South African Class 35-000

Between March 1972 and May 1973 the South African Railways placed seventy Class 35-000 GE U15C diesel-electric locomotives in service.^[1][2]

Manufacturer

The South African Class 35-000 type GE U15C diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Electric (GE) and imported. The first batch of fifty locomotives were delivered in 1972 with the first locomotives arriving in March, numbered 35-001 to 35-050, followed by a second batch of twenty in 1973, numbered 35-051 to 35-070. The last locomotives arrived in May 1973.^[1][2][3]

Class 35 series

GE and EMD designs

South Africa’s Class 35 locomotive series consists of four sub-classes, the GE Class 35-000 and 35-400 and the Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) Class 35-200 and 35-600. Both these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the South African Classes 33, 34 and 36.^[2]

Distinguishing Features

With the GE Class 35 locomotives, the Class 35-000 and 35-400 are visually indistinguishable from each other. An externally visible modification that is done during major overhauls is the addition of a saddle hood straddling the hump on the long hood behind the cab. By 2011 this modification had been done on a large number of Class 35-000s, but not yet on any Class 35-400s.^[4][5]

Service

South African Railways

The Class 35 is South Africa’s standard branch line diesel-electric locomotive. GE Class 35-000s were designed for light rail conditions across difficult terrain and they work on most branch lines in the central, western, southern and southeastern parts of the country.^[3]

NLPI

New Limpopo Projects Investments Limited (NLPI), a Mauritius registered company, specialises in private sector investments using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) concept. It has three connected railway operations in Zimbabwe and Zambia that form a rail link between South Africa and the Congo.^[1]

• The Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (BBR), commissioned on 1 September 1999, operates the Beit Bridge to Bulawayo line in Zimbabwe.
• Since February 2004 NLPI Logistics (NLL or LOG) operates between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border.
• Since February 2003 the Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ) operates on the former Zambian Railways (ZR) from Victoria Falls to Sakania in the Congo.

In Zambia the RSZ locomotive fleet includes former ZR locomotives, but the rest of the locomotive fleet of all three operations consist of EMD Class 34-200, 34-600 and 34-800 and GE Class 35-000 and Class 35-400 locomotives from Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). These locomotives are sometimes marked or branded as either BBR or LOG or both, but their status, whether leased or loaned, is unclear since they are still on the TFR roster and still often work in South Africa as well. The locomotives do not appear to be restricted to working in any one of the three operations sections and have been observed being transferred between Zimbabwe and Zambia across the bridge at Victoria Falls as required.^[1][6]

Liveries

The main picture shows 35-016 in Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers and with a saddle hood, at Worcester, Western Cape on 13 April 2006.

See also

• South African Class 35-200 (EMD)
• South African Class 35-400 (GE)
• South African Class 35-600 (EMD)
• Diesel-electric locomotive numbering and classification
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} 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. 38, 41-42. 
2. ^ ^{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
3. ^ ^{a b} Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 141-142. ISBN 0869772112. 
4. ^ 35-003 without saddle filter
5. ^ 35-001 with saddle filter
6. ^ 35 Class Diesels