South African Class 12E
Encyclopedia
On 11 January 1984 the South African Railways inaugurated the MetroBlitz
. Five Class 12E electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement that were placed in service in 1983, were dedicated to the MetroBlitz service.
(AEI). It is a modified single cab version of the Class 6E1 locomotive that was specially designed and built for use with the MetroBlitz, a high speed passenger commuter train that, with effect from 16 January 1984, ran daily between Pretoria
and Johannesburg
. Five locomotives were delivered by UCW in 1983, numbered 12-001 to 12-005.
UCW did not allocate builder’s numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR. While the usual practice by most other locomotive builders was to allocate builder’s numbers or works numbers to record the locomotives built by them, UCW simply used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
They were used with specially designed suburban passenger coaches that ran on air-sprung disk braked high speed bogies. The MetroBlitz operated with two locomotives per train, one locomotive at each end, which made dual cabs unnecessary.
To ensure the maximum transfer of power to the rails without causing wheel slip, the Class 6E1 and Class 12E were both built with the same sophisticated traction links between the bogies and the frames and equipped with electronic wheel slip detection. Since it was designed for suburban service, sanding gear was deemed unnecessary and was not installed on the Class 12E. This turned out to be a disadvantage when they were eventually allocated to main line service hauling the Blue Train.
The MetroBlitz service was discontinued after a few years, however, with its demise being blamed on poor cost recovery. Other major factors in the failure of the high speed service was the disruption caused to other train traffic that shared the same line and that had to have their schedules adapted to accommodate the MetroBlitz, as well as the inability to operate at its full potential speed as a result of having to share the line.
, but without altering the layout of the various paint schemes. Blue Train locomotives were therefore blue with yellow whiskers in the SAR era, blue with the Spoornet logo and "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s orange era, and blue with the Spoornet logo but without "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s maroon era. Later, in Spoornet’s blue era, there was no need for a separate Blue Train livery, while in the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) era the Blue Train was relegated to the very bottom of the railway’s business priority list.
After the MetroBlitz service came to an end around 1985, the five Class 12E locomotives were repainted blue with yellow whiskers and replaced Class 6E1
numbers E1341 to E1345 in Blue Train service between Pretoria and Kimberley. Probably at the same time, their original solid pilots or cowcatchers were replaced with pilots with a pattern of holes, similar to those used on the Class 5E and Class 6E families, but slanted back towards the front bogies.
They continued to work the Blue Train between Johannesburg and Kimberley until circa 2005, when that function was taken over by the dual voltage Class 14E
that subsequently worked the Blue Train over the full distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as on other electrified routes. All five Class 12E locomotives were then staged at the Koedoespoort shops in Pretoria.
track. This was a remarkable feat, considering that twenty-seven years later the Gautrain
, the dedicated high speed commuter train that was introduced two years later than planned in 2011, linked Pretoria and Johannesburg in 40 minutes, reaching speeds of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) on dedicated Standard gauge
track.
MetroBlitz
MetroBlitz was an experimental high speed commuter train service between Pretoria station and Johannesburg Park Station via Germiston, operated by the South African Transport Services...
. Five Class 12E electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement that were placed in service in 1983, were dedicated to the MetroBlitz service.
Manufacturer
The Class 12E 3 kV DC electric passenger locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, with the electrical equipment supplied by Associated Electrical IndustriesAssociated Electrical Industries
Associated Electrical Industries was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies...
(AEI). It is a modified single cab version of the Class 6E1 locomotive that was specially designed and built for use with the MetroBlitz, a high speed passenger commuter train that, with effect from 16 January 1984, ran daily between Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
and Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. Five locomotives were delivered by UCW in 1983, numbered 12-001 to 12-005.
UCW did not allocate builder’s numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR. While the usual practice by most other locomotive builders was to allocate builder’s numbers or works numbers to record the locomotives built by them, UCW simply used the SAR running numbers for their record keeping.
Characteristics
Based on the dual cab Class 6E1 locomotive, the Class 12E is a single cab locomotive with a conductor’s cabin at the rear end. The Class 12E has the same power output as a Class 6E1, but with a higher gear ratio of 23/66 as compared to the 18/67 of the Class 6E1, which enabled it to run at a safe maximum speed of 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).They were used with specially designed suburban passenger coaches that ran on air-sprung disk braked high speed bogies. The MetroBlitz operated with two locomotives per train, one locomotive at each end, which made dual cabs unnecessary.
To ensure the maximum transfer of power to the rails without causing wheel slip, the Class 6E1 and Class 12E were both built with the same sophisticated traction links between the bogies and the frames and equipped with electronic wheel slip detection. Since it was designed for suburban service, sanding gear was deemed unnecessary and was not installed on the Class 12E. This turned out to be a disadvantage when they were eventually allocated to main line service hauling the Blue Train.
Service
When the MetroBlitz was introduced, it was planned to implement similar high speed services at other major centres and also to expand the Pretoria-Johannesburg service to run through to other centres like Bloemfontein in the Free State, a trip that could be possible in as little as three and a half hours at high speed.The MetroBlitz service was discontinued after a few years, however, with its demise being blamed on poor cost recovery. Other major factors in the failure of the high speed service was the disruption caused to other train traffic that shared the same line and that had to have their schedules adapted to accommodate the MetroBlitz, as well as the inability to operate at its full potential speed as a result of having to share the line.
MetroBlitz
The Class 12E was delivered in a special livery for the Metroblitz, gray all over with a red pilot and lower sides, in line with the red lower sides on the passenger coaches, with yellow and red whiskers wrapped around to the sides and tapering off towards the rear, and two tapered yellow lines on the sides in line with the yellow lines above and beneath the windows on the coaches.Blue Train
In the SAR and Spoornet eras, when the official liveries were Gulf Red and yellow whiskers for the SAR, and initially orange and later maroon for Spoornet, many selected electric locomotives and some diesel-electrics were painted blue for use with the Blue TrainBlue Train (South Africa)
The Blue Train travels an approximately journey in South Africa between Pretoria and Cape Town. It is one of the most luxurious train journeys in the world...
, but without altering the layout of the various paint schemes. Blue Train locomotives were therefore blue with yellow whiskers in the SAR era, blue with the Spoornet logo and "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s orange era, and blue with the Spoornet logo but without "SPOORNET" in Spoornet’s maroon era. Later, in Spoornet’s blue era, there was no need for a separate Blue Train livery, while in the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) era the Blue Train was relegated to the very bottom of the railway’s business priority list.
After the MetroBlitz service came to an end around 1985, the five Class 12E locomotives were repainted blue with yellow whiskers and replaced Class 6E1
South African Class 6E1, Series 3
Between 1971 and 1973 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifty Class 6E1, Series 3 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in main line service.- Manufacturer :...
numbers E1341 to E1345 in Blue Train service between Pretoria and Kimberley. Probably at the same time, their original solid pilots or cowcatchers were replaced with pilots with a pattern of holes, similar to those used on the Class 5E and Class 6E families, but slanted back towards the front bogies.
They continued to work the Blue Train between Johannesburg and Kimberley until circa 2005, when that function was taken over by the dual voltage Class 14E
South African Class 14E, Series 2
In December 1994 Spoornet took delivery of the last of ten locally manufactured Class 14E1 dual voltage electric main line locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement...
that subsequently worked the Blue Train over the full distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as on other electrified routes. All five Class 12E locomotives were then staged at the Koedoespoort shops in Pretoria.
The Gautrain
The MetroBlitz linked Pretoria and Johannesburg in 42 minutes, reaching speeds of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) while having to contend with other mixed traffic on Cape gaugeCape gauge
Cape gauge is a track gauge of between the inside of the rail heads and is classified as narrow gauge. It has installations of around .The gauge was first used by Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl and the first line was opened in 1862.- Nomenclature :...
track. This was a remarkable feat, considering that twenty-seven years later the Gautrain
Gautrain
Gautrain is an mass rapid transit railway system in Gauteng Province, South Africa, which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport...
, the dedicated high speed commuter train that was introduced two years later than planned in 2011, linked Pretoria and Johannesburg in 40 minutes, reaching speeds of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) on dedicated Standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
track.
Gallery
See also
- Electric locomotive numbering and classification
- List of South African locomotive classes