ND2 is the name for a Romanian

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 diesel-electric locomotive, produced by Electroputere

Electroputere

Electroputere S.A. , is a company based in Craiova, Romania. Founded in 1949, it is today one of the largest industrial companies in Romania....

, exported to and employed in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 by China Railways

China Railways

China Railways is the national railway operator of the People's Republic of China, under the Chinese Ministry of Railways.China Railways operates rail commuter and freight transport via several smaller companies....

. It was made for the purpose of heavy transport.

History

ND2 is a derivative of LDE2100 (060DA) locomotive. The Chinese Ministry of Railways started importing this locomotive in 1974 under a barter arrangement to fill a gap in the domestic locomotive production.

Most of the class were based at Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 Bureau, with some others working as far south as Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

. At its apex, ND2 class was the predominant passenger power south of Yangtze River

Yangtze River

The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

.

Rated at 2300 hp UIC, ND2 traces its lineage back to a Swiss design created by SLM

Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works

Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works were a railway equipment manufacturer based in Winterthur in Switzerland...

 and Sulzer

Sulzer (manufacturer)

Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly owned company with international subsidiaries...

. Externally, ND2 bears resemblance to AE 6/6

SBB-CFF-FFS Ae 6/6

The Ae 6/6 is a heavy electric locomotive used by the SBB-CFF-FFS. It is sometimes also referred to as canton locomotive , because the first 25 locomotives were named after the cantons, and carried the canton's coat of arms on the side and chrome embellishments , and the Swiss coat of arms...

 Swiss electric locomotive

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

s.

Production

A total number of 284 ND2 locomotives were produced. The ND2s are now being withdrawn but a few remain in service in the Changsha and Shanghai areas.

Locomotives numbers	Producer	Years of production	Quantity
0001 - 0284	Electroputere Electroputere Electroputere S.A. , is a company based in Craiova, Romania. Founded in 1949, it is today one of the largest industrial companies in Romania....	1972 - 1987	284

External links

• Railways of China
• http://www.derbysulzers.com/china.html a history of ND2, Sulzer and its Swiss lineage