Class M2

Class M2b 594 Prince Edward Island passing the Black Bridge at Gampaha

Class M2 Specifications:

Locomotive Class: M2

Sub Classes: M2a, M2b, M2c, M2d

Manufactured Country: Canada

Manufactured Company: General Motors Canada

Imported Year: 1954

Type of Locomotive: Diesel Electric

Prime Mover: General Motors – GM V12 12-567c (2 stroke)

Maximum Power: M2,M2a,M2b,M2c- 1425hp M2d- 1310hp

Maximum Speed: 112km/h

Axel Arrangement: M2,M2a,M2b & M2d: A1A-A1A | M2c: Bo-Bo

Main Generator: GM-D32

Traction Motors: Four GM-D29 motors

Maximum Tractive Effort: 38,000 lbs @ 25%

Continuous Tractive Effort: 28,000 lbs @ 12 mph

Weight: 79 Tons

Colour: Red & Green early days. Now Light blue, Dark blue, Silver with & Yellow color strip

No. of Locomotives: 14

Locomotive Numbers: 569-629

Do you remember the locomotive which was caught by Tsunami? It is a locomotive of the Class M2. These locos have been in service for about 60 years continuously.

Sri Lanka received 5 of these giants from Canada under the foreign aid program named “The Colombo Plan” in 1954, numbered 569,570,571,572 & 573. SLR named these locomotives after the names of 5 Canadian states as a respect for their donation. After Canadian newspapers stated about this & the Canadians were in doubt because only selected names of the states were used for the M2s. As a solution for this Mr.B.D.Rampala, the General Manager proposed Sir John Kothalawala to ask for more engines. Therefore Sri Lanka received a total of 10 locomotives.

The first 5 locomotives was categorized under M2 class while 3 of the other 5, (591,592,593) categorized as Class M2a and the rest (594,595) as Class M2b. Because these locomotives was successful, SLR bought 4 more locomotives numbered 626,627,628,629. 626 & 627 was put into M2c & the other 2 to M2d. M2c sub class locomotives differ from the other sub classes because the M2c was designed to run in up country line. It possess Bo-Bo axle arrangement, Dynamic Brakes & Sand box facility.

A M2 was first used to haul Ruhunu Kumari express train on 24^th of April 1954.Following chart shows the information about M2 locomotives

Locomotive Class	Loco Number	Name	Horse Power (hp)	Axle arrangement
M2	569	ONTARIO	1425	A1A-A1A
	570	ALBERTA
	571	SASKATCHEWAN
	572	BRITISH COLUMBIA
	573	QUEBEC
M2a	591	MANITOBA	1425	A1A-A1A
	592	NOVA SCOTIA
	593	NEW BRUNSWICK
M2b	594	PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND	1425	A1A-A1A
	595	NEW FOUNDLAND
M2c	626	MONTREAL	1425	Bo-Bo
	627	VANCOUVER
M2d	628	KANKASANTHUREI	1310	A1A-A1A
	629	GALLE

Almost all of these locomotives are still in service. Locomotive No.570 Alberta was stationed in Kankasanthurei from 1992 to 1996 due to the civil war which was later brought to Colombo by a ship. It got repaired at the Ratmalana Railway Workshops. After that on the 30^th April 2014 it crashed with a S11 DMU & again been repaired in Rathmalana these days. Loco no.571 Saskatchewan was destroyed by LTTE on 1985. Later it has been scrapped. No.591 Manitoba was caught by Tsunami on 2004 and the Alternator, which was rusted has been removed from the locomotive & it got replaced by the alternator of New Brunswick when its alternator was replaced by Ontario’s Alternator. Manitoba was introduced back to the service on the 26^th of December 2008.

Although M2c was specially designed to run on up country railway, it’s now being used at almost every railway line except Kelani Valley & Matale Lines. Class M2d, the low powered version of the Class M2 was brought for transportation purposes of the cement workshops at Galle & Kankasanthurei & now these 2 locomotives are used on passenger trains. Even though M2, M2a, M2b & M2c was produced in Canada, the M2d sub class was produced in USA. And naming these two giants in Sinhala is also a specialty.

Credits to Gehan Chandika & Nipuna Dodanthenna.