CP Series 1150 diesel shunters

Manufactured by the former Sorefame train builder under licence from Sentinel.

The CP 1150 series diesel shunters entered service with the Portuguese State Railways between 1966 and 1967.
The acquisition of this fleet of diesel shunters was part of CP’s strategy to continue the modernisation of its fleet of powered rolling stock and the gradual phasing out of steam traction from the Portuguese railway network.

Built by the former Sorefame at its Amadora site under licence from the British manufacturer Sentinel – a company based in the town of Shrewsbury – the fleet of 36 shunters was acquired to provide the Company’s auxiliary and shunting services. It remains, to this day, CP’s largest ever purchase of locomotives.

Fitted with Rolls-Royce diesel engines and capable of reaching a maximum speed of 58 km/h, the new shunters – also known as Sentinels – are characterised by their compact size and single-cab design, offering excellent visibility. They were produced based on a model by the British manufacturer, which was already in service in the United Kingdom.

As they became available, they were distributed across some of the main stations on the broad-gauge railway network to provide rolling stock shunting services and various marshalling duties. They also provided traction for passenger trains on the former Montijo and Seixal branch lines. The closure of these two railway lines and the end of scheduled services contributed to the CP 1150 series being used exclusively for shunting duties.

The original livery consisted of dark blue with yellow stripes on the underbody, bearing the company’s coat of arms on the sides of the driver’s cab. Under the management of Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses, the colour scheme was altered to shades of yellow and the new CP logo was applied. In the 2010s, following the integration of this series into the Douro Historical Railway, one of the Sentinel locomotives was painted in shades of black with the CP logo in red.

Over more than 40 years, their presence was particularly notable along the Tagus River, notably in Aveiro, Entroncamento, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Pampilhosa, Gaia, Godim (Peso da Régua), Lisbon Santa Apolónia, Porto São Bento, Contumil and Campolide.

Much of the fleet was out of service by the 2010s. As part of CP’s rolling stock restoration plan, some units of this series were restored and are currently in service. The Sentinel CP 1184 locomotive is part of the permanent exhibition at the National Railway Museum in Entroncamento.