South African Class 35-400

South African Class 35-400

No. 35-406 at Stikland, Cape Town, 13 March 2007

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Designer General Electric Builder SA GE-DL Locomotive Group Serial number 40520-40569, 41300-41349 Model GE U15C Build date 1976, 1978-1980 Total produced 100

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 10,782 mm (35 ft 4.5 in)  • Bogie 3,188 mm (10 ft 5.5 in) Pivot centres 7,860 mm (25 ft 9.4 in) Length: ​  • Over couplers 15,152 mm (49 ft 8.5 in) Width 2,753 mm (9 ft 0.4 in) Height 3,874 mm (12 ft 8.5 in) Axle load 13,720 kg (30,250 lb) Adhesive weight 82,320 kg (181,480 lb) Loco weight 82,320 kg (181,480 lb) Fuel type Diesel Fuel capacity 2,700 litres (590 imp gal) Prime mover GE 7FDL-8 RPM range 385-1,050  • RPM low idle 385  • RPM idle 450  • Maximum RPM 1,050 Engine type 4-stroke diesel Aspiration Elliott H-584 turbocharger Generator 10 pole GE 5GT-581C15 Traction motors Six GE 5GE-764-C1 DC 4 pole  • Rating 1 hour 655A  • Continuous 645A @ 17 km/h (11 mph) Cylinders V8 Gear ratio 90:17 MU working 4 maximum Loco brake 28-LAV-1 with vigilance control Train brakes Westinghouse 6CDX4UC compressor/exhauster Air reservoir cap 740 litres (160 imp gal) Compressor cap 0.033 m3/s (1.2 cu ft/s) Exhauster cap 0.130 m3/s (4.6 cu ft/s) Couplers AAR knuckle SASKOP DS

Performance figures Maximum speed 100 km/h (62 mph) Power output: ​  • Starting 1,230 kW (1,650 hp)  • Continuous 1,160 kW (1,560 hp) Tractive effort: ​  • Starting 201 kN (45,000 lbf) @ 25% adh.  • Continuous 161 kN (36,000 lbf) @ 21 km/h (13 mph) Factor of adh.:  • Starting 25%  • Continuous 20% Loco brakeforce 60% ratio @ 345 kPa (50.0 psi) Dynamic brake peak effort 138 kN (31,000 lbf) @ 28 km/h (17 mph)

Career Operators South African Railways Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail NLPI Tanzania Railways Class Class 35-400 Number in class 100 Numbers 35-401 to 35-500 Delivered 1976-1980 First run 1976

The South African Railways Class 35-400 of 1976 is a branchline diesel-electric locomotive.

Between March 1976 and May 1980, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 35-400 General Electric type U15C diesel-electric locomotives in branchline service.

The Class 35-400 type GE U15C diesel-electric locomotive was designed by General Electric (GE) and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by the South African General Electric-Dorman Long Locomotive Group (SA GE-DL, later Dorbyl). The first batch of fifty locomotives was delivered between March and December 1976, numbered in the range from 35-401 to 35-450. These were followed by a second batch of fifty between October 1978 and May 1980, numbered in the range from 35-451 to 35-500.

The Class 35 locomotive family consists of five sub-classes, the GE Classes 35-000 and 35-400 and the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) Classes 35-200, 35-600 and 35-800. Both manu­fac­turers also produced locomotives for the South African Classes 33, 34 and 36.

The locomotive has interlinked bogies, hence the "Co+Co" wheel arrangement classification. The linkage is usually hidden from view by the saddle-shaped fuel tank.

With the GE type U15C Class 35 locomotives, the Class 35-000 and 35-400 are usually visually indistinguishable from each other. A visible modification which was done during major overhauls, was the addition of a saddle hood astride the hump on the long hood behind the cab on Class 35-000 locomotives. By 2013 this modification had been done on a large number of Class 35-000 locomotives, but not on any of the Class 35-400s.

The Class 35 family is South Africa's standard branchline diesel-electric locomotive. The GE Class 35-400s were designed for light rail conditions and they work on most branchlines in the central, western, southern and southeastern parts of the country. In the Western Cape, they work out of Bellville Depot in Cape Town on the branchlines to Bitterfontein, Saldanha and Caledon, and out of Worcester to George.