The CP 1150 series diesel shunting locomotives

In service with CP since 1966.

The CP 1150 series diesel locomotives entered service with Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses between 1966 and 1967. Acquiring this fleet of diesel locomotives was part of CP’s strategy to continue modernising its powered rolling stock and gradually transition to diesel traction across the Portuguese railway network.

Built by the former Sorefame at its Amadora site under licence from the British manufacturer Sentinel, based in the English town of Shrewsbury, the fleet of 36 diesel shunting locomotives entered service to provide the Company’s auxiliary and shunting services. They remain CP’s largest ever purchase of diesel shunting locomotives.

Fitted with Rolls-Royce diesel engines and capable of travelling at a maximum speed of 58 kilometres per hour, the new diesel locomotives, also known as Sentinels, are characterised by their compact size and single-cab design, which offers excellent visibility. They were based on a model from a British manufacturer that was already in service in the United Kingdom.

As they became available, the CP deployed them to 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 regular services meant the CP 1150 series was used exclusively for shunting duties. Their original livery consisted of dark blue with yellow stripes along the underbody, bearing the company’s logo on the sides of the driver’s cab.

Under Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses management, the colour scheme changed to shades of yellow, and the new CP logo appeared. In the 2010s, after integrating this series into the Douro Heritage Railway, one Sentinel locomotive received a black paint scheme with the CP logo in red.

Over more than 40 years, they were particularly visible along the River Tagus, in Aveiro, Entroncamento, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Pampilhosa, Gaia, Godim (Peso da Régua), Lisbon Santa Apolónia, Porto São Bento, Contumil and Campolide. By the 2010s, CP had withdrawn much of the fleet from active service.

As part of CP’s rolling stock restoration programme, it has restored some units of this series, and they are now operational. The Sentinel CP 1184 locomotive forms part of the permanent exhibition at the National Railway Museum in Entroncamento.