MaK G 761 C / MaK G 763 C

Updated: August 2026 – Two type designations that differ by a single digit: MaK G 761 C and MaK G 763 C belong together and are still hard to tell apart on a parked vehicle. This page shows how Kiel’s type number is built, where the limits of identification lie – and why, with these locomotives, your own dated sighting is worth so much.

What are MaK G 761 C and MaK G 763 C?

Both are three-axle diesel-hydraulic locomotives from the type range of Maschinenbau Kiel built for shunting duties. The designation can be broken down: “G” for the gearbox design with hydraulic power transmission, the leading digits for the power class, the final digit for the version, 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.

Both designations are manufacturer’s type designations, not class numbers. In the same three-axle line stand the MaK G 700 C and the MaK G 765 C; in Kiel’s older numbering scheme, the MaK 650 D is a related design with a different wheel arrangement.

Reading the type number down to the last digit

A MaK type number isn’t a running sequence but a layered classification. Reading it layer by layer gets you the maximum amount of reliable information.

Where it fits into railway operations

The type code at the start of the twelve-digit vehicle number sorts the vehicle by its role: 98 for diesel shunting and light locomotives, 92 for diesel main-line locomotives. That determines how long which piece of information on a vehicle remains valid.

Information	Source on the vehicle	Shelf life
Manufacturer and works number	Builder’s plate	Permanent
Axle count and arrangement	Running gear, by counting	Permanent, except after a rebuild
Type code and registration	Twelve-digit vehicle number	Until re-registration
Current keeper	Keeper’s marking and markings	Changes frequently
Livery and lettering	Vehicle exterior	Changes most frequently

This table is really the core of the page: only the top two rows are stable. Everything below is a snapshot and belongs dated. If you’re specifically after special liveries and striking colour schemes, the method is described in the article on advertising liveries and special paint schemes.

Spotting and photography

With this group of vehicles, documentation matters more than the pretty shot – and the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

• Four shots as standard. Side view with a clear running gear, three-quarter view, builder’s plate, data panel. That captures everything the locomotive reveals about itself.
• Note down date and location. Without both, the shot loses most of its value.
• Returning pays off. The same machine a year later often shows a different colour or a different keeper’s marking.
• Note the condition. Freshly repainted, dirty, stored, operational – these are details that appear in no list.

How to file such observations so they stay usable for years is described in the guide to the sighting logbook. Site criteria for shunting yards with shunting operations are given in the guide to spotting at marshalling yards.

From the family to the individual machine

For vehicles without a class number, identification proceeds in stages, and each stage needs different conditions. Following the order gets you to a usable result even with only a few seconds’ view.

Stage one: the vehicle type. A bonnet, a small cab, shunter’s steps, a running-board handrail and slow movement with frequent direction changes – that’s a shunting locomotive. This classification works from a great distance and in any light.

Stage two: the wheel arrangement. Count the wheelsets on one side and check whether they run in a shared frame or in bogies. Three axles in a rigid frame rule out all the BB types in the range.

Stage three: the manufacturer. For this you need the builder’s plate, and therefore focal length and a stationary vehicle. The manufacturer’s name, works number and usually the year of construction sit there and never change.

Stage four: the individual machine. The twelve-digit vehicle number gives you the official identity and, via the keeper’s marking, the current owner. This needs a clear side wall.

The decisive point: every stage is already a result in its own right. If you only get as far as stage two, you still have a correct, verifiable statement – “three-axle shunting locomotive, C type”. What you shouldn’t do is skip a stage and replace the missing information with a guess. With types that differ by a single final digit, that’s exactly the most common source of error.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

MaK G 761 C and G 763 C are a lesson in the limits of identification. The type designation is readable up to the power class and the wheel arrangement; the version stays open without the builder’s plate. That’s not a shortcoming but an honest description of the situation – and the best reason to note the number, date and condition at every encounter.