South African Class 6E1, Series 3
Encyclopedia
Between 1971 and 1973 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifty Class 6E1, Series 3 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.
UCW did not allocate builder’s numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR. While usual practice by most other locomotive builders was to allocate builder’s numbers or works numbers to record the locomotives built by them, UCW simply used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
While some Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years. Series 2 and all subsequent Class 6E1 series can be distinguished from Series 1 locomotives by their sandboxes that are not mounted on the bogies as before, but along the bottom edge of the locomotive body with the sandbox lids fitting into recesses in the body sides.
The fifty Series 2 and the first fifty Series 3 locomotives are visually indistinguishable from each other, while on Series 3 numbers E1346 to E1445 an externally visible difference is a wider stirrup middle step below their side doors. The two different stirrups are illustrated in the pictures of E1345 and E1346 below.
This appears to indicate that Series 2 should actually have consisted of one hundred locomotives and not fifty, firstly since these locomotives, numbers E1246 to E1345, are identical in exterior appearance, and secondly since Series 4, 5 and 6 were all delivered in batches of one hundred.
If that had been the case, Series 2 and 3 would also have consisted of one hundred locomotives each, numbers E1246 to E1345 and E1346 to E1445 respectively, instead of fifty and one hundred and fifty, numbered E1246 to E1295 and E1296 to E1445 respectively, as they were officially designated.
The electric locomotives allocated to depots within this network are largely pooled and can operate anywhere in the network as required by the Operating Department, but they return to their home depots for maintenance every twenty-eight days.
In 2011 the Class 6E1 began to be withdrawn from the Natal corridor (NatCor) line between Johannesburg and Durban, being replaced with Class 18E
locomotives.
The coastal sections from Durban to Empangeni in the north and Port Shepstone in the south were dieselised at the end of October 2011, using EMD Class 34
and Class 37-000
locomotives that were displaced by new class 43-000
diesel-electric locomotives on the line from Mpumalanga to Richards Bay, via Swaziland
. The overhead catenary equipment between Stanger and Empangeni and between Kelso and Port Shepstone was to be removed soon after.
and allocated a single running number to each pair, with the individual locomotives in the pairs inscribed "A" or "B". The aim was to accomplish savings on cab maintenance by coupling the locomotives at their number 1 ends, abandoning the number one end cabs in terms of maintenance and using only the number two end cabs. One such pair was made up of two Series 3 locomotives, numbers E1418 and E1419, which became Class 16E number 16-227 A and B.
, but without altering the layout of the various paint schemes. Blue Train locomotives were therefore blue with yellow whiskers in the SAR era, blue with the Spoornet logo and "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s orange era, and blue with the Spoornet logo but without "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s maroon era. Later, in Spoornet’s blue era, there was no need for a separate Blue Train livery, while in the TFR era the Blue Train, once the pride of the old SAR, was relegated to the very bottom of the railway’s business priority list.
All but five of the Class 6E1, Series 3 locomotives were delivered in the SAR Gulf Red and yellow whiskers livery. The five exceptions, E1341 to E1345, were delivered in blue with yellow whiskers for use with the Blue Train between the Rand and Kimberley. In about 1985 these five were replaced by the five ex MetroBlitz
Class 12E
locomotives, all repainted in blue and whiskers. The five Series 3 locomotives were all eventually repainted in Spoornet’s orange livery.
The main picture shows E1306 in the Spoornet maroon livery at Beaconsfield Depot in Kimberley on 25 August 2007.
Manufacturer
The South African Class 6E1, Series 3 3 kV DC electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, with the electrical equipment supplied by the General Electric Company (GEC). One hundred and fifty locomotives were delivered between 1971 and 1973, numbered E1296 to E1445.UCW did not allocate builder’s numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR. While usual practice by most other locomotive builders was to allocate builder’s numbers or works numbers to record the locomotives built by them, UCW simply used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
Bogies
To ensure the maximum transfer of power to the rails without causing wheel slip, the Class 6E1 was built with sophisticated traction links between the bogies and the frames and equipped with electronic wheel slip detection. These traction struts and linkages were to become a distinguishing feature of most subsequent South African electric locomotive models.Orientation
These dual cab locomotives have a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end is marked as the number 2 end. A passage along the centre of the locomotive connects the cabs.Series identifying features
The South African Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years, nine hundred and sixty units altogether, all built by UCW. This makes the 6E1 the most numerous single locomotive class ever to have seen service in South Africa and serves as ample proof of a highly successful design.While some Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years. Series 2 and all subsequent Class 6E1 series can be distinguished from Series 1 locomotives by their sandboxes that are not mounted on the bogies as before, but along the bottom edge of the locomotive body with the sandbox lids fitting into recesses in the body sides.
The fifty Series 2 and the first fifty Series 3 locomotives are visually indistinguishable from each other, while on Series 3 numbers E1346 to E1445 an externally visible difference is a wider stirrup middle step below their side doors. The two different stirrups are illustrated in the pictures of E1345 and E1346 below.
This appears to indicate that Series 2 should actually have consisted of one hundred locomotives and not fifty, firstly since these locomotives, numbers E1246 to E1345, are identical in exterior appearance, and secondly since Series 4, 5 and 6 were all delivered in batches of one hundred.
If that had been the case, Series 2 and 3 would also have consisted of one hundred locomotives each, numbers E1246 to E1345 and E1346 to E1445 respectively, instead of fifty and one hundred and fifty, numbered E1246 to E1295 and E1296 to E1445 respectively, as they were officially designated.
Service
The Class 6E1 family saw service all over both of the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) 3 kV DC main line and branch line networks.Cape Western network
The smaller network is the Cape Western line between Cape Town and Beaufort West, with the locomotives based at the Bellville Depot in Cape Town.Northern network
The larger network covers portions of the Northern Cape, the Free State, Natal, Gauteng, North West Province and Mpumalanga, the main routes in this vast area being as follows:- From Johannesburg in Gauteng via Kimberley to Hotazel in the Northern Cape.
- From Johannesburg to Bloemfontein in the Free State.
- From Johannesburg to Durban in Natal.
- From Johannesburg via Pretoria in Gauteng and Witbank in Mpumalanga to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border, as well as to Derwent and Roossenekal.
- From Johannesburg via Springs to Witbank.
- From Johannesburg via Coligny to Lichtenburg.
- From Durban in Natal to Empangeni in the north and Port Shepstone in the south.
- From Ermelo to Ogies and Wonderfontein in Mpumalanga.
- From Kroonstad in the Free State via Bethlehem and Ladysmith to Vryheid in Natal.
The electric locomotives allocated to depots within this network are largely pooled and can operate anywhere in the network as required by the Operating Department, but they return to their home depots for maintenance every twenty-eight days.
In 2011 the Class 6E1 began to be withdrawn from the Natal corridor (NatCor) line between Johannesburg and Durban, being replaced with Class 18E
South African Class 18E, Series 1
Beginning in 2000 Spoornet embarked on a program to rebuild Class 6E1, Series 6 to Series 11 locomotives to Class 18E, Series 1 locomotives. Most of the Class 6E1s that had previously been reclassified or modified to Class 16E or Class 17E were rebuilt to Class 18E as well.-Manufacturer:The South...
locomotives.
The coastal sections from Durban to Empangeni in the north and Port Shepstone in the south were dieselised at the end of October 2011, using EMD Class 34
South African Class 34-200
Between October 1971 and March 1972 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 34-200 EMD GT26MC diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...
and Class 37-000
South African Class 37-000
Between May 1981 and 1982 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 37-000 EMD GT26M2C diesel-electric locomotives in service. After these locomotives were commissioned, the national carrier was not to invest in new diesel-electric locomotives before 2009, nearly three decades later.-...
locomotives that were displaced by new class 43-000
South African Class 43-000
In January 2011 Transnet Rail Engineering took delivery of the first two of one hundred Class 43-000 type GE C30ACi diesel-electric locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail. A further eight were shipped from the United States of America in April 2011...
diesel-electric locomotives on the line from Mpumalanga to Richards Bay, via Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
. The overhead catenary equipment between Stanger and Empangeni and between Kelso and Port Shepstone was to be removed soon after.
Class 16E
During 1990 and 1991 Spoornet semi permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise unmodified Class 6E1 locomotives, reclassified them to Class 16ESouth African Class 16E
During 1990 and 1991 Spoornet semi permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise unmodified Series 3 to Series 9 Class 6E1 electric locomotives, reclassified them to Class 16E and allocated a single shared running number to each pair, with the individual locomotives in the pairs inscribed "A" or...
and allocated a single running number to each pair, with the individual locomotives in the pairs inscribed "A" or "B". The aim was to accomplish savings on cab maintenance by coupling the locomotives at their number 1 ends, abandoning the number one end cabs in terms of maintenance and using only the number two end cabs. One such pair was made up of two Series 3 locomotives, numbers E1418 and E1419, which became Class 16E number 16-227 A and B.
Liveries
In the SAR and Spoornet eras, when the official liveries were Gulf Red and yellow whiskers for the SAR, and initially orange and later maroon for Spoornet, many selected electric locomotives and some diesels were painted blue for use with the Blue TrainBlue Train (South Africa)
The Blue Train travels an approximately journey in South Africa between Pretoria and Cape Town. It is one of the most luxurious train journeys in the world...
, but without altering the layout of the various paint schemes. Blue Train locomotives were therefore blue with yellow whiskers in the SAR era, blue with the Spoornet logo and "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s orange era, and blue with the Spoornet logo but without "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s maroon era. Later, in Spoornet’s blue era, there was no need for a separate Blue Train livery, while in the TFR era the Blue Train, once the pride of the old SAR, was relegated to the very bottom of the railway’s business priority list.
All but five of the Class 6E1, Series 3 locomotives were delivered in the SAR Gulf Red and yellow whiskers livery. The five exceptions, E1341 to E1345, were delivered in blue with yellow whiskers for use with the Blue Train between the Rand and Kimberley. In about 1985 these five were replaced by the five ex MetroBlitz
MetroBlitz
MetroBlitz was an experimental high speed commuter train service between Pretoria station and Johannesburg Park Station via Germiston, operated by the South African Transport Services...
Class 12E
South African Class 12E
On 11 January 1984 the South African Railways inaugurated the MetroBlitz. Five Class 12E electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement that were placed in service in 1983, were dedicated to the MetroBlitz service.-Manufacturer:...
locomotives, all repainted in blue and whiskers. The five Series 3 locomotives were all eventually repainted in Spoornet’s orange livery.
The main picture shows E1306 in the Spoornet maroon livery at Beaconsfield Depot in Kimberley on 25 August 2007.
See also
- South African Class 16ESouth African Class 16EDuring 1990 and 1991 Spoornet semi permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise unmodified Series 3 to Series 9 Class 6E1 electric locomotives, reclassified them to Class 16E and allocated a single shared running number to each pair, with the individual locomotives in the pairs inscribed "A" or...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 1South African Class 6E1, Series 1In 1969 and 1970 the South African Railways placed twenty Class 6E1, Series 1 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.-Manufacturer:...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 2South African Class 6E1, Series 2In 1971 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 6E1, Series 2 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.-Manufacturer:...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 4South African Class 6E1, Series 4In 1973 and 1974 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 6E1, Series 4 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 5South African Class 6E1, Series 5In 1974 and 1975 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 6E1, Series 5 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 6South African Class 6E1, Series 6Between 1975 and 1977 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 6E1, Series 6 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.-Manufacturer:...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 7South African Class 6E1, Series 7Between 1977 and 1979 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifty Class 6E1, Series 7 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.- Manufacturer :...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 8South African Class 6E1, Series 8Between 1979 and 1981 the South African Railways placed one hundred and five Class 6E1, Series 8 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.- Manufacturer :...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 9South African Class 6E1, Series 9In 1981 and 1982 the South African Railways placed eighty-five Class 6E1, Series 9 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.-Manufacturer:...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 10South African Class 6E1, Series 10Between 1982 and 1984 the South African Railways placed fifty-five Class 6E1, Series 10 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in service.-Manufacturer:...
- South African Class 6E1, Series 11South African Class 6E1, Series 11In 1984 and 1985 the South African Railways placed forty-five Class 6E1, Series 11 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.- Manufacturer :...
- Electric locomotive numbering and classification
- List of South African locomotive classes