number1531

Thirty five Class DE5 locomotives entered
service between 1971 and 1976.

The first locomotive (#1500) was built by
Jung in late 1971. It entered service in 1973
and was scrapped following an accident in
1976.

The rest of the class were assembled by
David Poole. The David Poole factory was
previously a Mercedes Benz workshop,
located at Norton a short distance from
Salisbury (Harare). The power unit was
provided by MTU from their factory in
Friedrichshafen and Siemens supplied the
electrical equipment.

The locomotives were the first on the RR with
dynamic braking, but they were prone to
failure, a result of complicated electrionics.

By 1993 the only remaining DE5 was 1531,
in use as the works shunter in Bulawayo. In
1994 she was withdrawn and six years later
was preservrd.