The Railway Museum (Dutch: Het Spoorwegmuseum) in Utrecht is the Dutch National Railway Museum.
It was established in 1927 and since 1954 has been housed in the former Maliebaan station. The museum currently owns a large and varied collection of rolling stock.

Diesel-Electric loco NS 2498 built in 1956 by Alsthom France preserved on the turntable at the Het Spoorwegmuseum / Railway Museum in Utecht Maliebaan former Station. July 15th, 2022.

At the end of the 1940s, the management of NS decided to take the steam locomotives out of service at an accelerated pace. This was achieved by purchasing 95 electric locomotives (in service 1948 - 1956) and 276 diesel-electric locomotives (in service 1953 - 1958). In 1958 the last steam locomotive, the 3737, entered the Railway Museum.

Of the diesel-electric locomotives, the series 2401 - 2530 (130 units) was the lighter version for the freight service on the secondary lines. Immediately after they were put into service in 1954, they pulled the oil trains on local railway lines from Schoonebeek to Almelo, work that was previously performed by the American locomotives of the 2001 - 2018 series. It was a beautiful sight to see the black tank wagons behind two coupled, sky-blue 2400s.
In Almelo the oil trains were taken over by electric locomotives that transported the trains to Pernis. Furthermore, the 2400s drove throughout the country for the lighter freight trains, and on the local railways also in double traction for the aforementioned oil trains.

The 2401 - 2422 came into service in a light blue color, the 2423 - 2529 in brown. After a few years, the oldest locomotives also turned brown.
From 1971, the house style with yellow and gray was also introduced on these locomotives. The gates were also fitted on the side edges of the locomotive's foot plates.
The 2415 - 2436 received a third front signal for service on German border track sections.

In 1976 seven locomotives were sold to contractor Volkers for the construction of a trading port in Saudi Arabia.
In 1982 and 1983 the first 22 locomotives were set aside due to an expired overhaul period, including our 2498. The rest followed from 1987 to 1991.

In 1985 the 2498 was prepared for placement in the NINT in Amsterdam, but the size of the locomotive was still a size too large.

On December 10, 1987, the 2498 was handed over to the Railway Museum. In 1992 the locomotive in Tilburg was again provided with an engine installation, which was removed after being put aside. Finally, the 2498 went back to the overhaul company in Tilburg at the beginning of 2009 to be painted brown again. The locomotive is not serviceable.

Photo by Guido Allieri (guido@allieri.com)