The South African Railways Class 5E1, Series 5 of 1966 was an electric locomotive.
Between 1966 and 1969, the South African Railways placed 225 Class 5E1, Series 5 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service.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
Manufacturer Series 5 of the Metropolitan-Vickers-designed 3 kV DC Class 5E1 electric locomotive was built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, with the electrical equipment being supplied by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) and English Electric (EE).
The 225 Series 5 locomotives were delivered between 1966 and 1969, numbered in the range from E921 to E1145. The Series 5 were equipped with four AEI 281 BX axle-hung traction motors fitted with roller bearings. UCW did not allocate builder's numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR and used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.
Body shape alteration From the introduction of the Class 5E, Series 1 in 1955, the body shape of the locomotive remained virtually unchanged apart from the roofline on the roof access ladder side, where the Class 5E had a single cut-out in line with the vertical row of three grilles on the body side while the Class 5E1 had an additional cut-out in line with the small window to the right of the two grilles aft of the roof access ladder. All these units had round headlamps and rounded corners on their cab ends.sar-l at groups.io – Re: Class 5E1 body shape change: Comment by Peter Stow. (Retrieved 24 May 2017)
This body shape was changed to smaller round headlamps and squared body corners part-way through the construction of the Series 5. The first 25 Series 5 units in the number range from E921 to E945 were built with the same large round headlamps and rounded body corners as before, but from the next 200 were delivered with smaller headlights and the new body shape which gave them the appearance of being wider. The change was possibly motivated by cost considerations since the squared corners would simplify construction and since the rounded corners served no purpose other than cosmetic.Soul of A Railway, System 6, Part 1: Durban Old Station. Caption 81. (Retrieved 8 March 2017)Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 20: Natalspruit to Vereeniging, Part 3. Caption 30. (Retrieved 29 April 2017)
Other identifying features remained the same, such as the three small square access panels on the lower sides above the battery box instead of the two larger rectangular panels in the same position on the Series 1 and 2 units. Exceptions appear to be some Series 5 units in the number range higher than . An example is depicted alongside showing a damaged with two rectangular access panels above the battery box instead of three small square ones, but still with one small square and one larger rectangular access panels on the lower sides above the second axle from the left. The picture also illustrates the new front with squared corners and a smaller round headlight.
Headlamps In the 1970s most serving SAR steam and electric locomotives had their original large round headlamps replaced by less attractive but more efficient double sealed-beam automobile headlamps. On Series 3, 4 and early series 5 units, the original round headlamp housing was retained and the glass was replaced by a metal disk containing the sealed beam headlamps. On Series 5 units with squared corners, the smaller round headlamp was replaced by sealed-beam automobile headlamps on the original or a similar rectangular backing plate above the end door.
Service
The Class 5E1 family served in goods and passenger working on all 3 kV DC electrified mainlines country-wide for about forty years. They worked the vacuum-braked goods and mainline passenger trains over the lines radiating south, west and north of Durban almost exclusively until the mid-1970s and the Class 6E1 only became regular motive power in Natal when air-braked car trains began running between Durban and the Reef. By the mid-2000s, most of the Series 5 locomotives had been withdrawn.Soul of A Railway, System 6, Part 3: Durban Harbour, Wests, the Bluff & Cato Creek to Congella; featuring SAR & H Harbour Craft. Captions 97, 98. (Retrieved 11 March 2017)
Liveries The whole series was delivered in the Gulf Red livery with signal red cowcatchers, yellow whiskers, full body-length side-stripes and with the number plates on the sides enclosed in three-stripe wings. In the 1970s the side-stripes were curtailed to just beyond the cab-sides, but with the number plates on the sides still enclosed in three-stripe wings. In the 1990s many of the Series 5 units were repainted in the Spoornet orange 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. (Retrieved 11 April 2017)
Modification By 2007 two Series 5 locomotives, numbers E1101 and E1102, had been modified extensively. It involved a complete strip-down overhaul to rebuild them as prototypes with the object to determine if large-scale Class 5E1 rebuilding would be economically viable.
Some visible external differences from the originals were side window screens, higher side doors with a curved rainwater gutter above it (not done on E1101) and reinforcing under the side doors and side windows. On the roof access ladder side the cut-outs on the roof edge were filled in and the units were repainted in the then current Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers, the only Class 5E1s to receive this livery. They were also equipped with driver's consoles similar to those which were later fitted to the Class 18Es.
No further such rebuilds were done. By 2010, these two units were shedded at Danskraal in Ladysmith and used to push road trainers, modified cabooses with Class 5E1 controls installed in one end, that are used to familiarise drivers with routes.
Rovos Rail
Several Series 5 locomotives were sold at auction during 2010. Most were bought by scrap dealers and cut up, but some survived to start a second career. Nine Class 5E1, Series 5 units were purchased by Rovos Rail, a private operator of luxury rail tours which is based at Capital Park in Pretoria. Rovos Rail is reviving the tradition of brass number plates on the sides of their locomotives.
Years of construction and disposal The known years of construction based on the observation of the UCW works plates on the end doors of units, and the post-withdrawal disposition of the Class 5E1, Series 5 are listed in the table. +Class 5E1, Series 5Loco no.YearbuiltRebuiltor sold19661966196619661966196619661966196619661966196619661966196619661966196619661966196619661966196619661966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–671966–67E10001966–67E10011966–67E1002 1966–67E1003 1966–67E1004 1966–67E1005 1966–67E1006 1966–67E1007 1966–67E1008 1966–67E1009 1966–67E1010 1966–67E1011 1966–67E1012 1966–67E1013 1966–67E1014 1966–67E1015 1966–67E1016 1966–67E1017 1966–67E1018 1966–67E1019 1966–67E1020 1966–67E1021 1966–67E1022 1966–67E1023 1966–67E1024 1966–67E1025 1966–67E1026 1966–67E1027 1966–67E1028 1966–67E1029 1966–67E1030 1966–67RovosE1031 1966–67E1032 1966–67E1033 1966–67E1034 1966–67E1035 1966–67E1036 1966–67E1037 1966–67E1038 1966–67E1039 1966–67E1040 1967 E1041 1967–69E1042 1967–69E1043 1967–69E1044 1967–69RovosE1045 1967–69E1046 1967–69E1047 1967–69E1048 1967–69E1049 1967–69E1050 1967–69E1051 1967–69E1052 1967–69E1053 1967–69E1054 1967–69E1055 1967–69E1056 1967–69E1057 1967–69E1058 1967–69E1059 1967–69E1060 1967–69E1061 1967–69E1062 1967–69E1063 1967–69E1064 1967–69E1065 1967–69E1066 1967–69E1067 1967–69E1068 1967–69E1069 1967–69E1070 1967–69E1071 1967–69E1072 1967–69E1073 1967–69E1074 1967–69E1075 1967–69E1076 1967–69E1077 1967–69E1078 1967–69E1079 1967–69E1080 1967–69E1081 1967–69E1082 1967–69E1083 1967–69E1084 1967–69E1085 1967–69E1086 1967–69E1087 1967–69E1088 1967–69E1089 1967–69E1090 1967–69E1091 1967–69RovosE1092 1967–69E1093 1967–69E1094 1967–69E1095 1967–69E1096 1967–69E1097 1967–69E1098 1967–69E1099 1967–69E1100 1967–69E1101 1967–69RebuiltE1102 1967–69RebuiltE1103 1967–69E1104 1967–69RovosE1105 1967–69RovosE1106 1967–69E1107 1967–69E1108 1967–69E1109 1967–69E1110 1967–69E1111 1967–69E1112 1967–69E1113 1967–69E1114 1967–69RovosE1115 1967–69RovosE1116 1967–69E1117 1967–69E1118 1967–69E1119 1967–69E1120 1967–69E1121 1967–69E1122 1967–69E1123 1967–69RovosE1124 1967–69E1125 1967–69E1126 1967–69E1127 1967–69RovosE1128 1967–69E1129 1967–69E1130 1967–69E1131 1967–69E1132 1967–69E1133 1967–69E1134 1967–69E1135 1967–69E1136 1967–69E1137 1967–69E1138 1967–69E1139 1967–69E1140 1967–69E1141 1967–69E1142 1967–69E1143 1967–69E1144 1967–69E11451967–69
Illustration The main picture shows no. E941 with rounded corners, while the first picture below shows no. E948 with squared corners, both in the modified SAR Gulf Red and whiskers livery. The rest of the pictures illustrate some of the liveries which were applied to Series 5 locomotives.
References