South African Class 6E1, Series 5

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South African Class 6E1, Series 5

E1629 at Koedoespoort, Pretoria, Gauteng, 8 October 2009

Type and origin
Power type	Electric
Designer	Union Carriage & Wagon
Builder	Union Carriage & Wagon
Model	UCW 6E1
Build date	1974-1976
Total produced	100
Rebuilder	Transwerk Transnet Engineering
Rebuild date	1978, 2010-2014
Number rebuilt	1 to Class Experimental AC 65 to Class 18E, Series 2

Specifications
Configuration:
• AAR	B-B
• UIC	Bo'Bo'
• Commonwealth	Bo-Bo
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter	1,220 mm (48.03 in)
Wheelbase	11,279 mm (37 ft 0 in)
• Bogie	3,430 mm (11 ft 3 in)
Pivot centres	7,849 mm (25 ft 9 in)
Panto shoes	6,972 mm (22 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Length:
• Over couplers	15,494 mm (50 ft 10 in)
• Over body	14,631 mm (48 ft 0 in)
Width	2,896 mm (9 ft 6 in)
Height:
• Pantograph	4,089 mm (13 ft 5 in)
• Body height	3,937 mm (12 ft 11 in)
Axle load	22,226 kg (49,000 lb)
Adhesive weight	88,904 kg (196,000 lb)
Loco weight	88,904 kg (196,000 lb)
Electric system/s	3 kV DC catenary
Current pickup(s)	Pantographs
Traction motors	Four AEI-283AZ
• Rating 1 hour	623 kW (835 hp)
• Continuous	563 kW (755 hp)
Gear ratio	18:67
Loco brake	Air & Regenerative
Train brakes	Air & Vacuum
Couplers	AAR knuckle

Performance figures
Maximum speed	113 km/h (70 mph)
Power output:
• 1 hour	2,492 kW (3,342 hp)
• Continuous	2,252 kW (3,020 hp)
Tractive effort:
• Starting	311 kN (70,000 lbf)
• 1 hour	221 kN (50,000 lbf)
• Continuous	193 kN (43,000 lbf) @ 40 km/h (25 mph)

Career
Operators	South African Railways Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail PRASA
Class	Class 6E1
Number in class	99
Numbers	E1546-E1599, E1601-E1645
Delivered	1974-1976
First run	1974

The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 5 of 1974 was an electric locomotive.

Between 1974 and 1976, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 6E1, Series 5 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service. One of them was later withdrawn from revenue service for use as an experimental 25 kV AC locomotive.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Manufacturer

The 3 kV DC Class 6E1, Series 5 electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, with the electrical equipment being supplied by the General Electric Company (GEC).^[4]

One hundred units were delivered between 1974 and 1976, numbered in the range from E1546 to E1645. Like Series 1 to 4, Series 5 units were equipped with four AEI-283AZ axle-hung traction motors. UCW did not allocate builder's numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR and used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.^[1]

Characteristics

Orientation

These dual cab locomotives had a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end was marked as the no. 2 end. A corridor along the centre of the locomotive connected the cabs which were identical apart from the fact that the handbrake was located in cab 2. A pantograph hook stick was stowed in a tube mounted below the lower edge of the locomotive body on the roof access ladder side. The units had one square and two rectangular access panels along the lower half of the body on the roof access ladder side, and only square access panel on the opposite side.^[1]

Series identifying features

The Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years. While some Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years.^[1]

The Series 3 to Series 5 locomotives were visually indistinguishable from each other, the only externally visible difference being the narrower stirrup middle step below the side doors of the first fifty Series 3 units, those in the number range from E1296 to E1345.^[1]^[2]^[5]^[6]

The Series 6 and 7 locomotives are also visually indistinguishable from each other, but can be distinguished from all the older series by the rainwater beading that had been added above the small grilles on the sides aft of the side doors.^[1]^[2]

Service

The Class 6E1 family saw service all over both 3 kV DC mainline and branch line networks, the smaller Cape Western mainline between Cape Town and Beaufort West and the larger network which covers portions of the Northern Cape, the Free State, Natal, Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga.^[3]

Reclassification and rebuilding

Test bed for 25 kV AC research

One of the Series 5 units, no. E1600, was withdrawn from revenue service in 1978, rebuilt as a test-bed for 25 kV AC electrification and reclassified to Class Experimental AC. This was done while the electrification of the four isolated 25 kV routes was in progress. No. E1600 was never returned to revenue service. The four 25 kV AC routes are:^[2]

From Pyramid South to Pietersburg and via Rustenburg to Thabazimbi.
From Ermelo to Richards Bay.
From Port Elizabeth to De Aar and from there northward to Kimberley and southward to Beaufort West.
From East London to Springfontein.^[3]

No. E1600 is set to be preserved for the national collection by the SA Heritage Agency and Transnet Heritage Foundation.(stored Pyramid south 03/2020)

Reclassification to Class 16E

During 1990 and 1991, Spoornet semi-permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise largely unmodified Class 6E1 units, reclassified them to Class 16E and allocated a single locomotive number to each pair, with the individual units in the pairs inscribed "A" or "B". The aim was to accomplish savings on cab maintenance by coupling the units at their no. 1 ends, abandoning the no. 1 end cabs in terms of maintenance and using only the no. 2 end cabs.^[3]

Two known Series 5 locomotives, numbers E1549 and E1607, were part of such Class 16E pairs and became Class 16E numbers 16-319B and 16-335A respectively.^[3]

Rebuilding to Class 18E

Beginning in 2000, Spoornet began a project to rebuild Series 2 to 11 Class 6E1 locomotives to Class 18E, Series 1 and Series 2 at the Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) workshops at Koedoespoort. In the process, the cab at the no. 1 end was stripped of all controls and the driver's front and side windows were blanked off to have a toilet installed, thereby forfeiting the unit's bi-directional ability.^[3]^[7]

Since the driving cab's noise level had to be below 85 decibels, cab 2 was selected as the Class 18E driving cab primarily based on its lower noise level compared to cab 1, which is closer and more exposed to the compressor's noise and vibration. Another factor was the closer proximity of cab 2 to the low voltage switch panel. The fact that the handbrake was located in cab 2 was not a deciding factor, but was considered an additional benefit.^[7]

The known Class 6E1, Series 5 units which were used in this project were all rebuilt to Class 18E, Series 2 locomotives. Their numbers and renumbering details are shown in the table. This list is virtually complete with only seven unknowns remaining:

The unit number of the Class 6E1 unit that was rebuilt to Class 18E no. 18-851 is not known.^[7]
The status of six units listed as "uncompleted", of which the existence still need to be confirmed by sighting or photographic evidence. The Class 18E rebuilding program was terminated abruptly in late 2014 with about half a dozen units in various stages of completion on the rebuilding line. Some reports indicated that the incomplete units would be forwarded to Danskraal or Durban for completion, but it could not be confirmed that this actually took place.^[3]

Class 6E1, Series 5 units rebuilt to Class 18E
as on 19 January 2015
Count	6E1 no.	Year built	18E no.	18E series	Year rebuilt	Notes
1	E1546	1974-75	18-726	2	2013
2	E1547	1974-75	18-805	2	2014
3	E1551	1974-75	18-837	2		Uncompleted
4	E1553	1974-75	18-698	2	2012
5	E1554	1974-75	18-849	2		Uncompleted
6	E1556	1974-75	18-835	2		Uncompleted
7	E1557	1975	18-777	2	2013	c. 2013
8	E1558	1975	18-828	2	2014
9	E1560	1975	18-822	2	2014
10	E1561	1975	18-668	2	2011
11	E1562	1975	18-755	2	2013
12	E1563	1975	18-800	2	2014	c. 2014
13	E1564	1975	18-727	2	2013
14	E1566	1975	18-661	2	2011
15	E1567	1975	18-705	2	2012
16	E1568	1975	18-723	2	2013
17	E1569	1975	18-778	2	2013	c. 2013
18	E1570	1975	18-734	2	2013
19	E1571	1975	18-670	2	2012
20	E1572	1975	18-754	2	2013
21	E1573	1975	18-642	2	2010
22	E1575	1975	18-770	2	2013
23	E1576	1975	18-693	2	2012
24	E1577	1975	18-823	2	2014
25	E1578	1975	18-641	2	2010
26	E1579	1975	18-827	2	2014
27	E1580	1975	18-820	2	2014
28	E1581	1975	18-686	2	2012
29	E1583	1975	18-821	2	2014
30	E1584	1975	18-756	2	2013
31	E1585	1975	18-825	2	2014
32	E1586	1975	18-818	2	2014
33	E1588	1975	18-794	2	2014	c. 2014
34	E1589	1975	18-769	2	2013
35	E1590	1975	18-792	2	2014	c. 2014
36	E1591	1975	18-817	2	2014
37	E1598	1975	18-819	2	2014
38	E1594	1975	18-733	2	2013
39	E1596	1975	18-842	2		Uncompleted
40	E1602	1975	18-798	2	2014	c. 2014
41	E1604	1975	18-830	2		Uncompleted
42	E1606	1975	18-814	2	2014
43	E1608	1975	18-815	2	2014
44	E1609	1975	18-663	2	2011
45	E1610	1975	18-711	2	2012
46	E1613	1975	18-789	2	2014	c. 2014
47	E1614	1975-76	18-715	2	2012
48	E1615	1975-76	18-809	2	2014
49	E1616	1975-76	18-750	2	2013
50	E1617	1975-76	18-813	2	2014
51	E1620	1975-76	18-731	2	2013
52	E1621	1976	18-795	2	2014	c. 2014
53	E1622	1976	18-710	2	2012
54	E1623	1976	18-816	2	2014
55	E1624	1976	18-722	2	2012
56	E1625	1976	18-716	2	2012
57	E1626	1976	18-639	2	2010
58	E1627	1976	18-810	2	2014
59	E1628	1976	18-647	2	2010
60	E1630	1976	18-703	2	2012
61	E1631	1976	18-844	2		Uncompleted
62	E1632	1976	18-637	2	2010
63	E1633	1976	18-811	2	2014
64	E1634	1976	18-697	2	2012
65	E1635	1976	18-664	2	2011
66	E1637	1976	18-729	2	2013
67	E1638	1976	18-713	2	2012
68	E1639	1976	18-709	2	2012
69	E1640	1976	18-737	2	2013
70	E1641	1976	18-700	2	2012
71	E1644	1976	18-662	2	2011

Liveries

The whole series was delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red cowcatchers, yellow whiskers and with the number plates on the sides mounted on three-stripe yellow wings. In the 1990s many of the Series 5 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the cowcatchers. Several later received the Spoornet maroon livery. In the late 1990s at least one was repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with solid numbers and at least four in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers. In the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era after 2008, at least one was repainted in the Shosholoza Meyl purple livery and one in the PRASA light blue livery.^[8]

Illustration

The main picture shows no. E1629 in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Shosholoza Meyl livery. Illustrated below are some of the other liveries in which Series 5 locomotives served.

No. E1592 in SAR Gulf Red & yellow whiskers livery at Bellville Depot, Cape Town, 21 October 2009
No. E1557 in Spoornet orange livery at Slypklip near Warrenton, Northern Cape, 22 September 2006
No. E1640 in Spoornet lined orange livery at Empangeni, Kwa-Zulu Natal, 14 August 2007
No. E1564 in the correct Spoornet maroon livery without "SPOORNET" at Beaconsfield, 17 September 2009
No. E1558 in an incorrect Spoornet maroon livery with "SPOORNET" at Orkney, 13 October 2009
No. E1629 in Spoornet blue livery with solid numbers at Capital Park, Pretoria, Gauteng, 4 May 2006
No. E1577 in Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers at Kaalfontein, Gauteng, 3 October 2006
No. E1566 in white primer awaiting rebuilding at Koedoespoort, Pretoria, Gauteng, 2 October 2009
No. E1603 in Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa blue livery, Durban, 24 November 2014

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f 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
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 128–129. ISBN 0869772112.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g 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, 57, 60.
^ "UCW – Electric locomotives" (PDF). The UCW Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
^ E1345 with narrow stirrup (Accessed on 6 June 2017)
^ E1346 with wide stirrup (Accessed on 6 June 2017)
^ ^a ^b ^c Information gathered from the rebuild files of individual locomotives at Transnet Rail Engineering’s Koedoespoort shops, or obtained from John Middleton as well as several Transnet employees
^ Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 9. South-Eastwards as far as Volksrust (2nd part) by Les Pivnic. Caption 4. (Accessed on 11 April 2017)

External links

Media related to South African Class 6E1 Series 5 at Wikimedia Commons

Locomotives of South Africa

Steam

7' ¼" gauge	East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT
Standard gauge	Cape 0-4-0T Blackie Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid Natal 0-4-0ST Durban Natal 0-4-0WT Natal Natal 4-4-0T Perseverance
Cape gauge Tank engines	CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack 4-6-4RT CSAR Railmotor Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth 0-4-0ST Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NGR 2-6-0T Durban & Pietermaritzburg NGR Class I 2-6-2T NGR Class K 0-4-0ST NGR Class K 0-6-0ST NGR Class K 2-6-0T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 13 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese SAR Class A SAR Class B SAR Class C SAR Class C1 SAR Class C2 SAR Class D SAR Class E SAR Class F SAR Class G SAR Class H SAR Class H1 SAR Class H2 SAR Class J SAR Class K SAR Railmotor SAR Dock 0-4-0ST SAR Dock 0-4-0T SWA 2-8-0T
Cape gauge Tender engines	CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 NGR Havelock NGR Class I SAR Class Exp 1 SAR Class Exp 2 SAR Class Exp 3 SAR Class Exp 4 SAR Class Exp 5 SAR Class Exp 6 SAR Class S SAR Class S1 SAR Class S2 SAR Class 1 SAR Class 1A SAR Class 1B SAR Class 2 SAR Class 2C SAR Class 3 SAR Class 3A SAR Class 3B SAR Class 4 SAR Class 4A SAR Class 5 SAR Class 5A SAR Class 5B SAR Class 6 SAR Class 6A SAR Class 6B SAR Class 6C SAR Class 6D SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6F SAR Class 6G SAR Class 6H SAR Class 6J SAR Class 6K SAR Class 6L SAR Class 6Y SAR Class 6Z SAR Class 7 SAR Class 7A SAR Class 7B SAR Class 7C SAR Class 7D SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7F SAR Class 8 SAR Class 8A SAR Class 8B SAR Class 8C SAR Class 8D SAR Class 8E SAR Class 8F SAR Class 8R SAR Class 8X SAR Class 8Y SAR Class 8Z SAR Class 9 SAR Class 10 SAR Class 10A SAR Class 10B SAR Class 10C SAR Class 10D SAR Class 11 SAR Class 12 SAR Class 12A SAR Class 12B SAR Class 13 SAR Class 14 SAR Class 14A SAR Class 14B SAR Class 14C 1st SAR Class 14C 2nd SAR Class 14C 3rd SAR Class 14C 4th SAR Class 15 SAR Class 15A SAR Class 15B SAR Class 15C SAR Class 15CA SAR Class 15E SAR Class 15F SAR Class 16 SAR Class 16A SAR Class 16B SAR Class 16C SAR Class 16D SAR Class 16DA 1928 SAR Class 16DA 1930 SAR Class 16E SAR Class 17 SAR Class 18 SAR Class 19 SAR Class 19A SAR Class 19B SAR Class 19C SAR Class 19D SAR Class 20 SAR Class 21 SAR Class 23 SAR Class 24 SAR Class 25 SAR Class 25NC SAR Class 26 SAR Katanga SWA 2-8-0
Cape gauge Articulated engines	CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR Class FC SAR Class FD SAR Class GA SAR Class GB SAR Class GC SAR Class GCA SAR Class GD SAR Class GDA SAR Class GE SAR Class GEA SAR Class GF SAR Class GG SAR Class GH SAR Class GK SAR Class GL SAR Class GM SAR Class GMA SAR Class GO SAR Class HF SAR Class KM SAR Class MA SAR Class MB SAR Class MC SAR Class MC1 SAR Class MD SAR Class ME SAR Class MF SAR Class MG SAR Class MH SAR Class MJ SAR Class MJ1 SAR Class U
2' 6" gauge	Cape Copper John King & Miner Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay 2-4-2T Hope
2' & 600mm gauges	ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR Dutton SAR NG 0-4-0T SAR Class NG1 SAR Class NG2 SAR Class NG3 SAR Class NG4 SAR Class NG5 SAR Class NG6 SAR Class NG7 SAR Class NG8 SAR Class NG9 SAR Class NG10 SAR Class NG-G11 SAR Class NG-G12 SAR Class NG-G13 SAR Class NG-G14 SAR Class NG15 SAR Class NG-G16 SWA Class Ha SWA Class Hb SWA Class Hc SWA Class Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge

Electric

Amcoal Class E38

Gas-electric

SAR Gas-electric

Diesel

Cape gauge Diesel–electric	PRASA Class Afro 4000 SAR Class DS SAR Class DS1 SAR Class 31-000 SAR Class 32-000 SAR Class 32-200 SAR Class 33-000 SAR Class 33-200 SAR Class 33-400 SAR Class 34-000 SAR Class 34-200 SAR Class 34-400 SAR Class 34-500 SAR Class 34-600 SAR Class 34-800 SAR Class 34-900 SAR Class 35-000 SAR Class 35-200 SAR Class 35-400 SAR Class 35-600 TFR Class 35-800 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000 TFR Class 45-000
2' gauge Diesel–electric	SAR Class 91-000
Cape gauge Diesel–hydraulic	SAR Class 61-000
Cape gauge Electro-diesel	Spoornet Class 38-000

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