South African Class 7E1
Encyclopedia
Between 1980 and 1981 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 7E1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in main line service.
, while Dorbyl in South Africa supplied the mechanical components. The first two locomotives, numbered E7101 and E7102, were built by Hitachi in Japan in 1979, while forty-eight more were built by Dorbyl in South Africa between 1979 and 1981 and numbered E7103 to E7150.
Like Union Carriage and Wagon, neither Hitachi nor Dorbyl allocated builder’s numbers to the Class 7E1 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, Hitachi and Dorbyl apparently also used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
The two sides of the Class 7E1 are sufficiently different in appearance that, when coupled end to end, a pair of them appears at first glance to be two different locomotive types. The left side is smooth, while the right has several large grilles.
On the Class 7E1 control of traction and rheostatic braking is by stepless solid-state electronics. The electrical equipment was designed for high power factor operation, obtained by the switching in of power-factor correction capacitors.
Manufacturers
The Class 7E1 25 kV AC electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) by HitachiHitachi
Hitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
, while Dorbyl in South Africa supplied the mechanical components. The first two locomotives, numbered E7101 and E7102, were built by Hitachi in Japan in 1979, while forty-eight more were built by Dorbyl in South Africa between 1979 and 1981 and numbered E7103 to E7150.
Like Union Carriage and Wagon, neither Hitachi nor Dorbyl allocated builder’s numbers to the Class 7E1 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, Hitachi and Dorbyl apparently also used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
Features
Since they were acquired solely for use on the Richards Bay coal line where they would always work in multiple, they were built with single cabs. Following the Class 9E that entered service in 1978, the Class 7E1 was the second single cab main line electric locomotive to be acquired by the SAR. Until the Class 9E was introduced, all South African main line electric locomotives were dual cab units.The two sides of the Class 7E1 are sufficiently different in appearance that, when coupled end to end, a pair of them appears at first glance to be two different locomotive types. The left side is smooth, while the right has several large grilles.
On the Class 7E1 control of traction and rheostatic braking is by stepless solid-state electronics. The electrical equipment was designed for high power factor operation, obtained by the switching in of power-factor correction capacitors.
Service
The Class 7E1 was placed in service on the 25 kV AC Ermelo-Richards Bay Coalink line, where they still work. In the period from the early 1990s until about 2007 various modifications to improve downhill braking capacity were done to the Coalink line Hitachi designed locomotives. The first set of upgrades were done on the fifty Class 7E1 locomotives. They retained their Class 7E1 classification after modification.Liveries
The main picture shows E7111’s right side, in SAR Gulf Red and whiskers livery.See also
- Electric locomotive numbering and classification
- List of South African locomotive classes