Oersik (NS103&137)

The NS 103 and 137 were built in the 1930s as a cheaper option for shunting carried out at smaller stations. The issue was that using steam locomotives to shunt goods carriages was extremely expensive. They needed to be stoked for hours on end and were legally required to have a crew of at least two people when moving. The NS’s solution was to order a series of locomotors from Germany. This series, which was assigned the numbers 103 through 152, included simple locomotives with a petrol engine (and thus limited tractive power), mechanical brakes and an ‘automatic’ coupling for attaching goods carriages. They were relatively inexpensive to build and easy to use. A locomotor can be fired up and deployed at a moment’s notice. Any foreman-shunter who has undergone brief training can operate them safely. The last of these ‘Original goatees’ were retired from service in 1948, after which many of the engines began a second life at private industrial parks. The NS 103 and 137 were added to the Railway Museum’s collection in the late 1980s.