South African Class 33-000

South African Class 33-000

No. 33-025 at Bellville Loco, Cape Town, 28 March 2009

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Designer General Electric Builder General Electric Serial number 35457-35521 Model GE U20C Build date 1965-1966 Total produced 65

Specifications AAR wheel arr. C-C UIC class Co'Co' Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Wheel diameter 915 mm (36.0 in) Wheelbase 12,243 mm (40 ft 2.0 in)  • Bogie 3,505 mm (11 ft 6.0 in) Pivot centres 9,017 mm (29 ft 7.0 in) Wheel spacing (Asymmetrical) 1-2: 1,594 mm (5 ft 2.8 in) 2-3: 1,911 mm (6 ft 3.2 in) Length: ​  • Over couplers 16,866 mm (55 ft 4.0 in) Width 2,756 mm (9 ft 0.5 in) Height 3,931 mm (12 ft 10.8 in) Axle load 15,749 kg (34,721 lb) Loco weight 94,494 kg (208,324 lb) max Fuel type Diesel Fuel capacity 3,600 litres (790 imp gal) Prime mover GE 7FDL-12 RPM range 400-1,000  • RPM low idle 400  • Maximum RPM 1000 Engine type 4 stroke diesel Aspiration C-B ET13 turbocharger Generator DC 10 pole GE 5GT-581C9 Traction motors Six GE 5GE-761A6 DC 4 pole  • Rating 1 hour 635A  • Continuous 620A @ 20 km/h (12 mph) Cylinders V12 Gear ratio 92:19 MU working 4 maximum Loco brake 28-LV-1 with vigilance control Train brakes Westinghouse 6CDX4UC compressor/exhauster Air reservoir cap 700 litres (150 imp gal) Compressor cap 0.029 m3/s (1.0 cu ft/s) Exhauster cap 0.116 m3/s (4.1 cu ft/s) Couplers AAR knuckle SASKOP DS

Performance figures Maximum speed 100 km/h (62 mph) Power output: ​  • Starting 1,605 kW (2,152 hp)  • Continuous 1,490 kW (2,000 hp) Tractive effort: ​  • Starting 223 kN (50,000 lbf) @ 25% adhesion  • Continuous 178 kN (40,000 lbf) @ 24 km/h (15 mph) Factor of adh.:  • Starting 25%  • Continuous 20% Loco brakeforce 70% ratio @ 345 kPa (50.0 psi) Dynamic brake peak effort 173 kN (39,000 lbf) @ 26 km/h (16 mph)

Career Operators South African Railways Spoornet Spoornet Traction Transnet Freight Rail COMILOG, Gabon Sudan Railways Zambia Railways TransNamib Class Class 33-000 Number in class 65 Numbers 33-001 to 33-065 Nicknames Bosvark Delivered 1965-1966 First run 1965

The South African Railways Class 33-000 of 1965 is a diesel-electric locomotive.

In 1965 and 1966, the South African Railways placed sixty-five Class 33-000 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service.

The South African Class 33-000 type GE U20C diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Electric (GE) and imported. Sixty-five of these locomotives were delivered between June 1965 and January 1966, numbered in the range from 33-001 to 33-065.

The Class 33 consists of three series, the GE-built Classes 33-000 and 33-400 and the General Motors Electro-Motive Division-built Class 33-200. Both of these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.

The two GE-built Classes are virtually identical in appearance, but can be distinguished from each other by some ventilation openings on their bodywork.

These doors and panels can, and sometimes did, get swapped between models, either as replacement for damaged items or by chance during overhauls.

The Class 33-000 was initially used to dieselise the Cape Midland region. When the Class 34-000 entered service in 1971, many Class 33-000 locomotives were transferred to Transvaal, and some later to the Cape Western system.

In the SAR era, the inner parts of cabside locomotive number plates were often unofficially painted in various colours to identify the depot to which the locomotive was allocated. Judging from the flaked paint on the plate in the picture alongside, no. 33-014 saw service in several regions over the years.

Most of these locomotives survived in mainline and branchline service well into the twenty-first century, for example on the lines from De Aar to Upington, on the branchline from Worcester to Voorbaai and in suburban passenger service out of East London. Some were later employed as heavy shunting engines to assemble or unload iron ore trains at the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore route's terminals, until the arrival of the Class 43-000 on that line in 2011 made more Class 34 locomotives available for this task.