The South African Railways Class of 1976 is a branch line diesel-electric locomotive.
Between September 1976 and June 1978, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT18MC diesel-electric locomotives in branch line service. In 1977, one more Class locomotive was built for Columbus Stainless in Middelburg, Transvaal.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
Manufacturer The Class type GT18MC diesel-electric locomotive was designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and built in two batches for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Motors South Africa (GMSA) in Port Elizabeth. Fifty were delivered between September 1976 and May 1977, numbered in the range from to , and another fifty between May 1977 and June 1978, numbered in the range from to .EMD Exports – South African Railways GT18MC
In addition, another single Class GT18MC locomotive was built new in 1977 for Columbus Stainless, a large stainless steel plant which was established in Middelburg, Transvaal in 1965.
Distinguishing features Of the GM-EMD Class 35 locomotives, the Class and are visually indistinguishable from each other.
Service The Class 35 family is South Africa's standard branch line diesel-electric locomotive. The GM-EMD Class were designed for light rail conditions and they work on most branch lines in the central, eastern, northern and northeastern parts of the country. A number of them also saw service in Richards Bay working the Golela line.
Works numbers The Class builder's works numbers are listed in the table. +Loco no.Worksno.35-601103-135-602103-235-603103-335-604103-435-605103-535-606103-635-607103-735-608103-835-609103-935-610103-1035-611103-1135-612103-1235-613103-1335-614103-1435-615103-1535-616103-1635-617103-1735-618103-1835-619103-1935-620103-2035-621103-2135-622103-2235-623103-2335-624103-2435-625103-2535-626103-2635-627103-2735-628103-2835-629103-2935-630103-3035-631103-3135-632103-3235-633103-3335-634103-3435-635103-3535-636103-3635-637103-3735-638103-3835-639103-3935-640103-4035-641103-4135-642103-4235-643103-4335-644103-4435-645103-4535-646103-4635-647103-4735-648103-4835-649103-4935-650103-5035-651110-135-652110-235-653110-335-654110-435-655110-535-656110-635-657110-735-658110-835-659110-935-660110-1035-661110-1135-662110-1235-663110-1335-664110-1435-665110-1535-666110-1635-667110-1735-668110-1835-669110-1935-670110-2035-671110-2135-672110-2235-673110-2335-674110-2435-675110-2535-676110-2635-677110-2735-678110-2835-679110-2935-680110-3035-681110-3135-682110-3235-683110-3335-684110-3435-685110-3535-686110-3635-687110-3735-688110-3835-689110-3935-690110-4035-691110-4135-692110-4235-693110-4335-694110-4435-695110-4535-696110-4635-697110-4735-698110-4835-699110-4935-700110-50Columbus111-1
Liveries The Class 35-600 were all delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red buffer beams, yellow side stripes on the long hood sides and a yellow V on each end. In the 1990s many of them began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams. Several later received the Spoornet maroon livery. In the late 1990s many were repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers on the long hood sides. After 2008 in the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era, many were repainted in the TFR red, green and yellow livery and at least one was repainted in the PRASA blue livery.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)
Illustration
References