South African Class 1E

Between 1925 and 1945 the South African Railways placed altogether one hundred and seventy-two Class 1E electric locomotives in service, spread over seven orders.^[4]

Manufacturers

South Africa's first electric locomotive, the Class 1E, entered service in Natal in 1925. At the time, the first batch to be ordered constituted the largest order for a single type of electric locomotive placed anywhere in the world. Designed by Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovick), they were built for the South African Railways (SAR) in seven series by four manufacturers over a period of twenty years. A total of one hundred and seventy-two Class 1E's were delivered between 1925 and 1945.^[2][5]

• Series 1. The first sixty locomotives, numbered E1 to E60, were built by the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) between 1923 and 1924. The remaining eighteen Series 1 locomotives, numbered E61 to E78, were built by Metrovick in 1925.^[1]
• Series 2. All seventeen locomotives, numbered E79 to E95, were built by Metrovick from 1925 to 1926.^[1]
• Series 3. Five locomotives, numbered E98 to E102, were built by Metrovick in 1936. (Numbers E96 and E97 were allocated to Class ES locomotives.)^[1]
• Series 4. Twenty locomotives, numbered E103 to E122, were built by Metrovick in 1936.^[1]
• Series 5. Twenty-two locomotives, numbered E139 to E160, were built by SLM in 1938. (Numbers E123 to E138 were allocated to Classes ES1, ES, 2E, DS and DS1 locomotives.)^[1]
• Series 6. Twenty locomotives, numbered E161 to E180, were built by the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmateriee‎l (Werkspoor) in 1938.^[1]
• Series 7. Ten locomotives, numbered E181 to E190, were all built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns (RSH) in 1944.^[1]

Characteristics

Like the Class 2E, Class 3E and Class 4E, the Class 1E had bogie mounted draft gear and an articulated inter-bogie linkage, therefore no train forces were transmitted directly to the locomotive body. It had a Bo+Bo wheel arrangement with an articulated inter-bogie linkage.^[5]

Orientation

These dual cab locomotives have four grilles below the four windows on one side, and only two grilles below the centre two windows on the other side. The number 1 end will be at the front when the side with four grilles is to the left.^[4]

Interior layout

The interior layout consisted of five compartments, a cab at each end with a connecting corridor along one side, the high tension compartment in the middle of the locomotive, and auxiliary gear such as two motor generator sets coupled to a blower, as well as the exhauster, compressor, air reservoirs and low tension control contactors in the other two compartments.^[7]

Service

The first Class 1E locomotives were designed for and ordered for the electrification of the Glencoe to Pietermaritzburg section in Natal, with its severe gradients and tight curves. The overhead power supply was 3 kV DC, the highest direct current overhead voltage then in use, while the traction motors operated at 1.5 kV. It was reportedly the first use in regular traffic of electric locomotives equipped for multiple unit operation with regenerative braking.^[3][5]

The Colenso power station was built specifically to power this line. The power that was generated at Colenso was distributed at 88 kV to twelve substations, where it was converted to 6.6 kV and then to 3 kV DC by synchronous motor generators, for use by the Railways.^[8][9][10]

Early models bore number plates inscribed in English only. By 1938, when the Series 5 locomotives were placed in service, Afrikaans had been accepted as the second official language and new locomotives bore bilingual number plates. While they were employed mainly in Natal, some later also worked on the Witwatersrand and eventually also in the Western Cape. Some of them totalled more than 8,000,000 kilometres (4,970,970 miles) during their service lives.^[11][12]

Modification

They served in both goods and passenger service. Since their top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (45 miles per hour) was considered too slow for passenger service, two Class 1Es were modified in 1936 by changing their gear ratio to enable them to run at speeds of up to 90 kilometres per hour (56 miles per hour).^[7]

Altogether thirty-five of the Class 1E locomotives were eventually withdrawn from main line service, modified and reclassified to Class 1ES for use as shunter locomotives. The modifications included alteration of the resistance grids in the electrical circuit and enlarged and widened cabs, but the gear ratios were not altered. Two of these Class 1ES locomotives were eventually rebuilt to centre cab Class ES shunters in 1964.^[5]

Retirement

All the Class 1E and Class 1ES locomotives were retired by 1990.^[4]

Gallery

See also

• South African Class ES
• South African Class 2E
• Electric locomotive numbering and classification
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. pp. 4, 50. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Natal Contract to British". Electric Railway Journal 61: 107. 13 January 1923. http://www.archive.org/stream/electricrailwayj611mcgrrich#page/107/mode/1up. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} SAR Class 1E Electric Locomotives
4. ^ ^{a b c d} South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 125. ISBN 0869772112. 
6. ^ SLM Lokomotiven 1871-1894 by Verein Rollmaterialverzeichnis Schweiz
7. ^ ^{a b} Steam, Oil & Wires, vol 1, (Bernard Zurnamer), pp69-71
8. ^ "South African Railways Power Plant". Electric Railway Journal 60 (24): 914. 9 December 1922. http://www.archive.org/stream/electricrailwayj60mcgrrich#page/914/mode/1up. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
9. ^ Brazil, H (1928). "The South African Railways Electrification". Electrical Substations. Edward Arnold & Co. pp. 110. http://www.archive.org/stream/electricalsubsta017168mbp#page/n115/mode/1up. Retrieved 2010-01-12. 
10. ^ Brazil, H (1928). "IX - Traction Substations". Electrical Substations. Edward Arnold and Co. pp. 110. http://www.archive.org/stream/electricalsubsta017168mbp#page/n115/mode/1up. Retrieved 15 September 2010. 
11. ^ December 1922 and March 1925 issues of the Metropolitan-Vickers Gazette
12. ^ Electric Traction by A.T. Dover (1929)

External links

• South African Electrification