When I started railfanning I became fascinated with these little locomotives. Unfortunately, they were not doing much those days anymore so my personal experience is limited and by now they have disappeared completely from active duty.
Construction
M31 2035, a member of the predecessor of the M32 class, with a wheel arrangement of C and a driving rod hydraulically powered
As half of Hungary is completely flat the dense secondary railway network could have specialized locomotives for the light freight traffic characteristic to the agricultural land. The only heavy duties locomotives had were during the autumn period when wheat and corn export and the sugar beet campaign basically occupied the railway lines. It was decided that a light, three-axle diesel locomotive is suitable for the job as it is going to be possible to use it economically on short, local freight trains, in light shunting duty, occasionally on passenger trains, and it was not causing problems if the autumn heavy freight trains had a limited speed. Track conditions often limited locomotive-hauled trains' speeds anyway.
The new locomotive was developed by Ganz-MÁVAG as type DHM6 (the designation meaning it was the sixth type of diesel-hydraulic locomotive developed) and delivered to MÁV between 1972 and 1974 as class M32. The 56 examples made had a classical, 8 cylinder Ganz-MÁVAG engine, the main design of which dated back to the 1930s and Jendrassik György's work as an engineer.
The new locomotive was developed by Ganz-MÁVAG as type DHM6 (the designation meaning it was the sixth type of diesel-hydraulic locomotive developed) and delivered to MÁV between 1972 and 1974 as class M32. The 56 examples made had a classical, 8 cylinder Ganz-MÁVAG engine, the main design of which dated back to the 1930s and Jendrassik György's work as an engineer.
The M32 2040 seen at Romhány, the terminus of the small dead-end branch line forking from the Vác-Balassagyarmat railway at Diósjenő station. The photo was taken on a photo charter. The railway line was closed a few years later.
The power output of the engine was 257 kW, the mass of the locomotive 36 t which created an axle load as low as 120 kN suitable for all Hungarian railways. The length of the rather short locomotive was only 9510 mm and its maximal speed was 22 km/h in shunting and 60 km/h in line service. The mode selector allowed a higher tractive effort in shunting mode. The drive system of the locomotive, nicknamed "Gokart" by railwaymen was hydraulic of a special design: instead of a mechanical switch for changing direction, there was a separate pair of torque converters in the hydrokinetic drive for both directions of motion. This design slightly increased the internal friction of the locomotive when running without power but increased the efficiency when on power by eliminating a mechanical transmission, which was advantageous in shunting.
Photo by András Bede, VT (from Wikipedia, licensed as CC-AT-SA)
The depots where the class M32 was used - Szeged, Szentes, Békéscsaba, Vésztő, Debrecen and Nyíregyháza
After their acquisition, the M32s were tested together with the older classes of shunters, the M31 and M44 locomotives for their capabilities in shunting. The tests have found that though the heavier and more powerful M44 is capable of quicker motion with long consists of cars and can be more economical where heavy shunting is regularly done the lighter M32s can be more versatilely used where the daily routine needed only a few locomotives but all of them on mixed duties. The M32s proved themselves to be reliable and useful locomotives but they were too expensive so MÁV moved on to buy cheaper and more powerful secondary line diesels from Romania.
The M32 2040 used during the reconstruction of the Budapest-Székesfehérvár line. At that time the locomotive had already been assigned to the Füsti Hungarian Railway History Park (locomotive museum).
After the fall of Socialism, freight traffic declined on the railways both because of the changes in the economy and as lorries became cheaper and more reliable. Currently no more class M32 locomotives are in use by the Hungarian State Railways but industries keep using similar locomotives. The DHM8 locomotive, derived from the DHM6, was a fireproof locomotive with pneumatic controls, water-cooled exhaust pipe and composite brakes designed for oil refineries. The DHM9, another derivative was exported to Bangladesh and still serves in front of freight trains on the 1667 mm gauge network of Bangladesh Railways while the similar, but B'B' bogie-version serves on the 1000 mm narrow-gauge network delivered as types DHM10 and DHM12.
The M32 2040 with a class M40 and a class M43 locomotive at a small parade at Balassagyarmat. With the decline of freight in the region almost all locomotives were withdrawn from the depot and only Bzmot railcars remain.
Some of the last operating locomotives served at Nyíregyháza.
Shunting a historic train at Füsti.
Returning to Balassagyarmat after a locomotive exhibition at Szécsény.
The Diósjenő-Romhány connected to a 600 mm gauge industrial railway at Bánk which transported clay from a deep-cut mine to the normal-gauge line. The track has since been dismantled but the battered black locomotive now serves at the new Márianosztra-Nagyirtáspuszta railway in a completely restored state.
Békéscsaba by night. In front of the "Gokart" is a "flamethrower car" nicknamed Süsü after the kind, Hungarian dragon from a TV-series and used to melt the snow on points. As most stations on the core network now have electric point heating the HLS system is now just as much out of use as the class M32 locomotives.
The A28 013 is an industrial, privately owned locomotive that works at a grain silo at Martfű near Szolnok.
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- All unmarked photos are my own works.
- Sources: MÁV Vasúti Vontatójárműalbum, Vasúti dízel vontatójárművek üzemeltetési zsebkönyve
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