The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 1 of 1969 was an electric locomotive.
In 1969 and 1970, the
South African Railways
Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...
placed twenty Class 6E1, electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service. Their limited number and the fact that they entered service before the Class 6E suggest that the Class 6E1, Series 1 units were obtained as demonstrators on redesigned bogies, before a decision was made on which of the two types would be perpetuated.
Manufacturer
The 3 kV DC Class 6E1, Series 1 electric locomotive was designed and built for the
South African Railways
Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...
(SAR) in 1969 and 1970 by
Union Carriage & Wagon
Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) is a rolling stock manufacturer in South Africa.
History
Union Carriage & Wagon was established in 1957. Initial shareholders were Commonwealth Engineering (51%), Budd Company (25%) and Leyland Motors (12%). By 1965, ...
(UCW) in Nigel,
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
, with the electrical equipment being supplied by
Associated Electrical Industries and
English Electric.
Twenty units were delivered in 1969 and 1970, numbered in the range from E1226 to E1245. UCW did not allocate builder's or works numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR and used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.
[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]
Characteristics
Orientation
These dual cab locomotives had a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end was marked as the no. 2 end. A corridor along the centre of the locomotive connected the cabs which were identical apart from the fact that the handbrake was located in cab 2. A pantograph hook stick was stowed in a tube mounted below the bottom edge of the locomotive body on the roof access ladder side. The units had one square and two rectangular access panels along the lower half of the body on the roof access ladder side, and only one square access panel on the opposite side.
The Class 6E1, Series 1 was delivered in the new body shape with squared corners that had been introduced part-way through the construction of the
Class 5E1, Series 5, and was equipped with double sealed-beam automobile headlamps. The body dimensions were the same as that of the Class 5E1, Series 5 and the most visually obvious external difference was the replacement of the three small vertically arranged grilles to the right of centre on each side of the Classes 5E and 5E1 with a larger double grille on each side of the Class 6E1. Since the traction struts on the new Class 6E1 bogie allowed room for only one footstep instead of the earlier three to be mounted on the bogie, a stirrup step was added, attached to the bodywork directly below the side door.
[Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 20: Natalspruit to Vereeniging, Part 3. Caption 30.](_blank)
(Accessed on 29 April 2017)
Bogies
The twenty Series 1 locomotives were identical to the
Class 6E in most respects including their AEI-283AZ traction motors, power output, tractive force and body dimensions. The only visually obvious distinguishing feature to tell the Class 6E1, Series 1 apart was its new design bogies with their distinctive traction struts and linkages.
![Class 6E1 Bogie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Class_6E1_Bogie.jpg)
Together with the unit's electronic wheelslip detection system, these traction struts, mounted between the linkages on the bogies and the locomotive body and colloquially referred to as grasshopper legs, ensured 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 off. This feature was controlled by electronic wheel-slip detection devices and an electric weight transfer relay which reduced the anchor current to the leading bogie by as much as 50A in notches 2 to 16. These grasshopper legs and linkages were to become a distinguishing feature on the bogies of most subsequent South African electric locomotive classes.
The limited number of Class 6E1, Series 1 locomotives that were placed in service and the fact that they entered service a year before the Class 6E suggest that the Series 1 locomotives were obtained as demonstrators for these new bogies to be evaluated before a decision was made about their continued production.
Series identifying features
The Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years with altogether 960 units placed in service, all built by UCW. This made the Class 6E1 the most numerous single locomotive class ever to have seen service in South Africa and serves as ample proof of a highly successful design.
![Class 6E1 E1232 bogie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Class_6E1_E1232_bogie.jpg)
While some Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years. Like the Classes 5E, 5E1 and 6E, the Class 6E1, Series 1 units had their sandboxes mounted on the bogies while all the subsequent series Class 6E1s had their sandboxes mounted along the bottom edge of the locomotive body with the sandbox lids fitting into four cut-outs in the body on each side.
Operation
Startup
When there was no compressed air in the unit's system to raise a pantograph to start up, a pantograph hook stick was used to manually raise the pantograph. This started the high voltage motor which drove the auxiliary alternator to supply 110 V power to start the compressor and power other control circuits. Once there was enough main air pressure to keep the pantograph in the raised position, the pantograph hook stick could be removed.
[ Operation – South African Classes 6E, 6E1, 16E, 17E and 18E]
The unit was controlled via resistors over which the voltage was dropped in a configuration of series and parallel electrical circuits. The circuit breakers that switched these circuits worked under very high power and voltage and were therefore all pneumatically operated for insulation purposes. Compressed air was required to open or close the switch actions and air was also used for the weak-field
Cam Switch that also switched under very high currents.
Running
Upon starting off and in the low notches, the major part of the voltage was dropped over the banks of resistors and all four traction motors were in series. The blowers which accelerated the dissipation of heat in the resistor banks gave the Class 6E1 its very distinctive sound, a deep and loud whine when power was applied.
As the driver notched up, some of the resistor banks were cut out via the pneumatically operated switches and the voltage increased across the traction motors. As the driver notched higher, more resistors were cut out and more power was developed by the traction motors. At around the unit switched to a parallel combination where the two traction motors per bogie were in a series electrical circuit while the two bogies were in a parallel electrical circuit. Eventually, when all resistors were cut out, the unit was operating in full-field.
When the traction motors were operated in full-field, be it in series or parallel mode, they were performing at maximum power for normal operation. To increase the speed at this point, if necessary, higher power output was required from the traction motors. The only way to increase power was to force a higher current flow. To accomplish this, the weak-field cam switch switched resistance in parallel with the field coils, which reduced the overall resistance of the field coils. This increased the magnetic flux and more power was generated by the traction motors, but only over short periods.
Brakes
The unit itself used air brakes, but it was equipped to operate trains with air or vacuum brakes. The brake system would be set up for either air or vacuum train working by means of a turning switch on the driver's brake valve and by pre-setting the appropriate brake valves in the corridor.
![Class 18E 18-089 compressed air pipes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Class_18E_18-089_compressed_air_pipes.jpg)
The Class 6E1 units were built with an air brake system that consisted of various valves connected to each other with pipes, commonly referred to as a "bicycle frame" brake system. The compressed air pipes ran under the unit's belly in a zig-zag pattern, going through bolster and other members to extend its length to allow the maximum amount of moisture to condense on the way to the reservoirs. As a result, it had multiple pipe connections. A weakness of the system was that, after an accident or even a hard coupling, these pipes tended to develop leaks at the joints which were extremely difficult to repair.
[Information obtained from Transnet engineers and drivers.]
While hauling a vacuum braked train, the unit'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 unit's brakes would engage along with the train brakes. While working either type of train downgrade, the unit's regenerative braking system would also work in conjunction with the train brakes.
Unlike the
Classes 5E and
5E1 whose air brakes could be applied independently on each bogie when the locomotive was stopped, the air brakes on both bogies would be applied together on the
Classes 6E and 6E1. The handbrake or parking brake, located in cab 2, only operated on the unit's last axle, or no. 7 and 8 wheels.
Service
The Class 6E1 family saw service all over both 3 kV DC mainline and branch line networks.
Cape Western network
The smaller network is the Cape Western mainline between
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
and
Beaufort West
Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beau ...
, with the units based at the
Bellville Depot in Cape Town.
Northern network
The larger network covers portions of the
Northern Cape, the
Free State,
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
,
Gauteng
Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'.
Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
,
North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
Mpumalanga, the main routes in this vast area being as follows:
* From
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
in Gauteng via
Kimberley to
Hotazel
Hotazel is a town in John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
The town serves the manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is ...
in the Northern Cape.
* From Johannesburg via
Kroonstad
Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used ...
to
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...
in the Free State.
* From Johannesburg to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
in Natal.
* From Johannesburg via
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
in Gauteng and
Witbank
Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wa ...
in Mpumalanga to
Komatipoort
Komatipoort is a town situated at the confluence of the Crocodile and Komati Rivers in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town is 8 km from the Crocodile Bridge Gate into the Kruger Park, and just 5 km from the Mozambique border ...
on the Mozambique border as well as to Derwent and
Roossenekal
Roossenekal is a town in Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa.
Village on the western slopes of the Steenkampsberg, 95 km north-east of Middelburg. It was proclaimed in January 1886 and named after two ...
.
* From Johannesburg via
Springs to Witbank.
* From Johannesburg via
Coligny to
Lichtenburg.
* From Durban in Natal to
Empangeni
Empangeni is a city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs east ...
in the north and
Port Shepstone in the south.
* From
Ermelo to
Ogies and Wonderfontein in Mpumalanga.
* From Kroonstad in the Free State via
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
and
Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to:
* Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
* Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada
* Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States
* Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia
* Ladysmith, Virginia, United States
* Ladysmith Island, Queenslan ...
to
Vryheid
Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom".
History
After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ...
in Natal.
The electric locomotives allocated to depots within this network were largely pooled and could operate anywhere in the network as required by the Operating Department, but they returned to their home depots for maintenance every twenty-eight days.
In 2011, the Class 6E1 began to be withdrawn from the Natal Corridor (NatCor) mainline between Johannesburg and Durban and replaced by rebuilt
Class 18E locomotives.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the coastal sections from Durban to Empangeni in the north and to Port Shepstone in the south were due to be dieselised at the end of October 2011, using EMD
Classes 34 and
locomotives which were being displaced by the introduction of new
Class diesel-electric locomotives on the line from Mpumalanga via
Swaziland to
Richards Bay
Richards Bay ( af, Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which makes it one of the country's largest harbours. Richards Bay also has the deepest natural h ...
.
[Railways Africa, 18 Oct 2011: KwaZulu-Natal coastal region de-electrification](_blank)
/ref>
In practice, however, electric locomotives were observed at Port Shepstone as late as 24 May 2012 while the diesel power on the South Coast line consisted predomiminantly of Class 37-000 locomotives. The overhead catenary equipment between Stanger and Empangeni and between Kelso and Port Shepstone was to be removed soon after the end of October 2011, but actual removal only took place in November 2013. By October 2014, the catenary masts, sans wiring, were still standing at Port Shepstone.
Liveries
The whole series was delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red cowcatchers, yellow whiskers and with the number plates on the sides enclosed in three-stripe yellow wings. In the 1990s many of the Series 1 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the cowcatchers. By 2000 they were all repainted in this new livery.[Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 9. South-Eastwards as far as Volksrust (2nd part) by Les Pivnic. Caption 4.](_blank)
(Accessed on 11 April 2017)
Illustration
File:Class 6E1 E1227.jpg, No. E1227, right hand side, Beaconsfield, 7 October 2015
File:SAR Class 6E1 Series 1 E1236.JPG, No. E1236, left hand side, Kaalfontein, 28 September 2009
References
{{Locomotives of South Africa
Bo-Bo locomotives
Cape gauge railway locomotives
2870
Railway locomotives introduced in 1969
Union Carriage & Wagon locomotives
3000 V DC locomotives