Bangladesh Railway Class 6000

Bangladesh Railway Class 6000 is a class of broad-gauge (5 ft 6 in) diesel-electric locomotives of Bangladesh operated by Bangladesh Railway. Total 18 locos of this class were manufactured by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) at Schenectady plant, USA. They entered the fleet of the then Pakistan Eastern Railway of East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) in 1965. The model of class 6000 locos is Alco DL543/RSD-34.
== Technical details ==
Class 6000 locos are the first broad-gauge diesel locos and also the first and only pure Alco based locos of Bangladesh. These locos use the Alco 12-251C as prime mover. Their power is 2,000 hp and can achieve speed up to 106 km/h. The wheel arrangement is Co-Co. These locos are considered one of the most successful loco class of Bangladesh. As of 2020 (55 years later), 17 locos of this class are active. 6011 is no longer in service. It is thought that this loco went to India during the liberation war of Bangladesh and never came back.
Besides class 6000, 16 class 6100 locos were produced by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). Those locos have much similar specifications with class 6000 locos. There are some minor differences like, the design of the driver's cab.
== Classification and numbering ==
The number-series/class of these locos is 6000 and are numbered from 6000 to 6017. Their class-name/specification is "BEA–20". Here, B = Broad-gauge, E = Diesel–electric, A = Alco and 20 = 20 × 100 = 2,000 hp. Previously, the class-name was ALU-20.
== Usage ==
Class 6000 locos are used in both passenger and freight trains. Among the passenger trains, they are mostly used on local and mail/express trains. Some inter-city trains with older vacuum-braked coaches, like Madhumati Express are hauled by these locos.
== Liveries ==
# Red with white stripes (no longer used)
# Blue-yellow
# Green-yellow
== Maintenance ==
Class 6000 locos are based at Ishwardi railway division, Ishwardi, Pabna. They are maintained at Central Locomotive Workshop Shop at Parbatipur, Dinajpur.(কেলোকা)
Category:Bangladesh Railway
Category:Diesel locomotives
Category:Electric locomotives
Category:Diesel-electric locomotives