South African Class 16E

South African Class 16E

No. 16-410B (E1851), Christiana, 22 September 2006

Type and origin Power type Electric Designer Union Carriage & Wagon Builder Union Carriage & Wagon Transwerk Model UCW 6E1 Build date 1974-1979 Rebuilder Transnet Rail Engineering Rebuild date 2002-2009 Number rebuilt 31 known to Class 18E, Series 1

Specifications AAR wheel arr. B-B UIC class Bo'Bo' Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Wheel diameter 1,220 mm (48.0 in) Wheelbase 11,279 mm (37 ft 0.1 in)  • Bogie 3,430 mm (11 ft 3.0 in) Pivot centres 7,849 mm (25 ft 9.0 in) Panto shoes 6,972 mm (22 ft 10.5 in) Length: ​  • Over couplers 15,494 mm (50 ft 10.0 in)  • Body 14,631 mm (48 ft 0 in) Width 2,896 mm (9 ft 6.0 in) Height: ​  • Pantograph 4,089 mm (13 ft 5.0 in)  • Body height 3,937 mm (12 ft 11.0 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) Power supply Catenary Current collection Pantographs Traction motors Four AEI-283AZ (Series 3-5) Four AEI-283AY (Series 6-7)  • 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 Spoornet Class Class 16E Power class 3 kV DC First run 1990

External video

E1653 (ex 16-420A), E1265 and E1682 enter the Capital Park yard on their way to the loco depot, 1 October 2009 (46 seconds)

The Spoornet Class 16E of 1990 was a South African electric locomotive.

During 1990 and 1991, Spoornet semi-permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise unmodified Series 2 to Series 9 Class 6E1 electric locomotives, reclassified them to Class 16E and allocated a single shared unit number to each pair, with the individual locomotives in the pairs inscribed "A" or "B".

The 3 kV DC Class 6E1 electric locomotive was built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, with the electrical equipment supplied by the General Electric Company (GEC). UCW did not allocate builder's numbers to the locomotives which it built for the SAR, but used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.

The Class 6E1 was built with sophisticated traction linkages on their bogies. Together with the locomotive's electronic wheel-slip detection system, these traction struts, mounted between the linkages on the bogies and the locomotive body and colloquially referred to as grasshopper legs, ensure the maximum transfer of power to the rails without causing wheel-slip, by reducing the adhesion of the leading bogie and increasing that of the trailing bogie by as much as 15% upon starting. This feature is controlled by electronic wheel-slip detection devices and an electric weight transfer relay, which reduce the anchor current to the leading bogie by as much as 50A in notches 2 to 16.

The locomotive itself used air brakes, but it was equipped to operate trains with air or vacuum brakes. While hauling a vacuum braked train, the locomotive's air brake system would be disabled and the train would be controlled by using the train brakes alone to slow down and stop. While hauling an air braked train, on the other hand, the locomotive brakes would engage along with the train brakes. While working either type of train downgrade, the locomotive's regenerative braking system would also work in conjunction with the train brakes.

When the locomotive was stopped, the air brakes on both bogies were applied together. The handbrake or parking brake, located in cab no. 2, only operated on the unit's last axle, or no. 7 and 8 wheels.

These dual-cab locomotives have a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end is marked as the no. 2 end. A corridor along the centre of the locomotive connects the cabs, which are identical, apart from the fact that the handbrake is located in cab 2. A pantograph hook stick is stowed in a tube, mounted below the lower edge of the locomotive body on the roof access ladder side.

Class 16E electric locomotives are two-unit semi-permanently coupled Class 6E1 pairs, coupled at their no. 1 ends. The aim was to accomplish savings on cab maintenance, by abandoning the no. 1 end cabs in terms of maintenance and using only the no. 2 end cabs. During 1990 and 1991, Spoornet made up several such semi-permanently coupled pairs of otherwise unmodified Series 3 to Series 9 Class 6E1 locomotives, with each pair reclassified to Class 16E, renumbered to a shared new unit number and with each locomotive inscribed as either the A or B unit.