The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 8 of 1979 was an electric locomotive.
Between 1979 and 1981, the South African Railways placed 105 Class 6E1, Series 8 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service.[1]
Between 1979 and 1981, 105 locomotives were delivered, numbered in the range from E1896 to E2000. Like Series 6 and 7, the Series 8 units were equipped with AEI-283AY traction motors. UCW did not allocate builder’s or works numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR, but used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.[1]
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 locomotive had one square and two rectangular access panels along the lower half of the body on the roof access ladder side and only one square access panel on the opposite side.[1]
Series identifying features
Hatch door RHatch door L
The Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years. While some of the Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years.[1]
Series 8 was the only Class 6E1 series with unique visual distinguishing features. It could be distinguished from all earlier series by its large hatch door on each side, below the second small window to the right of the side door on the roof access ladder side and below the first window immediately to the right of the side door on the other side. It could also be distinguished from all subsequent series by the absence of rainwater drainage holes along the lower body sides.[1]
Crew access
The Class 5E, 5E1, 6E and 6E1 locomotives were notoriously difficult to enter from ground level since their lever-style door handles were at waist level when standing inside the cab. This made it impossible to open the door from outside without first climbing up high enough to reach the door handle while hanging on to the side handrails with one hand only. Crews therefore often choose to leave the doors ajar when parking and exiting the locomotives.[3]
Series 8 and some late model Series 7 locomotives were equipped with doors on which the outside door latch handle was mounted near floor level with a simple drawer pull type handle at mid-door level.[4]
During 1990 and 1991, Spoornet semi-permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise largely unmodified Class 6E1 locomotives, 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. Most were later either disbanded with the units reverting to Class 6E1 and regaining their original numbers or getting rebuilt to Class 18E.[5]
Ten known Series 8 locomotives were part of such Class 16E pairs.[5]
E1914 and E1915 became 16-503 A and B.
E1916 and E1917 became 16-501 A and B.
E1918 and E1919 became 16-505 A and B.
E1925 and E1926 became 16-504 A and B.
E1928 and E1929 became 16-506 A and B.
Modification to Class 17E
No. E1913 as Class 17E, Capital Park, Pretoria, 28 September 2006
Class 17E locomotives were modified and reclassified from Class 6E1 Series 7, 8 or 9 locomotives during 1993 and 1994. Key modifications included improved regenerative braking and wheel-slip control to improve their reliability on the steep gradients and curves of the Natal mainline. Unlike the unmodified but reclassified Class 16E locomotives, the Class 17Es retained their original unit numbers after reclassification.[5]
A stumbling block was that the regeneration equipment at many of the sub-stations along the route was unreliable. Since there was no guarantee that another train would be in the same section to absorb the regenerated energy, there was always the risk that line voltage could exceed 4.1 kV, which would make either the sub-station or the locomotive trip out. As a result, the subsequently rebuilt Class 18E locomotives were not equipped with regenerative braking.[6]
Fifty-five known Series 8 locomotives were modified and reclassified to Class 17E. Their unit numbers are listed in the table.[5]
Rebuilding to Class 18E
Cab 1 of Class 18E no. 18-204, ex Class 6E1 no. E1972, Capital Park, Pretoria, 16 May 2013
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 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 locomotive's bi-directional ability.[5][6]
Brake rack in Class 18E no. 18-089
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 was 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.[6]
While the earlier Class 6E1, Series 2 to 7 locomotives had been built with a brake system which consisted of various valves connected to each other with pipes and commonly referred to as a "bicycle frame" brake system, the Class 6E1, Series 8 to 11 locomotives were built with an air equipment frame brake system, commonly referred to as a brake rack. Since the design of the rebuilt Class 18E locomotives included the same brake rack, the rebuilding project was begun with the newer series 8 to 11 locomotives to reduce the overall cost of rebuilding. [6]
Bar two, all the Class 6E1, Series 8 locomotives which were used in this rebuilding project were rebuilt to Class 18E, Series 1 locomotives. The known numbers and renumbering details are listed in the table.[6]
Class 6E1, Series 8 units rebuilt to Class 18E as on 31 January 2014
Count
6E1 no.
Year built
18E no.
18E series
Year rebuilt
Notes
1
E1896
1979
18-608
2
2010
2
E1897
1979
18-383
1
2008
3
E1898
1979
18-420
1
2009
PRASA
4
E1899
1979
18-195
1
2005
5
E1900
1979
18-262
1
2006
ex 17E
6
E1901
1979
18-298
1
2006
ex 17E
7
E1902
1979
18-021
1
2002
8
E1903
1979
18-025
1
2002
9
E1904
1979
18-087
1
2003
ex 17E
10
E1905
1979
18-311
1
2007
ex 17E
11
E1906
1979
18-284
1
2006
ex 17E
12
E1907
1979
18-330
1
2007
ex 17E
13
E1908
1979
18-288
1
2006
ex 17E
14
E1909
1979
18-061
1
2002
ex 17E
15
E1910
1979
18-295
1
2006
ex 17E
16
E1911
1979
18-012
1
2001
17
E1912
1979
18-010
1
2001
18
E1913
1979
18-340
1
2007
ex 17E
19
E1914
1979
18-077
1
2003
ex 16-503A
20
E1915
1979
18-078
1
2003
ex 16-503B
21
E1916
1979-80
18-035
1
2002
ex 16-501A
22
E1917
1979-80
18-036
1
2002
ex 16-501B
23
E1918
1979-80
18-063
1
2002
ex 16-505A
24
E1919
1979-80
18-067
1
2003
ex 16-505B
25
E1920
1979-80
18-006
1
2001
26
E1921
1979-80
18-341
1
2007
ex 17E
27
E1922
1979-80
18-306
1
2007
ex 17E
28
E1923
1979-80
18-286
1
2006
29
E1924
1979-80
18-334
1
2007
ex 17E
30
E1925
1979-80
18-033
1
2002
ex 16-504A
31
E1926
1979-80
18-034
1
2002
ex 16-504B
32
E1927
1979-80
18-507
1
2009
33
E1928
1979-80
18-055
1
2002
ex 16-506A
34
E1929
1979-80
18-049
1
2002
ex 16-506B
35
E1931
1980
18-202
1
2005
ex 17E
36
E1932
1980
18-221
1
2005
37
E1933
1980
18-320
1
2007
ex 17E
38
E1934
1980
18-094
1
2003
ex 17E
39
E1935
1980
18-018
1
2002
ex 17E
40
E1936
1980
18-274
1
2006
ex 17E
41
E1937
1980
18-216
1
2005
ex 17E
42
E1938
1980
18-293
1
2006
ex 17E
43
E1939
1980
18-203
1
2005
ex 17E
44
E1940
1980
18-084
1
2003
ex 17E
45
E1941
1980
18-200
1
2005
46
E1942
1980
18-011
1
2001
47
E1943
1980
18-248
1
2006
48
E1944
1980
18-197
1
2005
ex 17E
49
E1945
1980
18-207
1
2005
ex 17E
50
E1946
1980
18-062
1
2002
ex 17E
51
E1947
1980
18-290
1
2006
ex 17E
52
E1948
1980
18-069
1
2003
53
E1949
1980
18-064
1
2002
ex 17E
54
E1951
1980
18-741
2
2013
55
E1952
1980
18-419
1
2009
PRASA
56
E1954
1980
18-001
1
2000
57
E1955
1980
18-002
1
2001
58
E1957
1980
18-415
1
2009
PRASA
59
E1958
1980
18-072
1
2003
60
E1959
1980
18-199
1
2005
61
E1960
1980
18-220
1
2005
62
E1961
1980
18-015
1
2002
63
E1962
1980
18-070
1
2003
ex 17E
64
E1963
1980
18-051
1
2002
65
E1964
1980
18-329
1
2007
ex 17E
66
E1965
1980
18-316
1
2007
ex 17E
67
E1966
1980
18-178
1
2005
ex 17E
68
E1967
1980
18-263
1
2006
ex 17E
69
E1968
1980
18-222
1
2005
ex 17E
70
E1969
1980
18-201
1
2005
ex 17E
71
E1970
1980
18-378
1
2008
72
E1971
1980
18-269
1
2006
ex 17E
73
E1972
1980
18-204
1
2005
74
E1973
1980
18-376
1
2007
75
E1974
1980
18-019
1
2002
76
E1975
1980
18-014
1
2002
77
E1976
1980
18-256
1
2006
ex 17E
78
E1978
1980
18-013
1
2001
79
E1979
1980
18-337
1
2007
ex 17E
80
E1980
1980
18-026
1
2002
81
E1981
1980
18-027
1
2002
82
E1982
1980
18-272
1
2006
ex 17E
83
E1983
1980
18-296
1
2006
ex 17E
84
E1984
1980-81
18-226
1
2005
ex 17E
85
E1985
1980-81
18-312
1
2007
ex 17E
86
E1986
1980-81
18-215
1
2005
ex 17E
87
E1987
1980-81
18-324
1
2007
ex 17E
88
E1988
1981
18-041
1
2002
89
E1989
1981
18-303
1
2006
ex 17E
90
E1990
1981
18-310
1
2007
ex 17E
91
E1991
1981
18-225
1
2005
ex 17E
92
E1992
1981
18-278
1
2006
ex 17E
93
E1993
1981
18-336
1
2007
ex 17E
94
E1994
1981
18-305
1
2006
ex 17E
95
E1995
1981
18-279
1
2006
ex 17E
96
E1996
1981
18-315
1
2007
ex 17E
97
E1997
1981
18-156
1
2004
ex 17E
98
E1998
1981
18-237
1
2006
ex 17E
99
E1999
1981
18-065
1
2002
ex 17E
100
E2000
1981
18-309
1
2007
ex 17E
Liveries
All but six Class 6E1, Series 8 locomotives were 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. The six exceptions, numbers E1950 to E1955, were delivered in blue with yellow whiskers for use with the Blue Train between Cape Town and Beaufort West. However, there was a demand for two more blue train locomotives and 1956 and 1957 were repainted in blue. In the 1990s many of the Series 8 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the cowcatchers. Some later received the Spoornet maroon livery while numbers E1950 to E1957 and no. E1973 were repainted in either the Spoornet orange era or maroon era blue train livery. In the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era after 2008, no. E1950 was first repainted in the Shosholoza Meyl purple livery and later in the PRASA blue livery.[7]
The main picture shows both versions of the Spoornet Blue Train livery. The leading locomotive, no. E1973, is in the orange era livery with the name "SPOORNET" below the emblem on the side, while the trailing locomotive, no. E1951, is in the maroon era livery without the name "SPOORNET" below the emblem on the side.[8][9]
Four of the Blue Train locomotives were damaged on 24 April 1997 when train numbers 81007 and 18008, two Trans-Karoo passenger trains, collided at Gouda. The four damaged locomotives were later replaced by eight Class 6E locomotives which were repainted in blue.[5]
Of the four damaged blue locomotives, numbers E1953 and E1956 were scrapped while numbers E1954 and E1955 were rebuilt to the first two Class 18E locomotives in 2000 and 2001, numbered 18-001 and 18-002 respectively.[5]
Illustration
No. E1976 in SAR Gulf Red and yellow whiskers livery near Balfour, Mpumalanga, 2 June 2005
No. E1898 in Spoornet orange livery at Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal, 14 August 2007
No. E1950 in Spoornet's maroon era Blue Train livery, Stikland, 13 March 2007
No. E1927 in Spoornet blue with outline numbers, Bayhead Loco, Durban, 11 August 2007
No. E1950 in PRASA’sShosholoza Meyl livery at Bellville Loco, Cape Town, 13 January 2010
No. E1950 in PRASA’s backdrop blue livery at Beaufort West, 15 September 2015
References
^ abcdeSouth African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
^ abcdefghRailways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide, 2002 Edition, (Compiled by John N. Middleton), p57, as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009
^ abcdeInformation 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