Although these locomotives were originally intended to be used as heavy transfer shunters, four of them were used in pairs, each crewed, on the Royal Train tour of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to New Zealand in 1953-1954. The class also underwent trials for use in suburban passenger trains in Auckland and Wellington, as well as on lesser regional passenger services and branch line freight.[1]
The class was also the first to run on the new Murupara Branch, initially for construction and later for log trains on the still unsettled track bed.[2] This has given it the unofficial status of being the first mainline diesel-electric locomotive in the NZR service, although this title correctly belongs to another class, the DF class of 1954, also manufactured by English Electric.
The introduction of the Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) in 1979 saw the locomotives being renumbered DE1308 – DE1458.
Initially, the class was based in the North Island, but in 1981, four of the locomotives were sent to the South Island. Over time, the class was gradually dispersed to secondary yards on the network, such as Napier, Dunedin, and Invercargill. In the early 1980s, two class members were fitted with English Electric 6SRKT Mk 2 engines, which were also used in the DG class locomotives.[3]
As part of the New Zealand Railways Corporation's plan to reduce the number of first-generation diesels in the late 1980s, a number of the class were scrapped or sold for preservation.
Out of the original fifteen DE class locomotives, seven have survived. All have operated in preservation at least once:
DE 504/DE1337 was sold to the Otago Polytechnic not long after being withdrawn. The plan was to use the locomotive's engine in a recreation of a ship's engine room, but this never materialised. In 1993, it became surplus to their requirements and was then gifted to the Otago Excursion Train Trust. The trust restored it to working order, and it was repainted in the TGRs Bahama Blue livery and given the identity as DE1337. In 2006, the locomotive was repainted to the original red livery with Larch Yellow nose stripes and wasp stripes on the headstocks as per the 1970s. DE 504 is not mainline certified. It is used occasionally for pulling work trains and passenger excursions, but it's mostly seen shunting in Dunedin yard. Although it was put up for sale or leasing in mid-2015, the locomotive is still operational and can be seen being used for shunting around the depot occasionally.[4]
DE 505/DE1343 was sold to the Silver Stream Railway (SSR) in 1984. It was one of two members of the class that did not receive the International Orange livery. Instead, it retained its original red livery with its headstocks painted yellow until it was withdrawn from service. It has since been restored and is currently in operation on the SSR, still sporting its original livery but with the headstocks repainted black.
DE 507/DE1372/GVR NO8 was sold to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway (GVR) in 1988. Since then, it has been repainted in its original livery and now bears both its original identity as DE 507 and GVR NO 8.
DE 508/DE1839 was brought to Wellington after it was withdrawn and was restored by the NZ Rail (Tranz Rail from 1995) to become DE 508 in their Heritage Fleet. During this time, it performed some shunting work at the Wellington carriage and wagon depot and also took part in some railfan trips. In 2003, Tranz Rail decided to disperse the Heritage Fleet, which led to the locomotive being given to the Rail Heritage Trust and moved to the Silver Stream Railway. The locomotive is still operational and runs on SSR open days. In early 2014, a replica of its original cow-catcher was fitted.
DE 509/DE1395 was also sold to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway in 1988. It retained its TMS identity as DE1395 and its International Orange livery. However, it did not spend much time in service for its new owners and ended up in storage by 1990 without ever carrying its new identity as GVR NO 9. This locomotive is the last surviving Royal Train DE.
DE 511/DE1412 was sold in 1988 to the Diesel Traction Group. After being restored as DE 511, it traveled with DG 772 to Springfield on an excursion as part of the Rail 125 celebrations in the same year. Currently, this locomotive is undergoing repairs after being in storage.
DE 512/DE1429 was also sold to the Diesel Traction Group in 1988. It was restored as DE1429 and has been the only operational class member to wear the International Orange livery in preservation. The locomotive has occasionally been used at Ferrymead and has attended the famous Waipara Vintage Festivals hosted by the Weka Pass Railway (WPR) in the past. Since September 2015, it has been on a long-term loan to the WPR.
^Following the introduction of the Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) in 1979, the class classification was capitalised, whereas previously the second letter was a smaller capital letter, that is DE
Barry, Colin; Brouwer, John; Dash, Colin; Dickenson, Peter; Shalders, Bruce (1988). Cavalcade 125. Ferrymead 125 Committee. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History (Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand. ISBN0-908876-20-3.
