South African Class 20E

Last updated

South African Class 20E
Class 20E 20-080.jpg
No. 20-080 at Beaufort West, Western Cape, 16 September 2015
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
Designer Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co.
BuilderZhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co.
CSR Zhuzhou-Matsetse Basadi
ModelZELC 20E
Build date2013–2015
Total produced95
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  AAR B-B
 •  UIC Bo'Bo'
 • Commonwealth Bo-Bo
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter1,220 mm (48.0 in)
Wheelbase:​
 •  Bogie 2,700 mm (8 ft 10.3 in)
Length:
​
 • Over couplers18,268 mm (59 ft 11.2 in)
Width2,950 mm (9 ft 8.1 in)
Height:
​
 • Pantograph3,850 mm (12 ft 7.6 in)
Axle load 21,870 kg (48,220 lb)
Loco weight86,368 kg (190,409 lb)
Electric system/s Dual 3 kV DC & 25 kV AC 50 Hz catenary
Current pickup(s) Pantographs
Traction motors Four
Gear ratio103:17
MU working 8 units
Loco brake Electro-pneumatic,
regenerative &
rheostatic
Train brakes Air
Couplers AAR knuckle
Performance figures
Maximum speed100 km/h (62 mph)
Power output3,000 kW (4,000 hp)
Tractive effort:
​
 • Starting320 kN (72,000 lbf)
 • Continuous270 kN (61,000 lbf)
Brakeforce250 kN (56,000 lbf)
Career
Operators Transnet Freight Rail
Class 20E
Number in class95
Numbers20-001 to 20-095
Official nameClass 20E
NicknamesChina Doll
Delivered2013–2015
First run2013

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 20E of 2013 is a South African electric locomotive.

Contents

In early August 2013 the first of ninety-five Class 20E dual-voltage electric locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail was lowered onto its bogies for the first time. [1] Ten of these locomotives were built by the Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company in China while the rest were built locally. [2]

Manufacturer

The first ten of ninety-five 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC dual voltage Class 20E electric locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail were built in China by Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company, a subsidiary of the China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR), China's leading train manufacturer. [1] The roll-out ceremony of the first locomotive, no. 20-001, took place at the factory in Changsha in central China's Hunan Province on 20 August 2013. [2]

Class 20E Makers Plate (2).jpg

The contract marked Zhuzhou's largest single foreign order of electric locomotives to date and made provision for the company to export electric locomotive manufacturing technologies to South Africa to enable a local production ratio of more than 60 percent. The first two of these locomotives, numbers 20-002 and 20-003, were landed at Durban Harbour on 14 November 2013. Three more, numbers 20-001, 20-004 and 20-005, came ashore on 18 December 2013. [3]

Of the remaining eighty-five locomotives, numbers 20-011 to 20-025 were assembled from Chinese-built kits by Transnet Engineering at Koedoespoort and were all in service by the end of September 2014. [4] [5]

The rest of the order has greater local content and was built at Koedoespoort in South Africa by a consortium composed of CSR Zhuzhou and the South African Black Economic Empowerment company Matsetse Basadi. [1] The first of these, no. 20-026, was in service by late September 2014. [5]

Characteristics

The locomotive body is a welded monocoque design, constructed of steel plates and profiled members which has a compressive strength of 4.45 meganewtons (1,000,000 pounds-force) and a tensile strength of 4 meganewtons (900,000 pounds-force). [6]

The Class 20E is equipped with a wireless data transmission system which can send the locomotive operation status, fault data and energy consumption data via GSM and Wi-Fi to a trackside station for analysis. It is also equipped with an axle temperature alarm device, fire alarm system, closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, wheel flange lubricating device and, as personnel safety measure, high voltage protective interlocking devices. The AC traction motors are powered through insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) control. [6]

Layout

The locomotive has a single cab and a gangway along the centre, while the interior layout and placement of equipment is as follows, from behind the cab towards the rear: [7]

Left side
Right side
Underbelly between bogies

Dual voltage

As on the dual voltage Class 19E, the main electric circuit is automatically selected in either AC or DC mode, based on the voltage of the overhead contact wire feeding the locomotive. To facilitate automatic trouble-free transition on the run, the locomotive is equipped with onboard voltage detectors, while the overhead wire is equipped with two wooden isolators and a 3 metres (10 feet) length of neutral wire to separate the AC and DC feed. The neutral section is connected to the rails which serve as the return conductor on electrified lines. [6]

The transition process requires that the locomotive should automatically be switched off before it reaches the isolators and the unpowered overhead wire section, and automatically be restarted after exiting from under the unpowered wire. This is done by a pair of track magnets, one on either side of the neutral overhead wire and spaced 45 metres (148 feet) apart. The two magnets are mounted with their polarities reversed in relation to each other and they activate a magnetic relay located behind the cowcatcher of the locomotive to do the switching off and restarting. [6]

Under 25 kV AC/50 Hz line voltage, the electric system is designed to operate at a maximum of 31 kV and a minimum of 17 kV, while under 3 kV DC it is designed to operate at a maximum of 4 kV and a minimum of 2 kV. [6] [8]

Mixed power

The locomotive has regenerative and rheostatic braking, a maximum speed of 100 km/h and is equipped with low-speed controls. Using radio frequency distributed power (RFDP) technology, the units are able to work mid-train in lengthy wagon consists. [9]

A Class 20E unit can also be used as the leading locomotive in multi-unit operation with diesel-electric locomotives. [6]

Pantographs

Transnet Freight Rail insisted that the locomotive should be designed in such a way that the pantograph contact shoe centres are directly above the bogie pivot centres, as was done on the Class 7E and Class 7E2, Series 1 and Series 2. The reason is to reduce the possibility of pantograph hookups on catenary in sharp curves, such as in turnouts, as a result of sideways movement of the pantograph in relation to the overhead wire. [6] [10]

Service

Following testing, the first of the Chinese-built locomotives entered service in March 2014, working on the manganese ore line between Hotazel in the Northern Cape and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape via Kimberley, De Aar and Noupoort. [1]

Two class 20E units, numbers 20-031 and 20-032, were selected to be used on the Blue Train and were painted in blue livery. In Blue Train service they replaced the previously used Class 18Es on the DC lines, the Class 7Es on the AC lines and the Classes 14E and 14E1 country-wide early in 2015. The Classes 14E and 14E1 were withdrawn from service shortly before.

Illustration

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alstom Traxx</span> Family of locomotives manufactured by Alstom, originally by Bombardier

Alstom Traxx is a modular product platform of mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives. It was produced originally by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom, and was built in both freight and passenger variants. The first version was a dual-voltage AC locomotive built for German railways from the year 2000. Later types included DC versions, as well as quadruple-voltage machines, able to operate on most European electrification schemes: 1.5/3.0 kV DC and 15/25 kV AC. The family was expanded in 2006 to include diesel-powered versions. Elements common to all variants include steel bodyshells, two bogies with two powered axles each, three-phase asynchronous induction motors, cooling exhausts on the roof edges, and wheel disc brakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive</span> Company in China

CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd. is one of the electric locomotive manufacturers in China. It is one of the subsidiaries of CRRC.

Railway electric traction describes the various types of locomotive and multiple units that are used on electrification systems around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 15E</span> Type of electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 15E of 2010 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 6E</span> 1970 design of electric locomotive

The South African Railways Class 6E of 1970 was an electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 6E1, Series 1</span> Type of electric locomotive

The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 1 of 1969 was an electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 6E1, Series 2</span>

The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 2 of 1971 was an electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 6E1, Series 4</span> Class of 100 South African electric locomotives

The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 4 of 1973 was an electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 7E</span> South African electric locomotive

The South African Railways Class 7E is an electric locomotive. South African Railways placed 100 Class 7E electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service in 1978/79. They were the first 25 kV AC locomotives to enter service in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 7E1</span> 1980 design of electric locomotive

The South African Railways Class 7E1 of 1980 is an electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 7E2, Series 1</span>

The South African Railways Class 7E2, Series 1 is an electric locomotive. South African Railways placed 25 Class 7E2, Series 1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 10E1, Series 2</span> Type of electric locomotive

The Spoornet Class 10E1, Series 2 of 1990 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 14E1</span> Type of electric locomotive

The Spoornet Class 14E1 of 1994 was a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 14E</span> Class of 3 South African electric locomotives

The Spoornet Class 14E of 1991 was a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 18E, Series 1</span> 2000 design of electric locomotive

The Spoornet Class 18E, Series 1 of 2000 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 19E</span> Type of electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 19E of 2009 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 43-000</span> Diesel-electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 43-000 of 2011 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 21E</span> South African electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 21E of 2014 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 22E</span> South African electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 22E of 2015 is a South African electric locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Class 23E</span> Type of electric locomotive

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 23E of 2017 is a South African electric locomotive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Railways Africa, 20 Aug 2013: Class 20E Loco Debuts at CSR
  2. 1 2 Xinhuanet English News 2013-08-20 – First electric locomotive to be exported to Africa Archived 7 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Xinhuanet English News 2012-10-24 - CSR signs locomotive deal with South Africa's Transnet
  4. ↑ Railways Africa, 11 Nov 2014: Transnet's Class 20E
  5. 1 2 Noel Welch: My China Dolls to the Karoo
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Class 20E manual: Part 1: Locomotive Profile and Technical Data
  7. 1 2 3 4 Side and plan view drawings – Class 20E (Drawings provided by Transnet Engineering, Koedoespoort)
  8. ↑ Class 20E Traction Systems – Difference between AC & DC Traction Systems. Training document compiled by Transnet Engineering, 2014.
  9. ↑ Railways Africa, 26 Nov 2013: Class 20E Locos Arrive
  10. ↑ 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
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.