MaK G 700 C

Updated: August 2026 – With state-railway classes nobody thinks twice about the gauge – it’s fixed. With manufacturer types such as the MaK G 700 C it’s different: shunting locomotives were built to customer order, for different operators, conditions and, in some cases, different gauges. This page places the type in context and shows why the question of what track lies under the vehicle belongs on the checklist for this group of vehicles.

What is the MaK G 700 C?

The MaK G 700 C is a three-axle diesel-hydraulic locomotive from the type range of Maschinenbau Kiel built for shunting duties. The designation can be fully unpacked: “G” for the gearbox design with hydraulic power transmission, the number for the power class within the range, and “C” for three coupled axles in a rigid frame. Kiel’s type range was later continued by Vossloh, which is why closely related machines carry different builder’s plates depending on their year of construction.

Within the range it sits between the MaK G 500 C and the stronger three-axle types such as the MaK G 765 C. From Kiel’s older numbering scheme, the equivalent design is roughly the MaK 650 C – the same wheel arrangement, a different naming system.

The gauge question with manufacturer types

A type designation describes drive, power class and running gear. What it doesn’t describe is the gauge. For vehicles built to customer order and passed on over decades, that’s a point worth keeping in mind.

Where it fits into railway operations

The type code at the start of the twelve-digit vehicle number sorts vehicles by their role: 98 for diesel shunting and light locomotives, 92 for diesel main-line locomotives. The gauge, by contrast, isn’t in the number at all – it follows from the site.

Setting	Usual gauge	Accessibility for observers
Connection to the public network	Standard gauge 1,435 mm	Visible from public space
Works and port railway	Usually standard gauge	Private property, access only with permission
Narrow-gauge railway in passenger service	e.g. 1,000 mm	Platforms publicly accessible
Heritage and club railway	Standard or narrow gauge	Visits generally welcome
Historic field railway	Very narrow, often under 1,000 mm	Mostly preserved as heritage

For identification, that means: place the site first, then the vehicle. Following that order saves you from wrong conclusions – the systematic approach is described in the guide to identifying classes.

Spotting and photography

Three-axle shunting locomotives are compact and low-slung. Both affect the composition of your shot more than you’d first think.

• Low viewpoint. Photographed from above, a small locomotive looks like a model. At axle height, it gains weight and presence.
• Keep the running gear clear. Axle count and arrangement are the identifying feature – if they’re hidden, the information is missing.
• Build in a scale reference. A person, a wagon or a level crossing in the shot makes proportions and gauge easy to judge.
• Photograph details separately. The builder’s plate and data panel belong in the archive as their own shots.

The basics of composition, exposure and depth of field are covered in the guide good photos of trains; how to keep your finds usable in the long run is shown in the article on the sighting logbook.

Keeper, livery and location are only a snapshot

With state-railway classes, you get used to vehicles belonging to the same operator and running in the same livery for years. For privately kept shunting locomotives, that expressly doesn’t hold – and it shapes how you should treat information about these vehicles.

Machines in this size class are sold, leased, moved between sites and repainted at every major overhaul. A locomotive working in a port today can be standing on a works railway hundreds of kilometres away next year. For that reason, every note on this page about keeper, livery and location comes with an explicit caveat: check the current status before you plan a trip or pass on information.

Only two things stay constant. First, the works number on the builder’s plate – it stays the same for the vehicle’s entire lifetime and links old and new records together even after several changes of keeper. Second, the structural features you can count and compare: axle count, arrangement in a rigid frame or in bogies, and the shape of the bonnet.

That’s where the real value of your own observations comes from. Anyone who documents the same machine repeatedly over the years pins down changes of keeper, repaints and relocations to the exact day. No general overview offers that level of precision – it only comes from someone having looked and written it down.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

One more practical note: heritage and club railways are the most rewarding targets for this group of vehicles. Visitors are explicitly welcome there, the vehicles stand accessible, and builder’s plates can be read at leisure – an advantage no works site offers.

The MaK G 700 C shows why you need to think differently about manufacturer types than about state-railway classes. The designation gives you drive, class and wheel arrangement – but not gauge, working location or keeper. All of that belongs to the site and the individual machine, and you settle both on the spot: via the location, the builder’s plate and the vehicle number.