The 15 class has the honour of being the first diesel motive power utilised by Malayan Railways. Twenty were delivered between 1948 -1949, and marked MR's first step into modernisation of its fleet. According to Haji Shamsuddin in his Locomotive Centenial book, this class was similar to the British Railways Class 11 - indeed, they both used the same engine model.

Being shunters, they are found around wharves of Port Swettenham (Port Klang) and KL's Brickfields goods yard initially, before being sent to various yards around the network. The locomotive's rather high axle-load prompted the purchase of the 16 class a few years after their arrival - they were considered too heavy to be roaming around the wharves for comfort.

The 15 class, in keeping with English Electric reputation, retained high reliability - it was well into the 1980s before the first was permanently taken out of service. MR records show that it was in 1983 when two of them were decommissioned. Even after a few years of the arrival of the 19 class shunters, well over half of the fleet were still active. One of the 15s (15101) was made an exhibit during KTM's centennial celebrations in Taiping in 1985.

A few 15s made it into the 1990s, albeit barely. The last of them was decommissioned in 1993.

Today, one sample of the 15s is preserved - the 15101 (real number is a matter of debate as manufacturer serial plate does not match that)- on permanent display just outside Butterworth station in Pulau Pinang.

Click here to view photographs of this class of locomotive

Click here to view photographs of this class of locomotive

Click here to view photographs of this class of locomotive

Last updated 19th December 2007