NS Class 200

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (February 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Dutch article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 232 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at [[:nl:Sik (locomotor)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|nl|Sik (locomotor)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "NS Class 200" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Class 200
Preserved Class 200 locomotive with crane, probably no. 246.
Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder Werkspoor Build date 1934 - 1951 Total produced 169
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Career Nicknames "Sik" and "locomotor" Retired 2008

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) Class 200 diesel locomotives were built for shunting duties. 169 of these small locomotives, numbered 201–369, were built by Werkspoor from 1934–1951. They were known as "Sik" (Sik in singular, goats) by rail enthusiasts and "locomotor" by railway staff. Fifteen of these locomotives were rebuilt with a retractable crane. The few locomotives in active service were retired in 2008 after new Dutch personnel safety regulations prevented NS from using them any longer. Most were no longer active at that time.

This locomotive was mainly operated as a shunter, although they were active on a few remote branch lines.

The design and operation was based on the simplest of things, which in effect made them very reliable. The locomotive was operated by design from the outside (side of engine) and wasn't equipped with a dead man device to stop the locomotive automatically in case of incapacity of the operator. There were two manual brakes: a handle and a foot brake. As the handle could be moved by in-train forces while dead-heading it was required to be fixed by a nut and bolt. Upon taking the locomotive into service again, it was necessary to loosen the nut and bolt. In some cases, this was forgotten, and the result was that the operator couldn't brake; many Siks have suffered collision damage due to this.

A special design was implemented for coolant; the fuel tank with diesel was also the coolant for the engine. The theory was that the coolant would never be exhausted while the locomotive is in use.

The locomotive didn't have an air pressure system. To obtain a whistle a device was put on top of the exhaust to use the flow of exhaust gases as the whistle air. This resulted in a very characteristic whistle sound (to imitate the sound, whistle a high-pitched tone while making a rolling R sound).

Of all locomotives of the NS 200 series, many have been preserved in either a running condition at heritage railway lines, for spare parts, or as a static object. Out of the 169 locomotives build, 80 were lost during the 2nd World War or scrapped.^[1]

There is a well-known and accurate H0 scale model offered in various liveries by Roco.

• 
  Goods train pulled by Locomotor No. 279, in the railyard in Amersfoort; 1961.
• 
  NS Class 200 No. 347 in the Maritime Museum Rotterdam.
• 
  Kraansik locomotor No. 355 in Station Amsterdam Centraal; 1986.
• 
  Locomotor NS 303.
• 
  NS Class 200 No. 347 in Transit Oost in Winterswijk. Behind it multiple unit DE-2 186; 20 June 2017.

• Stichting De Locomotor, in Dutch

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NS Class 200.