Hungary - Diesel locomotives and multiple units

Click the picture to see it in full scale

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These days quite a lot of cargo traffic in Hungary is handled by private operators. This picture from the yard of Komárom shows (from far away; sorry for the bad picture quality due to the +37C temperature) a private locomotive of the company Metrans. This machine of class 761 is a Siemens made so called Hercules, similar to the Austrian class 2016. Picture from Komárom 30.6.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Two foreign cargo operators side by side. On the left the huge Siemens "Hercules" diesel of Metrans and on the right an Austrian ÖBB Br 1116, also made by Siemens, presumably operating here on behalf of ÖBB's Hungarian subsidiary Rail Cargo Hungary. Metrans is a large international intermodal cargo operator operating to and from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary with services to Austria, connecting this territory by rail with major European ports, including Hamburg, Bremerhaven, to Rotterdam, Duisburg, Koper, Trieste and Rijeka as well as new shuttle train services to Istanbul. Picture from Komárom 30.6.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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MAV class 117 railbus with an unmotorised coach attached, waiting for its departure time at the station of Fonyód. These railbuses were made by Vagonka Studenka in what then was Czechoslovakia. Similar railbuses are common in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia as well. Some were also sold to what then was Yugoslavia and after Yugoslavia broke up, these railbuses ended in small numbers all over the former Yugoslavian area as well. It was a succesful model. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A closer look at the unmotorised coach attached to the same railbus pictured above. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Inside view of the same railbus coach as shown above. What was luxury in the 1970s, works fine even now. But when for example on the day when this picture was taken, the outside temperature was 36-37C, air conditioning would have been nice. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The motorised railbus wagon of class 117. This class was taken into service in 1977 and most wagons were modernised in 1997. It has 40 seats, a maximum speed of 80 km/h and a power rating of 206 kW. Previously these were called class "Bzmot". 258 motorised cars were originally built for Hungary. Many have now been heavily modified/modernised and even converted to long "double" railbuses. This one is still seen here pretty much like they used to be when they were new. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same railbus seen from the other end. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Inside of the same class 117 railbus has a certain 1970s charm. Luckily the wagon has been kept clean and nice. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A second view of the inside of the railbus shown above. Everything in perfect shape, clean and neat, but it looks like this picture would be from the 1970s. And the airconditioning system = all windows open, was not nearly enough for a day when outside temperatures peaked at +37C. Picture from Fonyód station in Hungary 1.7.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Two similar class 117 railbuses at the station of Pécs.
Picture 4.4.2018 by Markku Salo.

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A similar class 117 railbus pair.
Picture 19.8.2019 from Siófok, Hungary by Markku Salo.

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A three coaches long class 117 railbus train has stopped at the station of Tállya and the driver is getting instructions from the station master.
Picture from Tállya station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same railbus train as in the picture above, but seen more from its side. The train driver lady has come out of her train and is getting some detailed instructions. Note that the train has no air conditioning. All possible windows are open as the outside temperature was close to +30C.
Picture from Tállya station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Still the same railbus train as in the two pictures above, here leaving Tállya station. Note that all three coaches are motorised as this line is quite mountaineous.
Picture from Tállya station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A two coaches long railbus train consisting of two motorised class 117 units waiting for connecting passengers from a mainline electric train with a class 431 old electric locomotive and a couple of coaches.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Side view of the same train as above.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Still one more picture of a class 117 railbus.
Picture from Esztergom station 18.3.2022 by Markku Salo.

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Yet another class 117 railbus, but this one has been recently refurbished and modernised and painted according to the latest MAV livery scheme. Picture from Biharkeresztes 14.3.2023 by Markku Salo.

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This railbus is a Siemens Desiro, Hungarian class 426. Hungarian MAV ordered these in two batches 2003-06, first 13 and then 10 more. They are exactly similar to the German class 642 Desiros, even the painting of the trains is exactly the same. The only differences are the use of Hungarian locomotive radio systems and security systems plus a retractable stepping board under the door openings. Hungarians were so happy with these railbuses that they even purchased nine more used ones from Greece as the Greek train company OSE didn't need them any more.
Picture from Budapest-Déli 26.8.2020 by Markku Salo.

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MAV-START class 418 diesel is bringing a regional express train into the station of Szerencs. This locomotive class was previously known as M41. It's a 1800 horsepower machine from the 1970s and early 1980s built by Ganz-MÁVAG. 114 machines were made and less than 80 remain today. They are used in front of express and regional trains on non-electrified lines and they can be used also with push-pull type of coaches.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A class 418 diesel ready to start pushing a short push-pull train towards Tiszafüred.
Picture from Debrecen station 5.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same train as above. The flat-faced steering cab coach at the front looks really old.
Picture from Debrecen station 5.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A diesel shunter locomotive of the class 478, formerly M47. These machines were built by FAUR in Bukarest 1974–1979. This is one of the first series machines which has a modest power rating of only 514 kW. The first and second series of this locomotive look a bit different and then there is still a third type, which is called M43, which looks like the 2. series of M47 but has a weaker engine. These M47s were built in 113 copies and they are therefore very common in Hungary.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same class 478 shunter as above, seen from its front.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A closeup view of the same locomotive as above.
Picture from Szerencs station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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MAV Nohab-GM No. M61-002 has just arrived at Tapolca with a train from Budapest Deli in June 1993. All the remaining M61s were based at Tapolca depot in the background, and worked passenger trains up the north side of Lake Balaton. The Nohab roundnoses were US General Motors' locomotives which the Swedish company Nohab (Nydqvist & Holm AB) modified to suit European requirements and sold to many countries in the 1950s. Still in 2017 as this text is being written, many Nohabs are in use. Hungary was the only Soviet block country which bought these western locomotives. Photo by Andrew Cooke A.I.Cooke@FRCA.maff.gov.uk Uploaded Dec 14, 1995

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The Nohab roundnoses were and still are famous locomotives. The basic design is from pre-WWII USA, from General Electric Electromotive division GE EMD. The European machines were built under GM's license in Sweden by Nydqvist & Holm Ab Nohab in Trollhättan. They were sold initially to Denmark, Norway and socialist Hungary. Finland would also have wanted them. Today there are still many Nohabs in use in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Kosovo. In Hungary they were called class M61.
Picture from Komarom station 8.6.2018 by Otto Tuomainen.

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The same MAV Nohab M61.010 as in the picture above, but here seen at its home base in Budapest.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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The same roundnose.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Mirjam Heinonen.

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This old locomotive is one of the famous 1950s Nohab-GM locomotives built in Sweden. It is seen here in the colours of the Norwegian railway company Ofotbanen OBAS and it still carries OBAS' registration number Di3.623. But it also carries the Hungarian class M61 markings but marked as "M61 no.000". It is seen here in Hungary, at the home depot of the Nohab-GM foundation. It's a private foundation trying to keep some of the Hungarian Nohab-GMs in running order as historic machines. This Nohab had been sold to the foundation following the bankruptcy of OBAS in Norway and it is used as a spare parts source for some of the Hungarian similar locomotives.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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The remains of another Nohab. This one is one of those that was in the 1950s sold from Nohab in Sweden directly to communist Hungary - a sale which infuriated the Russians.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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This old locomotive belongs to the Série 52 of the Belgian state railways SNCB. The Belgian locomotive builder Anglo-Franco-Belge built under license from Nohab and General Motors similar roundnose Nohab machines as the ones pictured above. A last small series of only 40 machines got a bit more modern drivers cab. This is one of those machines built in Belgium in 1955. It was sold to Hungary to the foundation Nohab-GM so that it could be robbed of its engine, which subsequently was used as a spare part for one of the Hungarian Nohabs.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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This is an old British Rail class 047 machine, now registered as "047-375 UK-CRSHU" and owned by Continental Railway Solution. The machine has often been used to pull historic special charter trains in Hungary and in Austria.
Picture from the Nohab-GM foundation in Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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A class 628, formerly M62, diesel is coming from a siding which leads to a stone quarry. It is hauling a really heavy train loaded with stone gravel, presumably for track maintenance. Soon it will enter the station area of Tállya. These famous machines are from the former communist times. They were built in Luhansk in eastern parts of Ukraine during the old Soviet times.
Picture from Tállya 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same class 628 / M62 diesel as in the picture above, but seen closer with a long zoom lens.
Picture from Tállya 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Switcher locomotive of class 740 owned by the Ekspress Group / ZOS Zvolen. The machine was performing switching duties at the Hidasnemeti station, which is the first station on the Hungarian side when crossing the border from Slovakia. It is a former Czechoslovakian machine of the type T448.0, a diesel electric shunter machine built 1973 to 1989 by ČKD Praha in 620 copies.
Picture from Hidasnemeti 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same locomotive as above, but seen from the other side.
Picture from Hidasnemeti 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This diesel locomotive 468 001 is owned by a private company Bobo Kft. It is a well known type originally from what then was Czechoslovakia and it is most often known by its nickname "diver's mask". In Slovakia they are called class 750 or 757. Many of them were sold to Italy and if you look at this picture carefully, you will notice that this locomotive is registered in Italian register, although it carries its owner's internet address taping as www.bobokft.hu. In Hungary the company is registered in the city of Miskolc. The company services not only locomotives, but many other type of machinery as well and they own a small number of used locomotives. This one is their only "diver's mask".
Picture from Szerencs 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This diesel locomotive belongs also to the company Bobo Kft just like the one pictured above. This type, class 449 used to be called in Hungary the MAV type M44. The machine is originally from the 1950s. They used to be commonplace throughout the former Soviet block world and some of them are still in use for example in Croatia, Romania etc. Its power rating is a very modest 440 kW and top speed is 80 km/h. It is a diesel-electric construction. The Hungarian machines were built by Ganz-Mawag in the early 1960s.
Picture from the station Miskolc-Gömöri 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A class 448, former class M44 diesel shunter, almost similar with the one shown above, but this one is still in the colours of the Hungarian state railways MAV. Here we see it performing shunting work at the Budapest main railway station.
Picture from Budapest 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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A Lencse track maintenance motorcar of MAV. These new rail trucks date back to 2014.
Picture from Tállya station 4.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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MAV's class 9685 railcar is officially a track inspection vehicle, but it can just as well used like a minivan to bring workers to a site where repairs are necessary. Most of these old vehicles have already been scrapped, but this one has even received two new air conditioners on top of its roof.
Picture from Püspökladány 14.3.2023 by Markku Salo.

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Another view of the same MAV's class 9685 railcar. It belongs to the old class TVGnh of MAV.
Picture from Püspökladány 14.3.2023 by Markku Salo.

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The Floyd Co. is a Hungarian private railway company founded in 2004. Its headquarters are in Budapest, and the majority of Floyd Co. is owned by Euro Gate. Floyd operates a mixed fleet of old locomotives scraped together from various parts of Europe. This one 0659 001 is a former British Rail class 56 machine built in 1981.
Picture from Budapest, near Budapest main railway station, 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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Floyd's locomotive 429 004 is a former Romanian state railways heavy shunter of the type LDH 1250 CP. They were built 1966 to 1985. It's top speed in shunter mode is 60 km/h and 100 km/h in line service mode.
Picture from Budapest, near Budapest main railway station, 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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Floyd's locopmotive class 450 is the former British Rail class 86. Floyd has nine machines of this class.
Picture from Budapest, near Budapest main railway station, 25.8.2019 by Markku Salo.

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Floyd's locopmotive class 609 is a former Romanian class 060 type. This locomotive type was constructed in the 1950s in Switzerland based on SBB's electric locomotives of the type SBB Ae 6/6 and using Swiss Sulzer diesel engines. They were built in Romania under Swiss licence. This one has been slightly modernised quite lately.
Picture from Baja 6.7.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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