South African Class 6E1, Series 8

The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 8 of 1979 was an electric locomotive.

Between 1979 and 1981, the South African Railways placed 105 Class 6E1, 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 The 3 kV DC Class 6E1, Series 8 electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal. The electrical equipment was supplied by the General Electric Company (GEC).

Between 1979 and 1981, 105 locomotives were delivered, numbered in the range from E1896 to E2000. Like Series 6 and 7, the Series 8 units were equipped with AEI-283AY traction motors. UCW did not allocate builder's or works numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR, but used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.

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 lower edge of the locomotive body on the roof access ladder side. The locomotive 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.

Series identifying features

The Class 6E1 was produced in eleven series over a period of nearly sixteen years. While some of the Class 6E1 series are visually indistinguishable from their predecessors or successors, some externally visible changes did occur over the years.

Series 8 was the only Class 6E1 series with unique visual distinguishing features. It could be distinguished from all earlier series by its large hatch door on each side, below the second small window to the right of the side door on the roof access ladder side and below the first window immediately to the right of the side door on the other side. It could also be distinguished from all subsequent series by the absence of rainwater drainage holes along the lower body sides.

Crew access The Class 5E, 5E1, 6E and 6E1 locomotives were notoriously difficult to enter from ground level since their lever-style door handles were at waist level when standing inside the cab. This made it impossible to open the door from outside without first climbing up high enough to reach the door handle while hanging on to the side handrails with one hand only. Crews therefore often choose to leave the doors ajar when parking and exiting the locomotives.E1882 with high mounted door handle

Series 8 and some late model Series 7 locomotives were equipped with doors on which the outside door latch handle was mounted near floor level with a simple drawer pull type handle at mid-door level.E1898 with low mounted door handle

Service The Class 6E1 family saw service all over both 3 kV DC mainline and branch line networks, the smaller Cape Western mainline between Cape Town and Beaufort West and the larger network which covers portions of the Northern Cape, the Free State, Natal, Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga.Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide, 2002 Edition, (Compiled by John N. Middleton), p. 57, as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009

Reclassification and rebuilding Reclassification to Class 16E During 1990 and 1991, Spoornet semi-permanently coupled several pairs of otherwise largely unmodified Class 6E1 locomotives, reclassified them to Class 16E and allocated a single locomotive number to each pair, with the individual units in the pairs inscribed "A" or "B". The aim was to accomplish savings on cab maintenance by coupling the units at their no. 1 ends, abandoning the no. 1 end cabs in terms of maintenance and using only the no. 2 end cabs. Most were later either disbanded with the units reverting to Class 6E1 and regaining their original numbers or getting rebuilt to Class 18E.

Ten known Series 8 locomotives were part of such Class 16E pairs. E1914 and E1915 became 16-503 A and B. E1916 and E1917 became 16-501 A and B. E1918 and E1919 became 16-505 A and B. E1925 and E1926 became 16-504 A and B. E1928 and E1929 became 16-506 A and B.

Modification to Class 17E

Class 17E locomotives were modified and reclassified from Class 6E1 Series 7, 8 or 9 locomotives during 1993 and 1994. Key modifications included improved regenerative braking and wheel-slip control to improve their reliability on the steep gradients and curves of the Natal mainline. Unlike the unmodified but reclassified Class 16E locomotives, the Class 17Es retained their original unit numbers after reclassification.

A stumbling block was that the regeneration equipment at many of the sub-stations along the route was unreliable. Since there was no guarantee that another train would be in the same section to absorb the regenerated energy, there was always the risk that line voltage could exceed 4.1 kV, which would make either the sub-station or the locomotive trip out. As a result, the subsequently rebuilt Class 18E locomotives were not equipped with regenerative braking.

Fifty-five known Series 8 locomotives were modified and reclassified to Class 17E. Their unit numbers are listed in the table.

Rebuilding to Class 18E

Beginning in 2000, Spoornet began a project to rebuild Series 2 to 11 Class 6E1 locomotives to Class 18E, Series 1 and Series 2 at the Transnet Rail Engineering workshops at Koedoespoort. In the process the cab at the no. 1 end was stripped of all controls and the driver's front and side windows were blanked off to have a toilet installed, thereby forfeiting the locomotive's bi-directional ability.Information gathered from the rebuild files of individual locomotives at Transnet Rail Engineering’s Koedoespoort shops, or obtained from John Middleton as well as several Transnet employees

Since the driving cab's noise level had to be below 85 decibels, cab 2 was selected as the Class 18E driving cab primarily based on its lower noise level compared to cab 1, which was closer and more exposed to the compressor's noise and vibration. Another factor was the closer proximity of cab 2 to the low voltage switch panel. The fact that the handbrake was located in cab 2 was not a deciding factor, but was considered an additional benefit.

While the earlier Class 6E1, Series 2 to 7 locomotives had been built with a brake system which consisted of various valves connected to each other with pipes and commonly referred to as a "bicycle frame" brake system, the Class 6E1, Series 8 to 11 locomotives were built with an air equipment frame brake system, commonly referred to as a brake rack. Since the design of the rebuilt Class 18E locomotives included the same brake rack, the rebuilding project was begun with the newer series 8 to 11 locomotives to reduce the overall cost of rebuilding.

Bar two, all the Class 6E1, Series 8 locomotives which were used in this rebuilding project were rebuilt to Class 18E, Series 1 locomotives. The known numbers and renumbering details are listed in the table. +Class 6E1, Series 8 units rebuilt to Class 18Eas on 31 January 2014Count6E1no.Yearbuilt18Eno.18EseriesYearrebuiltNotes1 E18961979 18-6082 2010 2 E18971979 18-3831 2008 3 E18981979 18-4201 2009 PRASA4 E18991979 18-1951 2005 5 E19001979 18-2621 2006 ex 17E6 E19011979 18-2981 2006 ex 17E7 E19021979 18-0211 2002 8 E19031979 18-0251 2002 9 E19041979 18-0871 2003 ex 17E10 E19051979 18-3111 2007 ex 17E11 E19061979 18-2841 2006 ex 17E12 E19071979 18-3301 2007 ex 17E13 E19081979 18-2881 2006 ex 17E14 E19091979 18-0611 2002 ex 17E15 E19101979 18-2951 2006 ex 17E16 E19111979 18-0121 2001 17 E19121979 18-0101 2001 18 E19131979 18-3401 2007 ex 17E19 E19141979 18-0771 2003 ex 16-503A20 E19151979 18-0781 2003 ex 16-503B21 E19161979-8018-0351 2002 ex 16-501A22 E19171979-8018-0361 2002 ex 16-501B23 E19181979-8018-0631 2002 ex 16-505A24 E19191979-8018-0671 2003 ex 16-505B25 E19201979-8018-0061 2001 26 E19211979-8018-3411 2007 ex 17E27 E19221979-8018-3061 2007 ex 17E28 E19231979-8018-2861 2006 29 E19241979-8018-3341 2007 ex 17E30 E19251979-8018-0331 2002 ex 16-504A31 E19261979-8018-0341 2002 ex 16-504B32 E19271979-8018-5071 2009 33 E19281979-8018-0551 2002 ex 16-506A34 E19291979-8018-0491 2002 ex 16-506B35 E19311980 18-2021 2005 ex 17E36 E19321980 18-2211 2005 37 E19331980 18-3201 2007 ex 17E38 E19341980 18-0941 2003 ex 17E39 E19351980 18-0181 2002 ex 17E40 E19361980 18-2741 2006 ex 17E41 E19371980 18-2161 2005 ex 17E42 E19381980 18-2931 2006 ex 17E43 E19391980 18-2031 2005 ex 17E44 E19401980 18-0841 2003 ex 17E45 E19411980 18-2001 2005 46 E19421980 18-0111 2001 47 E19431980 18-2481 2006 48 E19441980 18-1971 2005 ex 17E49 E19451980 18-2071 2005 ex 17E50 E19461980 18-0621 2002 ex 17E51 E19471980 18-2901 2006 ex 17E52 E19481980 18-0691 2003 53 E19491980 18-0641 2002 ex 17E54 E19511980 18-7412 2013 55 E19521980 18-4191 2009 PRASA56 E19541980 18-0011 2000 57 E19551980 18-0021 2001 58 E19571980 18-4151 2009 PRASA59 E19581980 18-0721 2003 60 E19591980 18-1991 2005 61 E19601980 18-2201 2005 62 E19611980 18-0151 2002 63 E19621980 18-0701 2003 ex 17E64 E19631980 18-0511 2002 65 E19641980 18-3291 2007 ex 17E66 E19651980 18-3161 2007 ex 17E67 E19661980 18-1781 2005 ex 17E68 E19671980 18-2631 2006 ex 17E69 E19681980 18-2221 2005 ex 17E70 E19691980 18-2011 2005 ex 17E71 E19701980 18-3781 2008 72 E19711980 18-2691 2006 ex 17E73 E19721980 18-2041 2005 74 E19731980 18-3761 2007 75 E19741980 18-0191 2002 76 E19751980 18-0141 2002 77 E19761980 18-2561 2006 ex 17E78 E19781980 18-0131 2001 79 E19791980 18-3371 2007 ex 17E80 E19801980 18-0261 2002 81 E19811980 18-0271 2002 82 E19821980 18-2721 2006 ex 17E83 E19831980 18-2961 2006 ex 17E84 E19841980-8118-2261 2005 ex 17E85 E19851980-8118-3121 2007 ex 17E86 E19861980-8118-2151 2005 ex 17E87 E19871980-8118-3241 2007 ex 17E88 E19881981 18-0411 2002 89 E19891981 18-3031 2006 ex 17E90 E19901981 18-3101 2007 ex 17E91 E19911981 18-2251 2005 ex 17E92 E19921981 18-2781 2006 ex 17E93 E19931981 18-3361 2007 ex 17E94 E19941981 18-3051 2006 ex 17E95 E19951981 18-2791 2006 ex 17E96 E19961981 18-3151 2007 ex 17E97 E19971981 18-1561 2004 ex 17E98 E19981981 18-2371 2006 ex 17E99 E19991981 18-0651 2002 ex 17E100 E20001981 18-3091 2007 ex 17E

Liveries All but six Class 6E1, Series 8 locomotives were delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red cowcatchers, yellow whiskers and with the number plates on the sides mounted on three-stripe yellow wings. The six exceptions, numbers E1950 to E1955, were delivered in blue with yellow whiskers for use with the Blue Train between Cape Town and Beaufort West. However, there was a demand for two more blue train locomotives and 1956 and 1957 were repainted in blue. In the 1990s many of the Series 8 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the cowcatchers. Some later received the Spoornet maroon livery while numbers E1950 to E1957 and no. E1973 were repainted in either the Spoornet orange era or maroon era blue train livery. In the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era after 2008, no. E1950 was first repainted in the Shosholoza Meyl purple livery and later in the PRASA blue 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. (Accessed on 11 April 2017)