Spain's RENFE had ten 4000HP Krauss-Maffei locomotives delivered in 1968, with 22 more constructed in Spain under license by Babcock & Wilcox.  Following the pattern of the DB V.200, they put power from their twin 2000HP Maybach MD870's to the rails through Mekhydro K184 geared transmissions.  They originally occupied the 4001-4032 number series, but after "computerization" were changed to 340 001 through 340 032.  

Final service was in 1993, and two have been preserved: 340 020 in Madrid and 340 026 at Zaragoza.

Vitória ES, Brazil, 1971 Rogério Cordeiro Photo

Jim Claflin Photo Deane Motis Collection

Deane Motis Photo

Sixteen near-copies of the SP's ML4000C'C' hood units were built between 1966 and 1969 for Brazil's Estrado de Ferro Vitória a Minas railroad.  The busy iron ore operation is part of the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a huge mining company still thriving today. The Vitória a Minas (EFVM) locomotives were built for meter-gauge track, and showed a number of modifications from the SP design.  Built to a tighter loading gauge, the narrower frame clearances and more substantial 'outrigger' suspension for the trucks, cooling systems designed for Equatorial climes, truck-mounted sand boxes and differences in hood sheet metal are the most notable.   Fuel tanks were smaller and the SP's rooftop air aftercooler pipes were moved below the frame, also for issues of clearance.

EFVM 716  Deane Motis Photo 1980

EFVM 703 Deane Motis Photo 1980

The first batch -- units 701 to 704 -- were built in 1966.  Why K-M's?  Struggling with long ore drags and increasing traffic, the EFVM was looking to replace multiple diesel lashups with fewer units of higher tractive effort.  They were receptive to the same seductive sales pitch delivered to SP and the Rio Grande -- that two K-M's could replace four to five EMD G16 units on the heaviest trains.

Sweetening the deal was a lucrative iron ore export contract with Germany; the four K-M locomotives were a condition of that agreement.  (No doubt K-M was looking to recoup some tooling costs from the SP venture.)  Krupp was a partner in the ore export contract, and the units were built with the square builder's plate of Krupp/Krauss-Maffei LEU, or Locomotive Export Union.  This was a financial arrangement;  the units were built on the same production line as their SP predecessors.

Delivered in September of 1966, the K-M's initially made good on their promise.  Twelve more -- 705 to 716 -- were ordered in 1967, mirroring the SP's need for a larger fleet of units to properly evaluate the cost-benefit factors and justify the specialized tools and maintenance.

Factory Photo Fillipe Forster Collection

 There's no record that EFVM took official regard of SP's difficulties with their K-M's during that same period.  And when the second batch arrived in Brazil in 1969, SP's entire fleet of K-M's had already been permanently parked.

EFVM 701 Built 1966 Deane Motis Photo

EFVM 706 Built 1969 Deane Motis Photo

There were slight differences in the 1966 and 1969 units, with weight and fuel capacities increasing.  There were more louvers on the hoods (called "casa de máquinas" or "machinery houses"), and the doors themselves were split, Dutch-style.  One interesting and significant variation from U.S. practice: the brake stands with Wabco 26L valves were to the driver's left and behind, in a large cabinet just forward of the back wall.

Operationally, the units earned their keep until a double-tracking project and an economic downturn saw them sidelined for a time.  When they were revived, it was soon noticed that their Maybach MD870 engines were experiencing significant wear problems.  The miles of hydraulic piping leaked constantly, and crews cursed the slippery walkways that resulted.  And wheelslip, supposedly not an issue with hydraulic locomotives, was so bad that one unit sat with wheels grinding away until it had burned itself four inches deep into the railhead!  (One wonders if the crew simply let it spin to make a point.)

And just like in the States, EMD had extended the reach of its 3600HP SD-45, creating the eight-axle DDM-45 for the EFVM and effectively eliminating the K-M's title to high horsepower and tractive effort.  The K-M's were bumped to the middle of locomotive consists, demoted to switching units, even to work trains -- and ultimately sidelined by the late 1970's.

Arduous negotiations were begun with Krauss-Maffei to rebuild the units with MTU diesels, successor to the discontinued Maybachs.  But costs were higher that the price of new EMD license-built units, and EFVM argued for an extended warranty in compensation.  While negotiations dragged on, EFVM rebuilt two units -- 703 and 711 -- in their own shops.  In the end, no agreement was reached with K-M and the rest of the fleet was deadlined and cannibalized to keep the two lone rebuilds running.

Rebuilt EFVM 703 Deane Motis Photo

The 703 and 711 lasted only two more years, victims of their mechanical uniqueness.  The EFVM's Krauss Maffei fleet enjoyed a longer run than the SP's, nearly eighteen years in service.  But in the end, like the SP units, they were summarily scrapped -- to be mourned only by railfans.

A rumor persists that an auto body shop near Vitória retained a 'cabin' (with nose?)  -- but this rumor has not been verified.

EFVM Deadline 1980 Deane Motis Photo

Richard Oed Collectioni

According to Joe Strapac's fine 1993 book on the SP hydraulics, "Southern Pacific Historic Diesels, Volume 2", some of the first trial specifications supplied to the Southern Pacific by Krauss-Maffei showed the outlines of a unit similar to ones that K-M had recently built for Turkey.

These three 1961-built 2700HP C-C units followed the ML3000/V300 mechanical pattern, with Maybach MD655 V-12's and Voith L.630rU transmissions, and featured trucks nearly identical in design to the original SP and D&RGW ML4000 units.  They hauled passenger trains, and while inspiring no re-orders, nonetheless saw operation well into the 1980's.

Krauss-Maffei Photo J. Koenigsmann Collection

There's almost a Baldwin-Fairbanks-Morse-hybrid look going on here.  In retrospect, these centercabs might have found more favor with American crews than the SP/Rio Grande cab units, being of "hood unit" design -- and having their Cardan shafts and transmissions located as far from the operator as possible.

Still, as Joe Strapac suggests -- imagine if this unit had been the one arriving in Houston in 1961, resplendent in fresh red-and-gray, and adorned with a cluster of Gyralites and SP-style numberboards, a full set of handrails, and snowplows on both ends.