South African Class 35-000
South African Class 35-000 | |
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No. 35-020 in Transnet Freight Rail livery, Saldanha, Western Cape, 10 February 2013 | |
Type and origin | |
Power type | Diesel-electric |
Designer | General Electric |
Builder | General Electric |
Serial number | 38161-38210, 38724-38743 [1] |
Model | GE U15C |
Build date | 1972-1973 |
Total produced | 70 |
Specifications | |
AAR wheel arr. | C+C |
UIC classification | Co'Co' (Co+Co interlinked bogies) |
Gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge |
Wheel diameter | 915 mm (36 in) |
Wheelbase |
3.188 m (10 ft 5.5 in) per bogie 7.860 m (25 ft 9.4 in) between pivots 10.782 m (35 ft 4.5 in) overall |
Length | 15.152 m (49 ft 8.5 in) |
Width | 2.753 m (9 ft 0.4 in) |
Height | 3.874 m (12 ft 8.5 in) |
Axle load | 13.720 t (13.503 long tons; 15.124 short tons) |
Locomotive weight |
82.000 t (80.705 long tons; 90.390 short tons) average 82.320 t (81.0 long tons; 90.7 short tons) maximum |
Fuel type | Fuel oil |
Fuel capacity | 2,700 L (590 imp gal; 710 US gal) |
Prime mover | GE 7FDL-8 4 stroke V8 |
Engine RPM range |
385 rpm low idle 450 rpm idle 1,050 rpm maximum |
Engine type | Diesel engine |
Aspiration | Elliott H-584 turbocharger |
Generator | DC 10 pole GE 5GT-581C15 |
Traction motors |
Six GE 5GE-764-C1 DC 4 pole * 655A 1 hour * 645A continuous at 17 km/h (11 mph) |
Transmission | 90/17 gear ratio |
Multiple working | 4 maximum |
Performance figures | |
Maximum speed | 100 km/h (62 mph) |
Power output |
1,230 kW (1,650 hp) starting 1,160 kW (1,560 hp) continuous |
Tractive effort |
201 kN (45,000 lbf) starting 161 kN (36,000 lbf) continuous at 21 km/h (13 mph) |
Factor of adhesion |
25% starting 20% continuous |
Locomotive brake |
28-LAV-1 Dynamic brake peak effort: 138 kN (31,000 lbf) at 28 km/h (17 mph) |
Locomotive brakeforce | 60% ratio at 345 kPa (50.0 psi) brake cylinder pressure |
Train brakes |
740 litres (200 US gal) main reservoir Compressor capacity at idle: 0.033 m3/s (1.2 cu ft/s) Exhauster capacity at idle: 0.130 m3/s (4.6 cu ft/s) |
Safety systems | Vigilance control |
Career | |
Operator(s) |
South African Railways Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail Zambia Railways NLPI |
Class | Class 35-000 |
Number in class | 70 |
Number(s) | 35-001 to 35-070 |
Delivered | 1972-1973 |
First run | 1972 [2] |
The South African Class 35-000 of 1972 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive from the South African Railways era.
Between March 1972 and May 1973 the South African Railways placed seventy Class 35-000 General Electric type U15C diesel-electric locomotives in branchline 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 was delivered in 1972, numbered in the range from 35-001 to 35-050, with the first locomotives arriving in March. These were followed by a second batch of twenty in 1973, numbered in the range from 35-051 to 35-070. The last locomotives arrived in May 1973.[1][2][3]
Class 35 series
GE and GM-EMD designs
The Class 35 locomotive series consists of four sub-classes, the GE Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) Classes 35-200 and 35-600. Both these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the South African Classes 33, 34 and 36.[2]
The locomotive has interlinked bogies, hence the "Co+Co" wheel arrangement classification. The linkage is usually hidden from view by the saddle-shaped fuel tank.
Distinguishing Features
With the GE U15C 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 astride the hump on the long hood behind the cab. By 2013 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 branchline diesel-electric locomotive. GE Class 35-000s were designed for light rail conditions and they work on most branchlines in the central, western, southern and southeastern parts of the country.[3]
In the Western Cape they work out of Cape Town on the branchlines to Bitterfontein, Saldanha and Caledon, and out of Worcester to George. A threesome is allocated to the Swartkops depot in Port Elizabeth from where they work the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) MetroRail commuter trains to Uitenhage.
Zambia
Between October 1978 and May 1993 Zambia Railways (ZR) hired locomotives to solve it's chronic shortages in motive power, mainly from South Africa but at times also from Zaire, Zimbabwe, the TAZARA Railway and even the Zambian Copper Mines. In Zambia the South African locomotives were mainly used on goods trains between Livingstone and Kitwe, sometimes in tandem with a ZR locomotive and occasionally also on passenger trains.[6]
The first period of hire lasted from October 1978 until about April 1981 and locomotives were selected from a float of engines in the Classes 33-400, 35-000 and 35-200 that were allocated by the Railways for hire to Zambia. The South African fleet in Zambia was never constant since locomotives were continually exchanged as they became due back in South Africa for their three-monthly services. [6]
The float of Class 35-000 locomotives allocated by the Railways for hire to ZR included the locomotives annotated "Zambia" in the "allocation" column in the table below. The first Class 35-000 locomotives to serve in Zambia were on hire by May 1980. They served there for less than a year, being employed on road work as well as shunting. By the end of March 1981 the last Class 35-000 to remain there was no. 35-064, which was due to return south as soon as the last of ZR’s new Krupp-built diesel locomotives, no. 0-210, was delivered.[6]
NLPI Ltd.
NLPI Limited, abbreviated from New Limpopo Projects Investments, a Mauritius-registered company, specialises in private sector investments using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) concept. It had three connected railway operations in Zimbabwe and Zambia that formed a rail link between South Africa and the Democratic Republic of 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) operated on the former Zambian Railways (ZR) from Victoria Falls to Sakania in the Congo.
In Zambia the RSZ locomotive fleet included former ZR locomotives, but the rest of the locomotive fleet of all three operations consisted of South African GM-EMD Classes 34-200, 34-600 and 34-800 and GE Classes 35-000 and 35-400 locomotives. These locomotives were sometimes marked or branded as either BBR or LOG or both, but their status, whether leased or loaned, was unclear since they were still on the TFR roster and still often worked in South Africa as well. The locomotives did not appear to be restricted to working in any one of the three operations sections and have been observed being transferred across the bridge at Victoria Falls between Zimbabwe and Zambia as required. Class 35-000 locomotives that serve with NLPI include the locomotives annotated "NLPI" in the "allocation" column in the table below.[1][7]
Zambia Railways, the state-owned holding company, resumed control of the Zambian national rail network on 11 September 2012. This followed the government’s decision to revoke the operating concession awarded to RSZ after Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda claimed that RSZ had "blatantly disregarded the provisions of the agreement" and had been "acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of Zambians”.[8]
Works numbers
The Class 35-000 builder’s works numbers and, where applicable, leased service in Zambia or lately with NLPI, are listed in the table.[1]
Loco no. |
Works no. |
Allocation |
---|---|---|
35-001 | 38161 | |
35-002 | 38162 | |
35-003 | 38163 | |
35-004 | 38164 | |
35-005 | 38165 | NLPI |
35-006 | 38166 | |
35-007 | 38167 | |
35-008 | 38168 | |
35-009 | 38169 | |
35-010 | 38170 | |
35-011 | 38171 | |
35-012 | 38172 | |
35-013 | 38173 | |
35-014 | 38174 | |
35-015 | 38175 | NLPI |
35-016 | 38176 | |
35-017 | 38177 | |
35-018 | 38178 | |
35-019 | 38179 | |
35-020 | 38180 | |
35-021 | 38181 | |
35-022 | 38182 | Zambia, NLPI |
35-023 | 38183 | |
35-024 | 38184 | |
35-025 | 38185 | |
35-026 | 38186 | |
35-027 | 38187 | |
35-028 | 38188 | |
35-029 | 38189 | |
35-030 | 38190 | |
35-031 | 38191 | |
35-032 | 38192 | Zambia |
35-033 | 38193 | NLPI |
35-034 | 38194 | |
35-035 | 38195 | NLPI |
35-036 | 38196 | |
35-037 | 38197 | Zambia |
35-038 | 38198 | Zambia |
35-039 | 38199 | |
35-040 | 38200 | NLPI |
35-041 | 38201 | NLPI |
35-042 | 38202 | Zambia |
35-043 | 38203 | |
35-044 | 38204 | Zambia, NLPI |
35-045 | 38205 | |
35-046 | 38206 | |
35-047 | 38207 | NLPI |
35-048 | 38208 | NLPI |
35-049 | 38209 | Zambia |
35-050 | 38210 | |
35-051 | 38724 | Zambia |
35-052 | 38725 | |
35-053 | 38726 | |
35-054 | 38727 | |
35-055 | 38728 | |
35-056 | 38729 | |
35-057 | 38730 | |
35-058 | 38731 | NLPI |
35-059 | 38732 | |
35-060 | 38733 | |
35-061 | 38734 | |
35-062 | 38735 | Zambia |
35-063 | 38736 | |
35-064 | 38737 | Zambia |
35-065 | 38738 | |
35-066 | 38739 | Zambia |
35-067 | 38740 | Zambia |
35-068 | 38741 | |
35-069 | 38742 | |
35-070 | 38743 |
Liveries illustrated
The main picture shows number 35-020 in the Transnet Freight Rail livery and with a saddle hood in the Orex Yard at Saldanha on 10 February 2013. Other liveries that were applied to Class 35-000 locomotives are illustrated below. The last picture displays the top of a locomotive with a saddle hood. It was involved in a major derailment near Moorreesburg on 7 June 2007 when the track roadbed was washed away during heavy rain and flooding.[9]
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No. 35-031 awaiting repair after accident damage, at the Transwerk shops in Bloemfontein, 7 April 2006
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No. 35-066 in Spoornet orange livery and without a saddle hood, Biesiesfontein Farm near Moorreesburg, 9 June 2007
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No. 35-067 in Spoornet orange livery and with a saddle hood, Stikland, Cape Town, 22 March 2007
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No. 35-060 in Spoornet blue livery and without a saddle hood, Bellville, Cape Town, 26 April 2009
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No. 35-016 in Spoornet blue livery and with a saddle hood, Worcester, Western Cape, 13 April 2006
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No. 35-027 in Spoornet blue livery and with a saddle hood, Biesiesfontein Farm, Moorreesburg, 9 June 2007
See also
- Diesel-electric locomotive numbering and classification
- List of South African locomotive classes
- South African Class 35-200 (GM-EMD)
- South African Class 35-400 (GE)
- South African Class 35-600 (GM-EMD)
- South African locomotive history
References
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 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.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610 mm and 1065 mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20 (amended ed.). 28 January 1975.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0869772112.
- ↑ "35-003 without saddle filter".
- ↑ "35-001 with saddle filter".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bagshawe, P.F. Spoornet Diesels Leased to ZR 1978-1993.
- ↑ "35 Class Diesels". Railways Africa. 7 December 2006.
- ↑ "ZRL in charge as RSZ concession revoked" (PDF). Railway Gazette International. 13 September 2012.
- ↑ "Derailment at Moorreesburg". 7 June 2007.
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