Draft:China Railways DF9

The DF9 (Chinese: 东风9) is a first Chinese semi-high-speed diesel locomotive with speed 160 km/h, which was successfully developed by Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Works in 1990. As a China's Eighth Five-Year Plan scientific and technological project, the DF9 diesel locomotive adopts wheel-to-hollow shaft traction motor full suspension drive system, high-flexibility second-series round springs, lightweight body and other technologies. Although only 2 units of DF9 were produced and scrapped and dismantled in 2011, it laid the foundation for the development of DF11 diesel locomotives.

Overview
It belongs to the China's Eighth Five-Year Plan one of the key national science and technology projects, it was not only the second locomotive equipped with a 280/285 series diesel engine after the DF8 diesel locomotive, it was also the electric transmission diesel locomotive with the highest single-machine power in China's railways at that time. The power unit of the DF9 diesel locomotive is a 16V280ZJA diesel engine with an installed power of 3610 kW.

A DF9-0001 with a construction speed of 140 km/h was completed in October 1990. In April 1991, in order to cooperate with the Guangzhou–Shenzhen Railway scientific and technological project test, Qishuyan Locomotive and Rolling Stock Factory trial-produced DF9-0002 locomotive with a structural speed of 160 km/h. In March 1992, DF9-0002 set a speed record of 161 km/h on the National Railway Test Center, Beijing.