Krauss-Maffei M 700 C / ML 700 C

Updated: August 2026 – Two type names, one basic vehicle design: the Krauss-Maffei M 700 C / ML 700 C stands for something entirely normal in industrial locomotive building – a type family with several design variants. This page explains how to read such double designations, how to recognise variants and rebuilds, and what that means for identification in the field.

What’s behind M 700 C and ML 700 C?

Both designations stand for a three-axle diesel shunting and works locomotive from Krauss-Maffei’s type programme. The number denotes the engine power class in horsepower, the appended letter C the wheel arrangement: three coupled axles in a rigid frame. The leading letters mark the vehicle’s placement within the manufacturer’s programme. Krauss-Maffei’s rail vehicle building passed to Siemens Mobility in the late 1990s – vehicles from the old industrial locomotive programme therefore carry the plate of a manufacturer that no longer exists in this form.

That makes both names, at their core, the same vehicle concept in the same size class. That’s exactly why they’re listed on one page: if you see such a locomotive in the field, you usually can’t pin down the variant straight away – but you can pin down the basic design. In the European numbering system, all these vehicles carry the type code 98 for diesel shunting and industrial locomotives.

Why industrial locomotives have so many variants

State railways ordered classes in series with a uniform specification. Industrial operators ordered individual locomotives as needed – and each business had different requirements for axle load, wheelbase, cab height and equipment. That produces a system fundamentally different from state railway classes.

Feature	State railway class	Industrial locomotive type series
Designation	consecutive class number	type name from power and wheel arrangement
Series size	often dozens to hundreds of vehicles	frequently small batches, individual orders
Uniformity	high, to a fixed specification	low, many customer variants
Changes in service	documented rebuild programmes	individual rebuilds per owner
Identity	vehicle number	works number on the builder’s plate

For you that means: don’t expect two identical examples. Two locomotives of the same type series can differ markedly in bonnet shape, window layout and equipment, without either being wrongly identified as a result.

How to handle a variant

The same sequence works for all vehicles of this class – for instance the Krauss-Maffei ML 440 C, the MaK G 700 C or the Henschel DHG 700 C. The general system behind it is described in the guide Identifying train classes.

Observation, photography and safety

Locomotives of this class stand where wagons are moved: at loading points, transfer tracks and works entrances. These are the most dangerous areas of railway operation.

In practice, a spot with a clear view of the works entrance or the transfer track works well. From there you get the side view needed for axle count and design variant. Because such vehicles are rare and poorly documented, it’s worth reporting every sighting too – how to do that in a structured way is explained in the guide to reporting a sighting. The guide to marshalling-yard spotting supplies the matching location strategies.

Second life: what happens to works locomotives after their first service

An industrial locomotive is rarely scrapped once its first operator gives it up. The frame lasts for decades, and the market for used shunters is stable. That produces a typical life story, which explains why vehicles of the same type series look so different today.

• Sale to a smaller business. What’s become too small for a steel works can still serve a private siding for a long time.
• Leasing via a locomotive hire company. Some machines change operating location several times a year without changing owner.
• A general overhaul with a new engine. Re-engining extends the service life considerably and visibly changes bonnet, exhaust and ventilation.
• Takeover by a heritage or society railway. There, vehicles are often returned to an earlier condition – that too is a rebuild.

For documentation that means: a sighting without a date is almost worthless for these vehicles. Only the time stamp turns an observation into a stage in a machine’s life story. If you see the same locomotive again years later, comparing your own photos tells you more about its history than any type description ever could.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The double designation M 700 C / ML 700 C isn’t a special case but typical of industrial locomotive building: one basic construction, several executions, many individual rebuilds. Anyone who knows that identifies the design first – three axles, rigid frame, shunting equipment – and settles the variant afterwards via the builder’s plate. That way the sighting stays correct even when two examples look different.

In practice that means: note “three-axle works locomotive, type family M 700 C / ML 700 C, works number XY” rather than an apparently exact variant statement you can’t back up. The design statement is safe to make in the field, the variant assignment often isn’t. Anyone who respects that boundary produces sightings that others can follow too – and for a vehicle class with no public data basis, that’s the real measure of quality.