South African Class 34-400 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Between April 1973 and November 1974 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 34-400 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.

Manufacturer

The Class 34-400 type GE U26C

GE U26C

The GE U26C diesel locomotive model was introduced by GE Transportation Systems in 1971. All examples of this model are six axle units, and have the wheel arrangement C-C or Co'Co' ....

diesel-electric locomotive was designed 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...

and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by the South African General Electric-Dorman Long Locomotive Group (SA GE-DL, later Dorbyl). One hundred locomotives were delivered between April 1973 and November 1974, numbered 34-401 to 34-500.

GE and EMD designs

South Africa’s Class 34 locomotive group consists of seven series, the GE Class 34-000

South African Class 34-000

Between July 1971 and March 1973 the South African Railways placed one hundred and twenty-five Class 34-000 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

, 34-400, 34-500

South African Class 34-500

Between 1974 and 1977 the state owned South African Iron and Steel Corporation, now Kumba Iron Ore, placed forty-four GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service on its 1974 built Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line and as heavy shunters at the Sishen mine. In 1977 another two locomotives were built...

(also known as "34-400 ex Iscor") and 34-900

South African Class 34-900

Between October 1979 and February 1981 the South African Railways placed thirty Class 34-900 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.-Manufacturer:...

, and the EMD Class 34-200

South African Class 34-200

Between October 1971 and March 1972 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 34-200 EMD GT26MC diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

, 34-600

South African Class 34-600

Between December 1974 and July 1976 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 34-600 EMD GT26MC diesel-electric locomotives in service.-Manufacturer:...

and 34-800

South African Class 34-800

Between August 1978 and December 1979 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 34-800 EMD GT26MC diesel-electric locomotives in service. In 1979 one more of the same type was placed in service by Iscor in Newcastle, and between April and July 1980 a further eight of these locomotives were...

. Both these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the South African Classes 33, 35 and 36.

Distinguishing Features

As built, the GE Class 34-000, 34-400 and 34-900 locomotives were visually indistinguishable from each other. The Class 34-500 locomotives could be visually distinguished from the other series by the air conditioning units mounted on their cab roofs and initially, when it was still a feature unique to them, by their running board mounted handrails. At some stage during the mid 1980s all Class 34-000, 34-400 and 34-500 locomotives had saddle filters installed across the long hood, mounted just to the rear of the screens behind the cab on the sides. Since then Class 34-900 locomotives could be distinguished from the older models by the absence of the saddle filter.

South African Railways

GE Class 34-400s work on most mainlines and some branchlines in the central, western, southern and southeastern parts of the country. Some eventually joined the Class 34-500 on the 861 kilometres (535 mi) Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line to haul export ore from the open cast iron mines at Sishen near Kathu in the Northern Cape

Northern Cape

The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of an international park shared with Botswana...

to the harbour at Saldanha

Saldanha, Western Cape

Saldanha, also known as Saldanha Bay, is a town of 22,000 people, located north of Cape Town on the northern shore of Saldanha Bay, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its situation as a natural sheltered harbour has led to development as a port for the export of iron ore from Sishen in...

in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

Running board mounted handrails

Class 34-400 locomotives that are allocated to the Sishen-Saldanha Orex line are often modified by having removable running board mounted handrails installed. All South African diesel-electric locomotives have their side handrails mounted along the upper edges of their long hoods. The ex Iscor Class 34-500s, however, came equipped with additional removable running board mounted handrails. Since these handrails are slide-fit into brackets welded onto the running board, they are easily removed.

Since circa 2009 other mainline diesel-electric locomotive types also emerged from the Koedoespoort Transwerk shops with running board mounted handrails after major overhauls.

Fuel capacity

The Class 34-400 has a 5400 litre fuel tank as built, while the Class 34-500 was delivered new to Iscor with a 7000 litre fuel tank in order to cope with the longer distance between refuelling points on the Sishen-Saldanha Orex line. To facilitate the larger fuel tank, the inter-bogie linkage found on all other models was omitted on the Class 34-500.

In order to be usable on the iron ore line, Class 34-400s that end up working there are modified to a similar capacity. The inter-bogie linkage is removed and the fuel tank is enlarged by changing it from saddle shaped to rectangular shaped, as illustrated by the welds on the end of 34-080’s fuel tank in the picture alongside.

Leased and sold

Eleven Class 34-400s were leased to the Kenya Railways for some years, regauged to gauge and numbered 9501 to 9511. They were returned to Spoornet in April 2002.

Several Class 34-400s were sold into industry. 34-429 went to the Douglas Colliery near Witbank as D10. Five went to Sasol

Sasol

Sasol Ltd. is a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels. In particular, they produce petrol and diesel profitably from coal and natural gas using Fischer-Tropsch process...

at Trichardt and two to Blue Circle Cement at Lichtenburg

Lichtenburg, North West

Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.The town was established in 1873 and was named by Transvaal President Thomas François Burgers, Lichtenburg...

.

34-426, with the bodywork removed, is used for apprentice training at the Germiston diesel depot.

Class 34-400, GE U26C 1973-74
Works numbers & disposition
SAR No	GE works no	Disposal	Post SAR no
34-401	38623
34-402	38624
34-403	38625
34-404	38626
34-405	38627
34-406	38628
34-407	38629
34-408	38630
34-409	38631
34-410	38632
34-411	38633
34-412	38634
34-413	38635
34-414	38636
34-415	38637
34-416	38638
34-417	38639
34-418	38640
34-419	38641
34-420	38642
34-421	38643
34-422	38644
34-423	38645
34-424	38646
34-425	38647
34-426	38648	Training aid	34-426
34-427	38649
34-428	38650
34-429	38651	Douglas	D10
34-430	38652
34-431	38653
34-432	38654
34-433	38655
34-434	38656
34-435	38657
34-436	38658
34-437	38659
34-438	38660
34-439	38661
34-440	38662
34-441	38663
34-442	38664
34-443	38665
34-444	38666
34-445	38667
34-446	38668
34-447	38669
34-448	38670
34-449	38671
34-450	38672
34-451	38673
34-452	38674
34-453	38675
34-454	38676
34-455	38677
34-456	38678
34-457	38679
34-458	38680
34-459	38681
34-460	38682
34-461	38683
34-462	38684
34-463	38685
34-464	38686
34-465	38687
34-466	38688
34-467	38689
34-468	38690
34-469	38691	KR Lease	9511
34-470	38692	KR Lease	9501
34-471	38693	KR Lease	9502
34-472	38694	KR Lease	9503
34-473	38695	KR Lease	9504
34-474	38696	KR Lease	9505
34-475	38697	KR Lease	9506
34-476	38698	KR Lease	9507
34-477	38699	Sasol	8
34-478	38700	KR Lease	9508
34-479	38701	KR Lease	9509
34-480	38702	KR Lease	9510
34-481	38703
34-482	38704
34-483	38705	Sasol	3
34-484	38706
34-485	38707	Sasol	7
34-486	38708	Sasol	4
34-487	38709
34-488	38710
34-489	38711	Sasol	9
34-490	38712	Blue Circle	9
34-491	38713	Blue Circle	8
34-492	38714
34-493	38715
34-494	38716
34-495	38717
34-496	38718
34-497	38719
34-498	38720
34-499	38721
34-500	38722

Mixed Power

On the Sishen–Saldanha Orex line GE Class 34 series diesel-electric locomotives run consisted to Class 9E

South African Class 9E, Series 1

In 1978 and 1979 the South African Railways placed twenty-five Class 9E, Series 1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line.-Manufacturer:...

or 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:...

electric locomotives to haul the 342 wagon iron ore trains. Each wagon has a 100 ton capacity and the trains are at least 3.72 kilometres (2.3 mi) in length, powered by mixed consists of Class 9E and Class 15E electric and GE U26C Class 34-000

South African Class 34-000

Between July 1971 and March 1973 the South African Railways placed one hundred and twenty-five Class 34-000 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

, 34-400

South African Class 34-400

Between April 1973 and November 1974 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 34-400 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.- Manufacturer :...

, 34-500

South African Class 34-500

and 34-900

South African Class 34-900

Between October 1979 and February 1981 the South African Railways placed thirty Class 34-900 GE U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.-Manufacturer:...

diesel-electric locomotives. In South Africa mixed electric and diesel-electric consists are unique to the iron ore line.

A Class 9E or Class 15E electric locomotive serves as the master of each mixed electric and diesel-electric consist, with a total of between nine and twelve locomotives per train, twelve being the maximum number allowed. Before the Class 15E was placed in service in 2010, motive power usually consisted of three sets of locomotives, each set made up of one or two Class 9E electrics and one or two Class 34 diesel-electrics, with each set’s leading electric locomotive controlling its respective set of diesels by means of a slimkabel (smart cable). In effect each ore train was made up of three separate 114 wagon trains consisted together, with the locomotives of all three trains controlled by means of a Locotrol

Locotrol

Locotrol is a product of GE Transportation Systems that permits railway locomotives to be distributed throughout the length of a train...

radio distributed power control system by one crew in the leading electric locomotive. A typical train would therefore be made up of locomotive set A, 114 wagons, locomotive set B, 114 wagons, locomotive set C, and 114 wagons.

Some problems were experienced using this configuration, and after a couple of major derailments the locomotive configuration was changed to four sets, with locomotive set D initially made up of two Class 34 diesel-electric locomotives at the rear end of the train, pushing at between 40% and 50% of tractive power at all times, depending on the grades being traversed. The total maximum number allowed was still between nine and twelve locomotives per train.

As more Class 15Es were delivered and placed in service, Class 9E or 15E electrics replaced the pair of Class 34 diesel-electrics in set D. At the same time the more powerful Class 15E also made it possible to use as few as seven locomotives per train, with locomotive sets A, B and C each made up of one Class 15E and one Class 34, and set D of a single Class 15E.

Liveries and modifications

The main picture shows 34-401 in Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers. Since 2010 some locomotives are being equipped with electronic fuel injection and GE Brite Star control systems. Evidence of this modification is the raised portion of the long hood, visible in the photograph of 34-418 below.