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South African Class 10E

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South African Class 10E
No. 10-044 at Klerksdorp, North West, 23 August 2007
Type and origin
Power typeElectric
DesignerToshiba
BuilderUnion Carriage & Wagon
ModelToshiba 10E
Build date1985-1986
Total produced50
Specifications
Configuration:
 • AARC-C
 • UICCo'Co'
 • CommonwealthCo-Co
Gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter1,220 mm (48.03 in)
Wheelbase13,460 mm (44 ft 1+78 in) ​
 • Bogie4,060 mm (13 ft 3+78 in)
Pivot centres10,200 mm (33 ft 5+58 in)
Panto shoes12,000 mm (39 ft 4+12 in)
Length:
 • Over couplers18,520 mm (60 ft 9+18 in)
 • Over body17,506 mm (57 ft 5+14 in)
Height:
 • Pantograph4,120 mm (13 ft 6+14 in)
 • Body height3,945 mm (12 ft 11+38 in)
Axle load21,210 kg (46,760 lb)
Adhesive weight125,000 kg (276,000 lb)
Loco weight125,000 kg (276,000 lb)
Electric system/s3 kV DC catenary
Current pickup(s)Pantographs
Traction motorsSix SE-218 ​
 • Rating 1 hour540 kW (720 hp)
 • Continuous515 kW (691 hp)
Gear ratio19:92
Loco brakeAir, Regenerative & Rheostatic
Train brakesAir & Vacuum
CouplersAAR knuckle
Performance figures
Maximum speed90 km/h (56 mph)
Power output:
 • 1 hour3,240 kW (4,340 hp)
 • Continuous3,090 kW (4,140 hp)
Tractive effort:
 • Starting450 kN (100,000 lbf)
 • 1 hour335 kN (75,000 lbf)
 • Continuous310 kN (70,000 lbf) @ 35 km/h (22 mph)
Career
OperatorsSouth African Railways
Spoornet
Transnet Freight Rail
ClassClass 10E
Number in class50
Numbers10-001 to 10-050
NicknamesBreadbin
Delivered1985-1986
First run1985

The South African Railways Class 10E of 1985 is an electric locomotive.

In 1985 and 1986, the South African Railways placed fifty Class 10E electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in mainline service.[1]

Manufacturers

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Builder’s plate

The 3 kV DC Class 10E electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) by Toshiba of Japan and was built by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal. Toshiba supplied the electrical equipment while UCW was responsible for the mechanical components and assembly.[1][2][3]

Fifty locomotives were delivered by UCW in 1985 and 1986, numbered in the range from 10–001 to 10-050. UCW did not allocate builder’s numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR, but used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.[1]

Characteristics

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The Class 10E was introduced as a new standard 3 kV DC heavy goods locomotive. With a continuous power rating of 3,090 kilowatts (4,140 horsepower), four Class 10E locomotives are capable of performing the same work as six Class 6E1s.[2]

The entire fleet of the Class 10E family of electric locomotives use electronic chopper control which is smoother in comparison to the rheostatic resistance control which was used in the Classes 1E to 6E1 electric locomotives.[4]

Brakes

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The locomotive makes use of either regenerative or rheostatic braking, as the situation demands. Both traction and electric braking power are continuously variable, with the electric braking optimised to such an extent that maximum use will be made of the regenerative braking capacity of the 3 kV DC network, with the ability to automatically change over to rheostatic braking whenever the overhead supply system becomes non-receptive.[2]

Bogies

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The Class 10E was built with sophisticated traction linkages on the bogies, similar to the bogie design which was introduced on the Class 6E1 in 1969. Together with the locomotive's electronic wheel-slip detection system, these traction struts, mounted between the linkages on the bogies and the locomotive body and colloquially referred to as grasshopper legs, ensure 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.[2]

Orientation

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These dual cab locomotives have a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end is marked as the no. 2 end.[1]

Identifying Features

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In visual appearance the Class 10E can be distinguished from the later model Class 10E2 by the roof ends and the sills. The Class 10E has riffled roof ends and parts of the sill protrude slightly past the bottom edge of the body sides. The Class 10E2 has smooth unriffled roof ends and no part of the sill protrudes past the bottom edge of the body sides.[1]

Service

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The Class 10E is employed mainly to haul ore trains on the line between Kimberley and Hotazel in the Northern Cape and it also works between Kimberley and the Witwatersrand. Most are shedded at Beaconsfield near Kimberley, with several also at Welgedacht near Springs.[5]

Liveries

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All the Class 10E locomotives were delivered in the SAR red oxide livery with signal red buffer beams and cowcatchers and a yellow V stripe on the ends, folded over to a horizontal stripe below the side windows. The number plates on the sides were mounted without the traditional three-stripe yellow wings. In the 1990s some of them were repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams and cowcatchers. Several later received the Spoornet maroon livery. In the late 1990s many were repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers on the long hood sides.[6]

Illustration

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e 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
  2. ^ a b c d Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 132–133. ISBN 0869772112.
  3. ^ "UCW - Electric locomotives" (PDF). The UCW Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  4. ^ Jane's Train Recognition Guide
  5. ^ Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. pp. 49–51, 59.
  6. ^ 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)