In 1958, an order was placed with British Thompson-Houston in association with the Clayton Equipment Company for eighteen centre-cab shunting engines with a horsepower output of around 420 hp (310 kW).

Issues arose with the air brakes and spare parts for the diesel engines among others problems.

[2] The NZR-built locomotives were different in that they were powered by two Leyland UE902 diesel engines producing 210 hp (160 kW), and had electrical equipment built by Associated Electrical Industries Ltd (AEI), which had purchased BTH earlier.

In the late 1970s, New Zealand Railways decided to undertake a re-engining programme for the DSC class.

New recessed steps were fitted at either end of the locomotive frames with a vertical handrail on the running board proper.

All further DSC class locomotives equipped with the refuges had their engine hoods shortened by 500 mm (20 in), necessitating the relocation of the radiator header tanks to their present 'east-west' alignment.

[4] In 2007, the locomotive was sold to Alliance Group Limited to shunt at their Pukeuri freezing works on the outskirts of Oamaru.

[5] The locomotive was repainted in Mainline Steams variation of the Tranz Rail Blue livery.

(It had to be transported by road as the Wairoa - Muriwai section of the railway line had still not been repaired from the storm damage sustained in March 2012.)

[5] The locomotive was given a mechanical tidy-up at Hutt Workshops, and was repainted in the company's livery with a grey cab, yellow hoods and thin red chevron stripes on the ends, and is still in service.

[5] In August 2016, KiwiRail issued a Request for Quotation (RFQ) via the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) for DSCs 2285, 2338, 2434 and 2680.

[12] In August 2017, KiwiRail announced they were in discussions with global suppliers including General Electric, Electro-Motive Diesel, Alstom, CRRC and Stadler Rail to construct replacements for the remainder of the class.