In June and July 1958 the South African Railways placed forty-five Class 31-000 GE U12B diesel-electric locomotives in service.

Manufacturer

The South African Class 31-000 type GE U12B

GE Universal Series locomotives

The GE Universal Series locomotives were diesel locomotives launched by GE in early 1956.Initially, there were nine U-series models: U4B, U6B, U9B, U9C, U12B, U12C, U18B, U18C and UD18B. They were designed to be readily adaptable to different track gauges for export markets. The U5B and U8B...

 diesel-electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) and built by General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 in 1958 and imported. They were the first diesel-electric road locomotives to enter SAR service in quantity.

Reclassification & renumbering

Upon delivery, they were classified as Class 1-DE and numbered from D700 to D744. When the SAR adopted a new classification and numbering system for electric and diesel powered locomotives circa 1960, they were reclassified to Class 31-000 and renumbered 31-001 to 31-045.

Class 31-000, GE U12B 1958
Works numbers, renumbering & disposition

SAR 1-DE no	GE works no	SAR 31- no	Post SAR	Post SAR no	Sheltam new no
D700	33507	31-001	Sheltam	22	1202
D701	33508	31-002
D702	33509	31-003
D703	33510	31-004
D704	33511	31-005	Sheltam	21	1201
D705	33512	31-006
D706	33513	31-007	Staged	D706
D707	33514	31-008
D708	33515	31-009
D709	33516	31-010
D710	33517	31-011
D711	33518	31-012
D712	33519	31-013
D713	33520	31-014
D714	33521	31-015
D715	33522	31-016
D716	33523	31-017
D717	33524	31-018
D718	33525	31-019
D719	33526	31-020
D720	33527	31-021
D721	33528	31-022
D722	33529	31-023
D723	33530	31-024
D724	33531	31-025
D725	33532	31-026
D726	33533	31-027
D727	33534	31-028	Staged	D727
D728	33535	31-029
D729	33536	31-030
D730	33537	31-031
D731	33538	31-032
D732	33539	31-033
D733	33540	31-034
D734	33541	31-035
D735	33542	31-036
D736	33543	31-037
D737	33544	31-038	Sheltam	23	2103
D738	33545	31-039
D739	33546	31-040
D740	33547	31-041
D741	33548	31-042
D742	33549	31-043
D743	33550	31-044
D744	33551	31-045

Orientation

The Class 31-000 is a high short hood locomotive. While the short hood end is usually considered as the front end, the cab is equipped with dual station controls to make it fully bidirectional.

Service

They were placed in service working out of Johannesburg to Kroonstad in the Free State and to Volksrust on the main line to Natal. By the 1980s they were relegated to shunting and pickup service on the Reef and at some other major centres.

Of the original forty-five locomotives, forty survived into the Spoornet era in the 1990s. Now retired from Spoornet service, some still see service in private hands. Three of them, 31-001 (D700), 31-005 (D704) and 31-038 (D737), were acquired by Sheltam

Sheltam

Sheltam is a locomotive hire and repair company that undertakes complete operating contracts and maintenance contracts, based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. By the year 2000, Sheltam locomotives were operating at Randfontein Estates Gold Mine in Gauteng, and in Mpumalanga at Douglas and...

 for use at Rand Uranium near Randfontein and at Welkom. The first two were converted to low short hood locomotives and were still in service in 2010, while the third is used for spare parts.

Gallery

See also

• Diesel-electric locomotive numbering and classification
• List of South African locomotive classes