South African Class 3E

South African Class 3E
Preserved E201 at Bellville Depot, Cape Town, 10 January 2009
Power type Electric
Designer Metropolitan-Vickers
Builder Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns
Serial number 7215-7242[1]
Model MV 3E
Build date 1947
Total produced 28
UIC classification Co+Co Interlinked bogies
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Bogies 4.267 m (14 ft 0 in) wheelbase
Wheel diameter 1,219 mm (48.0 in)
Wheelbase 12.801 m (42 ft 0 in)
Length 17.199 m (56 ft 5.1 in)
Height 4.089 m (13 ft 5 in) pantographs down
Axle load 18,796 kg (18.5 long tons) on bogie outer axles
19,305 kg (19.0 long tons) on bogie centre axles
Locomotive weight 113,797 kg (112.0 long tons)
Current collection
method		 Pantographs
Traction motors Six MV 187
Transmission 23/71 Gear ratio
Top speed 105 km/h (65 mph)
Power output Per motor:
336 kW (451 hp) 1 hour
284 kW (381 hp) continuous
Total:
2,016 kW (2,704 hp) 1 hour
1,704 kW (2,285 hp) continuous
Tractive effort 204 kN (46,000 lbf) starting
151 kN (34,000 lbf) 1 hour
119 kN (27,000 lbf) continuous
Train brakes Air & Vacuum
Career South African Railways
Class Class 3E
Power class 3 kV DC
Number in class 28
Number E191-E218[2]
Delivered 1947-1948
First run 1947
Disposition Retired

In 1947 and 1948 the South African Railways placed twenty-eight Class 3E electric locomotives with a Co+Co wheel arrangement in service.[3]

Contents

Manufacturer

The South African Railways (SAR) placed orders for the design of the Class 3E 3 kV DC electric locomotive with Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovicks) in 1944 and twenty-eight were delivered and placed in service between 1947 and 1948, numbered E191 to E218. Although they were designed by Metrovicks, who also supplied the electrical equipment, they were built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns (RSH).[1][3]

Orientation

These dual cab locomotives have three windows on one side and four on the other side. The number 1 end is at the front when the side with three windows is to the left. Like the Class 1E, Class 2E and Class 4E, the Class 3E has bogie mounted draft gear, therefore no train forces are transmitted to the locomotive body. It had a Co+Co wheel arrangement with an articulated inter-bogie linkage.[2]

Service

The Class 3E was the first South African six axle electric locomotive and was designed for use where higher speeds were possible on track with less severe curvature than on the Natal main line. It served mainly on the Witwatersrand in both freight and passenger working and had a maximum safe speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 miles per hour).[3]

For the passenger role, provision was made for both electric and steam heating of passenger coaches, although the electric heating feature was never used. The Class 3E had an integral steam boiler for train heating, unlike later electric locomotives like the Class 4E, Class 5E and Class 6E that used separate steam wagons on passenger service.[3]

Preservation

Now long retired, E201, the best preserved survivor of the class, is being staged under a shelter at the Bellville locomotive depot in Cape Town along with a few other early SAR electric locomotives that were earmarked for preservation.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c 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. 50, 62. 
  2. ^ a b 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 c d Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 126. ISBN 0869772112.