South African Class 7E2, Series 1 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In 1982 the South African Railways placed twenty-five Class 7E2, Series 1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in main line service.

Manufacturer

The Class 7E2, Series 1 25 kV AC electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) by the 50 ^c/s Group consisting of ACEC

SA Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi

SA Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi was a manufacturer of a wide range of electrical products and latterly manufactured the electrical parts for Belgian locomotives and multiple units constructed by BN.-History:...

of Belgium, AEG-Telefunken and Siemens

Siemens

Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

of Germany, Alsthom-Atlantique and Société MTE of France, and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Twenty-five locomotives were built by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal

Transvaal Province

Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...

and delivered in 1982, numbered E7151 to E7175.

Union Carriage and Wagon 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 road numbers for their record keeping.

Rheostatic brakes

The control of traction and rheostatic braking on the Class 7E2, Series 1 is by stepless solid-state electronics. The electrical equipment was designed for high power factor operation, obtained by a sector control method.

Orientation

These dual cab locomotives have a roof access ladder on one side only, just to the right of the cab access door. The roof access ladder end is marked as the number 2 end.

Identifying features

In visual appearance the Class 7E2, Series 1 can be distinguished from the Series 2 by the vertical grilles just to the rear of the driver’s window on both sides on Series 2 locomotives, but absent on Series 1. Both series have a large grille to the right of centre on the side opposite the roof access ladder side, near roof level on Series 1 locomotives and low down near sill level on Series 2. The three grilles in line just to the rear of the side doors on Series 1 locomotives were replaced with a single long grille on Series 2 locomotives. Like the Class 7E

South African Class 7E

In 1978 and 1979 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 7E electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in main line service...

, some of the Class 7E2 Series 1 locomotives have distinctive "eyebrow" rainwater beadings above their cab windscreens, but these were added post-delivery and were not installed on all the locomotives.

Service

The Class 7E2, Series 1 was placed in service on the northern 25 kV route from Pyramid South near 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...

to Pietersburg and via Rustenburg to Thabazimbi

Thabazimbi

Thabazimbi is an iron mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is situated at the feet of the Ysterberg and is surrounded by the Witfonteinrand and Boshofberg with the majestic Kransberg in the background. The name Thabazimbi means mountain of iron because of the large iron ore...

, where they still serve.

Liveries