the dv12 is a general purpose locomotive which was designed for both passenger and cargo train use. its 1000 kw power is somewhat low by current standards, but it is capable of multiple-unit operation with only one train crew and doublets and triplets are common. it has a low axle load of 15.6 tonnes, which makes it very well suited for branch lines that allow only smaller axle loads. all the axles are interconnected with shafts and universal joints to the voith l 216 rs hydraulic transmission. because all axles must rotate at the same speed, the individual slipping of axles is impossible. this translates into a very good tractive effort for a 62 tonne locomotive. the main engine is a finnish-built tampella sacm mgo v16 bshr diesel with two brown boveri-vtr 200 m turbochargers.