junction [7] [8]

Notes

  1. 1 2 In 'Diesel and gas turbine progress, (1963), ten CR-8 locomotives were noted as having been delivered to the US Army (United States Army Aviation and Missile Command). [18]
  2. ↑ Also quoted as being available in versions from 40 to 120 short tons (36 to 107 long tons; 36 to 109 metric tons). [11]
  3. 1 2 3 Some units renumbered to within range 1001 to 1010. Not all units received numbers in range 31 to 40. [17]
  4. ↑ USA operated units varied from the specifications of the units used in Vietnam. [3]
  5. ↑ The CR-8XT was available in 70 to 120 short tons (63 to 107 long tons; 64 to 109 metric tons). [9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Plymouth Locomotive Works". americanindustrialmining.com. American Industrial Mining Company Museum. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "loco-info.com - Plymouth CR-8". loco-info.com. Retrieved 13 February 2025. In the USA, the different variants of the CR-8 were used by different industrial companies with heavy loads to be moved. Parallel to the CR-8, the manufacturer offered the CR-8XT, where XT stood for "eXTra Tonnage, eXTra Power, eXTra Performance". This was offered with weights between 70 and 120 short tons and also had two engines with a total of between 650 and 1,400 hp.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Chamberlain, Clint (ed.), "Plymouth 40-120T Ind Railroad Locomotives", www.northeast.railfan.net, retrieved 3 September 2012
  4. 1 2 "MBTA Diesel Locomotive 04443". Railroad.net. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "NETransit: MBTA Vehicle Inventory Main Page". roster.transithistory.org. 04443 - 50 ton, 700 HP Diesel Locomotive - Plymouth - 1987
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Baltimore Light Rail Photo Tour". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 13 February 2025. Unit 801 became a Camden fixture after catenary icing during January 1994 stranded passengers on the long bridge across the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Graham, Philip (18 September 2012). "KoreaSth - Industrial diesel & electric locomotives". Flickr . Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Graham, Philip (18 September 2012). "KoreaSth - Industrial diesel & electric locomotives". Flickr . Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 Jane's world railways and rapid transit systems, Franklin Watts, 1978, p. 95
  10. ↑ "Plymouth Locomotive Works", Railway Age, 1976, advert, reproduced via waidephoto.smugmug.com
  11. ↑ International Railway Journal, vol. 7, 1967, p. 12, advert
  12. 1 2 Johannessen, Mike. "BART photos". RailPictures.Net. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "Bay Area Rapid Transit District - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  14. ↑ "MBTA 04443 - red line work locomotive". 22 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  15. ↑ "MBTA Red line locomotive 04443". The NERAIL New England Railroad Photo Archive. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  16. ↑ "Strange Looking Locomotive at South Station". Railroad.net. That's the rapid transit division's work locomotive 04443. Lives at the Red Line maint[enance] facility at Cabot Yard [...] 50-ton, 700 HP, built 1987 by Plymouth.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Gurnett, David, "First D10H/Plymouth CR-8b, Bo-Bo Diesel Hydraulic", Railways in Vietnam (railwaysinvietnam.com), retrieved 3 September 2012
  18. ↑ Diesel and gas turbine progress, 1963, p. 34, Plymouth, located in the Ohio city of the same name [..] has just delivered ten of its model CR8-S diesel-hydraulic locomotives to the US Army Aviation and Surface Material Command for undisclosed foreign service.
  19. 1 2 Copeland, P. Allen. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). ferrocarrilespr.rogerseducationalpage.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  20. ↑ Aponte, Roger. "Ponce & Guayama Railroad | Railroads of Puerto Rico / Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico". ferrocarrilespr.rogerseducationalpage.com. Archived from the original on 2025-11-19. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
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