| South African Class 3E | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 No. E201 at Bellville Loco, Cape Town, 29 April 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South African Railways Class 3E of 1947 was an electric locomotive.
In 1947 and 1948, the South African Railways placed twenty-eight Class 3E electric locomotives with a Co+Co wheel arrangement in mainline service. [1]
The South African Railways (SAR) placed orders for the design and construction of the 3 kV DC Class 3E electric locomotive with Metropolitan-Vickers (Metrovick) in 1944. Although the locomotive was designed by Metrovick who also supplied the electrical equipment, its construction was subcontracted to Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns. Twenty-eight locomotives were delivered and placed in service in 1947 and 1948, numbered in the range from E191 to E218. [1] [2]
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, they were particularly well known for their industrial electrical equipment such as generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and railway traction equipment. Metrovick holds a place in history as the builders of the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950, and the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2. Their factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, was for most of the 20th century one of the biggest and most important heavy engineering facilities in Britain and the world.
Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd (RSH) was a locomotive builder with works in North East England.
These dual cab locomotives have three windows between the side doors on one side and four on the opposite side. When the locomotive is observed from the side with three windows, its no. 1 end will be to the viewer’s left. As on the later Class 4E, the locomotive had side doors on both sides behind each cab. [3]
The South African Railways Class 4E of 1952 was an electric locomotive.
Like the Classes 1E, 2E and 4E, the Class 3E had bogie-mounted draft gear, therefore no train forces were transmitted to the locomotive body. It had a Co+Co wheel arrangement with an articulated inter-bogie linkage. [3]
The South African Railways Class 1E of 1925 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 2E of 1937 was an electric locomotive.
For the passenger role, provision was made for both electric and steam heating of passenger coaches, although the electric heating feature was never used on mainline passenger trains. The Class 3E had an on-board steam-heating boiler for train heating and were the only electric units to have this feature. Subsequent electric locomotive models like the Classes 4E, 5E and 6E used separate steam wagons on passenger service during the winter months. [1] [4]
Unlike Cape Town's and Durban's suburban trainsets, those working around Johannesburg had jumper connections on the roof above the end connecting doors. The Class 3Es were also equipped with these connections, immediately to the right hand side of each headlight. During a shortage of suburban motor coaches c. 1948-1949, Class 3Es were used to haul suburban sets on the Witwatersrand and it is likely that the electric heating system was used during those winters. In the picture alongside showing rarely seen snow on the ground along the Johannesburg-Pretoria line on the Transvaal Highveld, the roof jumper connections between the suburban coaches and next to the unit's headlight are visible.
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade.
Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng province in South Africa. It straddles the Apies River and has spread eastwards into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the administrative branch of government, and of foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria has a reputation for being an academic city with three universities, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Human Sciences Research Council. The city also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards making the city a hub for research. Pretoria is the central part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some public controversy.
The locomotives entered service in an all-green livery which was changed to green with yellow whiskers in the 1950s and to gulf red with yellow whiskers in the 1960s. [5]
The Class 3E was the first six-axle electric locomotive in SAR service and was geared for a maximum safe speed of 105 kilometres per hour (65 miles per hour). It was designed for both goods and passenger working on the Western Transvaal System, where higher speeds were possible on track with less severe curvature than on the lower Natal mainline. Some did enter service in Natal in 1948, but since they were not really suitable for Natal’s tight and constant curvature, some difficulty was experienced with cracked frames and these units were soon also transferred to Johannesburg. The whole class was based at the Electric Running Shed at Braamfontein, where they remained for the rest of their service lives. [1] [6]
The Class 3E was a versatile locomotive, equally at home on heavy goods trains or hauling the Blue Train at its maximum speed. Since it was a powerful locomotive, it invariably worked as single unit and double-heading was rare. In 1951, after the Cape mainline west of Johannesburg was electrified from Randfontein via Bank as far as Welverdiend 60 miles (97 kilometres) from Johannesburg, Class 3E locomotives were assigned to work top-link south-bound passenger trains to that station, from where a Klerksdorp-based Class 23 would take over. This was part of the scheme to eliminate steam traction out of the new Johannesburg station. All surviving 3E's were staged at Braamfontein in c. 1983-84 and scrapped, with the exception of no. E201. [4] [7] [8] [9]
No. E201, the only survivor of the Class, was stored for several years under a shelter at the Bellville locomotive depot in Cape Town along with a few other early SAR electric and diesel-electric locomotives which were earmarked for preservation. [2] During 2015, most of these locomotives were relocated to Bloemfontein, including the Class 3E.
The RSH works numbers of the Class 3E are shown in the table. [2]
| Loco no. | Works no. |
|---|---|
| E191 | 7215 |
| E192 | 7216 |
| E193 | 7217 |
| E194 | 7218 |
| E195 | 7219 |
| E196 | 7220 |
| E197 | 7221 |
| E198 | 7222 |
| E199 | 7223 |
| E200 | 7224 |
| E201 | 7225 |
| E202 | 7226 |
| E203 | 7227 |
| E204 | 7228 |
| E205 | 7229 |
| E206 | 7230 |
| E207 | 7231 |
| E208 | 7232 |
| E209 | 7233 |
| E210 | 7234 |
| E211 | 7235 |
| E212 | 7236 |
| E213 | 7237 |
| E214 | 7238 |
| E215 | 7239 |
| E216 | 7240 |
| E217 | 7241 |
| E218 | 7242 |
The South African Railways Class 5E, Series 2 of 1957 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 5E, Series 3 of 1958 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 5E1, Series 2 of 1963 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 5E1, Series 3 of 1964 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 5E1, Series 4 of 1965 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 5E1, Series 5 of 1966 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 4 of 1973 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 12E of 1983 was an electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 31-000 of 1958 was a diesel-electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 61-000 of 1959 was a diesel-hydraulic locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 37-000 of 1981 is a mainline diesel-electric locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 23 4-8-2 of 1938 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 16C 4-6-2 of 1919 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 16B 4-6-2 of 1917 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 15E 4-8-2 of 1935 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 4A 4-8-2 of 1913 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class GF 4-6-2+2-6-4 of 1927 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 16DA 4-6-2 of 1930 was a steam locomotive.
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