In the Sixties, the Danish State Railways (DSB) needed an appropriate number of small locomotives to replace completely switching operations with steam locomotives. After successful test use of a DB Köf II in 1963/64, the DSB ordered twenty of the similar Køf with road numbers 251-270 from Frichs in Aarhus. They were delivered in 1966. In principle, they were a copy of the German units with small changes such as the English Leyland motor and a somewhat more elegant version of the cab. As early as the beginning of 1967, the DSB ordered another 20 Køf units from Frichs with road numbers 271-290 and several improvements such as a completely enclosed cab with windows and doors (later added to the first series). Several of these small locomotives are still in use in in Denmark.

Prototype: Danish State Railways (DSB) Köf II small diesel locomotive as well as two type Kbs two-axle stake cars. Köf II in an orange/gray basic paint scheme with an enclosed cab. The train looks as it did at the end of the Nineties.