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Stanleyville DXC 5287

DXC 5287 was originally built as DX 2626 by General Electric in 1975. The engine arrived in New Zealand in early 1976, entering service in February of that year. As with all other members of the DX class, 2626 started life in the Clockwork Orange livery. In 1978, DX 2626 was re-numbered as DX 5287 as part of the roll-out of the Traffic Monitoring System.

DX 5287 retained the Clockwork Orange livery until 1984, when she was re-painted in the International Orange livery. The repainting was carried out at Hutt Workshops in Wellington. She stayed in this livery well into the 2000s, not being repainted into Toll Rail livery until November 2004. Around the same time, the engine was reclassified as a DXC and fitted with the so-called 'chutes'. These were actually air vents designed to improve ventilation for the driver while the locomotives were going through the Otira Tunnel.

DXC 5287 has spent most of her post-1980s service life in the South Island, as has been the case with the entire DXC subclass. Curiously 5287 was returned to the North Island in around 2008, and had the 'chutes' removed. She stayed in this condition until July 2013, when she was repainted in KiwiRail colours and re-fitted with the 'chutes'. As of September 2019, DXC 5287 is still in service in the South Island.

In my fictional history, DXC 5287 was one of a trio of DX's that KiwiRail sold to the Stanleyville Railway in March 2017. The engines arrived on the railway very soon after the sale, and were soon repainted in SR purple. Today they are used to haul the passenger trains between Stanleyville Forest and Pendletown Junction.