Between October 1966 and May 1967 the South African Railways placed twenty Class 33-200 EMD GL26MC diesel-electric locomotives in service.

Manufacturer

The Class 33-200 type EMD GL26MC diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and imported. They were delivered between October 1966 and May 1967 and numbered 33-201 to 33-220.

Class 33 series

The Class 33-200 was the first EMD diesel electric locomotive to be placed in service by the SAR. The South African Class 33 consists of three series, the 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...

 (GE) Class 33-000

South African Class 33-000

Between June 1965 and January 1966 the South African Railways placed sixty-five Class 33-000 GE U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

 and 33-400

South African Class 33-400

Between July 1968 and March 1970 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifteen Class 33-400 GE U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service...

 and the EMD Class 33-200. Of the three series, the EMD built Class 33-200 was the only one to be delivered with a high short hood. Both these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.

South African Railways

The Class 33-200 locomotives spent their SAR working lives operating out of East London. When they were withdrawn from SAR service, most of them were sold and several are still operating in other parts of Africa.

Sheltam

Of the original twenty locomotives, eleven were still in service with 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...

 by 2010, two having first served at Douglas Colliery as numbers D8 and D9. Sheltam is, among other things, a locomotive leasing and repair company. All their Class 33-200 have had their short hoods modified to low noses. Three more have been bought by Sheltam for spare parts and are believed now scrapped. Sheltam initially numbered all their locomotives from number 1 upwards, but have since renumbered them according to their horsepower.

Other operators

Of the remainder, four went to SitaRail in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

, one to the Sudan Railways and one to the Nkana

Nkana

Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the local traditional ruler...

 mine of Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

.

Class 33-200, EMD GL26MC
Works Numbers and Disposition

SAR No	EMD works no	Post SAR owner	Post SAR no	Sheltam new no
33-201	31191	Sheltam	Spare parts
33-202	31192	SitaRail	CC 2001
33-203	31193	Sheltam	1	2001
33-204	31194	SitaRail	CC 2003
33-205	31195	Sheltam	16	2010
33-206	31196	Sheltam	Spare parts
33-207	31197	Sheltam	D8	2004
33-208	31198	Sheltam	Spare parts
33-209	31199	SitaRail	CC 2004
33-210	31200	Sheltam	13 or 15	2009
33-211	31201	Sheltam	D9	2005
33-212	31202	Nkana	1
33-213	31203	Sheltam	14	2008
33-214	31204	SitaRail	CC 2002
33-215	31205	Sheltam	12	2006
33-216	31206	Sheltam	3	2003
33-217	31207	Sheltam	2	2002
33-218	31208	Sheltam	13 or 15	2007
33-219	31209	Sheltam	17	2011
33-220	31210	Sudan Ry

See also

• South African Class 33-000
  South African Class 33-000
  Between June 1965 and January 1966 the South African Railways placed sixty-five Class 33-000 GE U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...
  
   (GE)
• South African Class 33-400
  South African Class 33-400
  Between July 1968 and March 1970 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifteen Class 33-400 GE U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service...
  
   (GE)
• Diesel-electric locomotive numbering and classification
• List of South African locomotive classes