South African Class 33-400 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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. A large number of them were transferred to TransNamib

TransNamib

TransNamib is the railway parastatal of Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides freight by rail and road as well as passenger services. Its administration is located in Windhoek.-History:...

, the Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

n Railways, upon South West Africa’s independence on 21 March 1990.

Manufacturer

The Class 33-400 type GE U20C

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) 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...

(GE) and built in South Africa by the South African General Electric-Dorman Long Locomotive Group (SA GE-DL, later Dorbyl). One hundred and fifteen locomotives were delivered between July 1968 and March 1970, numbered 33-401 to 33-515.

Class 33 series

The Class 33 consists of three series, the 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 Class 33-400 and the EMD Class 33-200

South African Class 33-200

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

. Both these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.

South African Railways

Forty-five of the Class 33-400 locomotives were placed in service in South West Africa

South West Africa

South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....

(SWA) upon being commissioned. They remained in service there until they were transferred to TransNamib

TransNamib

, the Namibia

Namibia

n Railways, upon SWA’s independence on 21 March 1990. They retained their SAR running numbers on the TransNamib roster, but without the "33-" prefix. Some have since been sold, while others have been rebuilt with reconditioned engines by TransNamib in Windhoek

Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...

and renumbered from number 501 up.

In South Africa, most of the Class 33-400 locomotives survived in main and branch line service well into the 21st century, for example on the lines from De Aar to Upington and from Worcester to George. From 2009 some were also employed out of Cape Town on the Overberg

Overberg

Overberg is a district in South Africa to the east of Cape Town beyond the Hottentots-Holland mountains. It lies along the Cape Province's south coast between the Cape Peninsula and the region known as the Garden Route in the east...

line across Sir Lowry’s Pass to Caledon and on the Bitterfontein

Bitterfontein

Bitterfontein is a village in the Knersvlakte, the northernmost area of the Western Cape province of South Africa, north of Cape Town. It is the railhead of a line from Cape Town; ore from the copper mines at Okiep is transferred there from road transport to the railway...

line up the West Coast, where they replaced several Class 35-000

South African Class 35-000

Between March 1972 and May 1973 the South African Railways placed seventy Class 35-000 GE U15C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

and 35-400

South African Class 35-400

Between March 1976 and May 1980 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 35-400 GE U15C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

locomotives that were leased to private railway operators in several Southern African countries. Others were employed as heavy shunters to assemble iron ore trains at the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore route's terminals until the arrival of the Class 15E

South African Class 15E

In 2010 Transnet Freight Rail placed the first of seventy-six Class 15E 50 kV AC heavy electric freight locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line.-Manufacturers:...

in 2010 made more Class 34-000 locomotives available for this task.

Industrial service

Several Class 33-400 locomotives were sold into industrial service, some to Iscor (now Kumba Iron Ore) for use at its Vanderbijlpark steel works and others to Kumba’s

Kumba Iron Ore

Kumba Iron Ore is an iron ore mining company in South Africa. It is the fourth largest iron ore producer in the world and the largest in Africa.-History:Kumba Iron Ore is a successor of Kumba Resources...

Grootgeluk Colliery at Ellisras.

South America

Twenty of them were sold in 1997 to Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA) and were since resold, in 1999, to América Latina Logística (ALL) in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, where they retained their FCA running numbers.

Three of these locomotives, ex SAR 33-410 (ALL 2663), 33-452 (2668) and 33-481 (2679), were subsequently resold to the Ferroviaria Oriental (FOB) in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

in 2003. Of these, one was resold again to Empresa Ferroviaria Oriental (EFO) in Bolivia and the other two to Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) in Chile.

Of these twenty locomotives, ten still survived by July 2010. These include the three units sold to FOB and subsequently resold to EFO and SQM, five locomotives reported as non-operating and two that were returned to Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima

RFFSA

The Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima was the state-owned national railway company of Brazil. It was created in 1957, and dissolved between 1999–2007.-Constituent Railways:...

, (RFFSA), the state-owned federal railroad network of Brazil.

Sudan Railways

Another ten Class 33-400 locomotives were sold to the Sudan Railways.

The Class 33-400 works numbers and disposition are set out in the table.

Class 33-400, GE U20C 1968-70
Works numbers and disposition
SAR no.	Works no.	Post SAR owner	Post SAR no.	Rebuilt or Resold	Rebuilt or Resold no.
33-401	36530	FCA & ALL	2670
33-402	36531	TransNamib	402
33-403	36532	Sudan
33-404	36533	Sudan
33-405	36534	TransNamib	405
33-406	36535	Sudan
33-407	36536	TransNamib	407	TransNamib	508
33-408	36537	Sudan
33-409	36538	Sudan
33-410	36539	FCA & ALL	2663	FOB & EFO	2009
33-411	36540	Sudan
33-412	36541	TransNamib	412
33-413	36542	TransNamib	413
33-414	36543	TransNamib	414	TransNamib	503
33-415	36544	Sudan
33-416	36545	TransNamib	416
33-417	36546	TransNamib	417
33-418	36547
33-419	36548	TransNamib	419	TransNamib	507
33-420	36549
33-421	36550	FCA & ALL	2661
33-422	36551	TransNamib	422	TransNamib	505
33-423	36552	FCA & ALL	2680
33-424	36553	Sudan
33-425	36554	TransNamib	425	TransNamib	509
33-426	36555
33-427	36556	TransNamib	427
33-428	36557	FCA & ALL	2666
33-429	36558	FCA & ALL	2665
33-430	36559	TransNamib	430
33-431	36560	TransNamib	431
33-432	36561	TransNamib	432
33-433	36562	FCA & ALL	2672
33-434	36563	TransNamib	434	TransNamib	502
33-435	36564	TransNamib	435
33-436	36565	Kumba E	7
33-437	36566	TransNamib	437
33-438	36567	FCA & ALL	2669
33-439	36568	FCA & ALL	2677
33-440	36569	Sudan
33-441	36570	TransNamib	441
33-442	36571	TransNamib	442
33-443	36572	TransNamib	443
33-444	36573	TransNamib	444
33-445	36574	TransNamib	445
33-446	36575	TransNamib	446
33-447	36576	TransNamib	447
33-448	36577	FCA & ALL	2664
33-449	36578	FCA & ALL	2678
33-450	36579	Sudan
33-451	36580	FCA & ALL	2671
33-452	36581	FCA & ALL	2668	FOB & SQM	4 or 5
33-453	36582	TransNamib	453	TransNamib	501
33-454	36583	Kumba V	67
33-455	36584	TransNamib	455	TransNamib	506
33-456	36585	Kumba E	4
33-457	36586	TransNamib	457
33-458	36587	FCA & ALL	2675
33-459	36588	TransNamib	459
33-460	36589	TransNamib	460
33-461	36590	Kumba V	68
33-462	36591	Kumba V	69
33-463	36592	TransNamib	463
33-464	36593	TransNamib	464
33-465	36594	TransNamib	465
33-466	36595	FCA & ALL	2676
33-467	36596
33-468	36597	TransNamib	468
33-469	36598	FCA & ALL	2674
33-470	36599	TransNamib	470
33-471	36600	Kumba E	5
33-472	36601	TransNamib	472
33-473	36602	TransNamib	473
33-474	36603	TransNamib	474
33-475	36604	TransNamib	475	TransNamib	504
33-476	36605	TransNamib	476
33-477	36606	FCA & ALL	2673
33-478	36607	TransNamib	478	TransNamib	511
33-479	36608	TransNamib	479
33-480	36609	TransNamib	480
33-481	36610	FCA & ALL	2679	FOB & SQM	4 or 5
33-482	36611	FCA & ALL	2662
33-483	36612	TransNamib	483
33-484	36613	TransNamib	484	TransNamib	510
33-485	36614	FCA & ALL	2667
33-486	36615
33-487	36616
33-488	36617
33-489	36618
33-490	36619
33-491	36620
33-492	36621
33-493	36622
33-494	36623
33-495	36624
33-496	36625
33-497	36626
33-498	36627
33-499	36628
33-500	36629
33-501	36630
33-502	36631
33-503	36632
33-504	36633
33-505	36634
33-506	36635
33-507	36636
33-508	36637
33-509	36638
33-510	36639
33-511	36640
33-512	36641
33-513	36642
33-514	36643
33-515	36644

Liveries

The main picture shows Namibia’s TransNamib livery, with ex SAR 33-475, now TransNamib’s number 504, south of Keetmanshoop on 2 September 2004.