Type M62 diesels were once commonplace throughout the former Eastern Bloc - and in several other countries with Soviet connections. These rugged Co’Co’s, which were also built in two- and three-section versions, were renowned for their reliability, but they were noisy, greedy on fuel, and embarrassingly incontinent with that fuel. The NEWAG works, in Nowy Sącz, Poland, has subjected a number of these legendary machines to radical rebuilds.
On 20 and 21 March 2008 311Da-01 (now ST40s-01) and 02 (now ST40s-02), with ST44-2016 and 2044 in tow, hauled a 5,200-tonne test train from Zamość to Sławków and back on the 400 km, 1,520 mm gauge LHS in southeast Poland. We see them here eastbound in decidedly wintry conditions in the section Zwierzyniec - Biłgoraj, in the hilly terrain of the Roztoczański Park Narodowy (ie. Roztocze National Park) just to the west of Zamość.
Photo: Andrzej Bąk