MaK G 1203 BB

Updated: August 2026 – A four-axle diesel locomotive sets off, and there’s nobody in the cab: in modern shunting service that’s not a fault, it’s everyday operation. On machines like the MaK G 1203 BB, radio remote control is part of normal working practice – and it’s the main reason why shunting areas are so dangerous for anyone not involved. This page places the type and explains what that means for observation and photography.

What is the MaK G 1203 BB?

The MaK G 1203 BB is a four-axle diesel-hydraulic locomotive from the type programme of Maschinenbau Kiel built for shunting and transfer duties. The designation can be decoded in full: “G” for the design with a hydrodynamic gearbox, the number for the 1200-series power class with the design stage in the final digit, “BB” for two two-axle bogies. Kiel’s type programme was later continued by Vossloh, which is why closely related machines carry different builder’s plates depending on the year of construction.

This is a manufacturer’s type designation, not a DB class. Within the family, the MaK G 1202 BB comes before it and the MaK G 1204 BB after it. Anyone looking for a comparable job at the state railway ends up with classes such as the Class 294 – there the locomotive carries a three-digit class number, here it doesn’t.

Radio remote control: the invisible feature

In shunting service, operation from the ground has become the norm. The shunter carries a control unit and stands wherever they can actually see the movement – at the end of the wagon rake, at the points, at the loading point. The cab is left empty.

What safe distances apply at the track, and why they’re even less negotiable in a shunting area than out on the line, is covered in the article on safe distances at the track.

Placing it in railway operations

The type code at the start of the twelve-digit vehicle number separates the types of duty: 98 for diesel shunting and light locomotives, 92 for diesel main-line locomotives. That tells you the conditions under which you’ll encounter a given vehicle.

Situation	What you observe	What it tells you
Locomotive running with an occupied cab	classic cab operation	a longer run or a stretch of line is possible
Locomotive running, cab unoccupied	operation from the ground by radio	a pure shunting or delivery move
Locomotive standing with engine running	waiting time between two movements	movement can start at any moment
Wagons rolling without a locomotive	uncoupling or hump shunting	greatest caution, no approaching
Locomotive parked, engine off	break in operation	the state can change at short notice

Spotting: time windows instead of a timetable

Transfer and shunting duties follow the volume of work at the connected business. There’s no published timetable to go by – which is exactly why other people’s observations are so valuable.

Three points help with planning. First, shunting operations depend on the connected business’s working hours, not the time of day that suits you photographically. Second, weekends are quiet at many industrial sidings. Third, it’s worth visiting a location several times – a single visit tells you little. How to log such observations so others actually benefit is explained in the guide to reporting sightings; criteria for good locations are covered in the guide to spotting at marshalling yards.

What identification in the field actually relies on

With this group of vehicles, the usual approach – recognise the front, match it to a class – reliably fails. There’s no large class number on the front, no typical railway livery, and often no entry in the usual lists. Instead you work through a fixed sequence.

First you count the axles and check whether they run in bogies. That separates BB types from the three-axle C types in the programme and rules out a large share of the possibilities straight away. Next you look for the builder’s plate: manufacturer’s name, works number and usually the year of construction are there, unchanged for the vehicle’s entire life. Only at the end comes the twelve-digit vehicle number, which gives you the official identity and the current keeper.

This order has a practical advantage: it also works if you only have a few seconds’ sight of the vehicle. You can count axles from a great distance, the builder’s plate needs focal length, the number needs a clear side. Anyone who works through it in this order always ends up with a result – at worst a classification by design, at best an unambiguous identification.

What explicitly does not help is the livery. Shunting locomotives owned by private keepers are traded, leased and passed on; with every change, the colour, markings and place of work change too. An identification built on colour is worthless after the next workshop visit.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

One last note that applies to the whole vehicle group: information on keeper, livery and place of work should always be treated as subject to change for shunting locomotives owned by private keepers. Machines are traded, leased and moved between sites, often more than once within a few years. Always check the current state via up-to-date sightings before planning a trip.

The MaK G 1203 BB stands for a group of vehicles that little is written about but a lot of work gets done with. Its type designation is readable, its identity sits in the builder’s plate and vehicle number – and its working life is shaped by a technology you can’t see: control from the ground. Anyone who knows that behaves differently at the edge of such facilities.