South African Class 31-000

The South African Class 31-000 of 1958 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive from the South African Railways era.

In June and July 1958 the South African Railways placed forty-five Class 1-DE General Electric type U12B diesel-electric locomotives in service. They were later reclassified to Class 31-000 and renumbered.^[2]

Manufacturer

The South African Class 31-000 type GE U12B diesel-electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) and built by General Electric in 1958 and imported. They were the first diesel-electric road locomotives to enter SAR service in quantity.^[2][3]

Reclassification & renumbering

Upon delivery, they were classified as Class 1-DE and numbered in the range from D700 to D744 in the electric locomotive number range. When the SAR adopted a new classification and numbering system for electric and diesel-powered locomotives circa 1960, they were reclassified to Class 31-000 and renumbered in the range from 31-001 to 31-045.^[2][3]

Orientation

The Class 31-000 is a high short hood locomotive. While the short hood end is usually considered as the front end, the cab is equipped with dual station controls to make it fully bidirectional.^[2]

Service

They were placed in service working out of Johannesburg to Kroonstad in the Free State and to Volksrust on the mainline to Natal. By the 1980s they were relegated to shunting and pickup service on the Reef and at some other major centres.^[3]

Of the original forty-five locomotives, forty survived into the Spoornet era in the 1990s. Now retired from Spoornet service, some still see service in private hands. Three of them, numbers 31-001 (D700), 31-005 (D704) and 31-038 (D737), were acquired by Sheltam for use at Rand Uranium near Randfontein and at Welkom. The first two were converted to low short hood locomotives and were still in service in 2014, while the third was used for spare parts.^[1][4]

Another private rail operator, RRL Grindrod, owns no. 31-009 (D708) as its no. RB-201 which is employed at Welkom.^[4]

Works numbers

The Class 31-000 builder’s works numbers, renumbering and disposition are listed in the table.^[1]

Liveries illustrated

Some of the liveries that were applied to Class 31-000 locomotives are illustrated below.

• 

  Sheltam no. 1201, ex SAR no. 31-005 (D704), 19 May 2010

• 

  No. 31-007 (D706) at Bellville Depot, 10 January 2009

See also

• Diesel-electric locomotive numbering and classification
• List of South African locomotive classes
• South African locomotive history

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: South African Class 31-000

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