The New Zealand DE class[nb 1] was a class of fifteen diesel-electric shunting locomotives, introduced by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) with an intention to replace steam locomotives on shunting duties with diesel power.

Although these locomotives were originally intended to be used as heavy transfer shunters, four of them were used in pairs, each crewed, on the Royal Train tour of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to New Zealand in 1953-1954.

[1] The class was also the first to run on the new Murupara Branch, initially for construction and later for log trains on the still unsettled track bed.

The introduction of the Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) in 1979 saw the locomotives being renumbered DE1308 – DE1458.

Over time, the class was gradually dispersed to secondary yards on the network, such as Napier, Dunedin, and Invercargill.