This impressive bogie diesel locomotive diesel (L45H type), weighing 32 metric tons, was built around 1980 by the Romanian company FAUR. 387 units were supplied between 1979 and 1984 to various narrow gauge railways (750, 760, 785, 790 and 1000mm gauge) in Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland…) but also for export (Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt,…).

They were fitted with a 450hp Maybach motor, a hydraulic transmission and could reach a speed of 40 km/h. Some of these locomotives were bought second-hand in the early 2000s by railway building contractors.
Like our own BoBo 60002, they were converted to metre gauge, adapted and overhauled. The original motor was replaced by a more powerful Caterpillar 735hp unit. They can be used in multiple units thanks to a programmable piloting automaton.

N° 60002 was first used by the Colas-Rail company in Corsica for the complete renewal of the 230km of track of the island’s railway network.
Then, in the early 2010s, it was used for trackwork on the SNCF Blanc-Argent metre gauge line in central France.
Having become available, the engine was rented in 2015 by the CFBS to reinforce its ailing roster of vintage diesel locomotives. In 2018, it came into CFBS ownership following the rebuilding of the Noyelles – Le Crotoy line by Colas-Rail. The engine was then sent to Belgium for overhaul and will return to service on the CFBS in 2020. Once it has been given a suitable livery, this “young” locomotive should spend a leisurely retirement in the Somme Bay while taking over much of the duties of its vintage fellow diesel engines.
Drivers enjoy this locomotive, well suited to narrow gauge and offering plenty of power and good track-holding qualities, the only drawback being sub-optimum visibility from its central cab. In a nod to its mixed Carpathian-workhorse ascendancy, it has been nicknamed the “Colas” or the “Dracolas”.