South African Class 38-000

No. 38-012 at Capital Park, 28 September 2006

Type and origin
Power type	Electro-diesel
Designer	Consortium, led by Siemens
Builder	Union Carriage & Wagon
Serial number	38-001 to 38-050
Model	Consortium Class 38
Build date	1992-1993
Total produced	50

Specifications
AAR wheel arr.	B-B
UIC class	Bo'Bo'
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter	1,054 mm (41.5 in)
Wheelbase	11,700 mm (38 ft 4.6 in)
• Bogie	2,600 mm (8 ft 6.4 in)
Pivot centres	9,100 mm (29 ft 10.3 in)
Length:
• Over couplers	16,314 mm (53 ft 6.3 in)
Width	2,780 mm (9 ft 1.4 in)
Height:
• Pantograph	4,130 mm (13 ft 6.6 in)
Axle load	18,685 kg (41,193 lb)
Adhesive weight	74,740 kg (164,770 lb)
Loco weight	74,740 kg (164,770 lb) max
Fuel type	Diesel
Fuel capacity	2,000 litres (440 imp gal)
Power supply	Catenary
Current collection	Pantograph
Prime mover	Caterpillar DITA 3508
RPM range	600-1,800
• RPM idle	600
• Maximum RPM	1,800
Engine type	4-stroke diesel
Alternator	6 pole ABB/WB450C6
Traction motors	Four AC 6 pole ABB/6FRA5252
• Continuous	378 kW (507 hp)
MU working	4 maximum
Loco brake	Knorr-Bremse air brake Spring applied, air release parking
Train brakes	Knorr-Bremse W450/150-3 compressor LPS 94 DE-MAG Wittig exhauster
Couplers	AAR knuckle type E

Performance figures
Maximum speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Power output:
• Starting	780 kW (1,050 hp) diesel
• Continuous	1,500 kW (2,000 hp) electric 600 kW (800 hp) diesel
Tractive effort:
• Starting	260 kN (58,000 lbf) @ 35% adh.
• Continuous	180 kN (40,000 lbf) @ 30 km/h (19 mph) electric @ 10 km/h (6.2 mph) diesel
Factor of adh.: • Starting	35%
• Continuous	25%
Loco brakeforce	1,500 kW (2,000 hp) regenerative 1,000 kW (1,300 hp) dynamic

Career
Operators	Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail
Class	Class 38-000
Power class	3 kV DC
Number in class	50
Numbers	38-001 to 38-050
Delivered	1992-1994
First run	1992

The Spoornet Class 38-000 of 1992 is a South African electro-diesel locomotive.

Between 1992 and 1994, Spoornet placed fifty Class 38-000 dual mode locomotives in service. They are still the only dual powered electro-diesel locomotives in use by Transnet Freight Rail, capable of running either on 3 kV DC electricity off the catenary or on diesel fuel alone.^[1]

Manufacturer

The 3 kV DC Class 38-000 electro-diesel locomotive was designed for Spoornet by Consortium, under the leadership of Siemens, and was built by Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal.^[1]^[2]

Fifty locomotives entered service between 1992 and 1994, numbered in the range from 38-001 to 38-050. UCW did not allocate builder’s or works numbers to the locomotives it built for Spoornet, but used the Spoornet unit numbers for their record keeping.^[1]

Service

The Class 38-000 was designed as a multi-purpose locomotive, to replace steam on pickup work on the Witwatersrand, but it was also capable of long distance mainline work. For operation in the diesel-only mode, it was powered by a 780 kilowatts (1,050 horsepower) Caterpillar type DITA 3508 prime mover.^[1]

The locomotive has two-station controls. Its diesel-only ability allows it to pick up and shunt wagons from unelectrified industrial sidings. Most of the locomotives were allocated to Gauteng depots at Germiston, Pyramid South and Krugersdorp, with a lone locomotive serving at Bloemfontein in the Free State.^[1]^[3]

Builders’ plates on no. 38-040

The Class 38-000 locomotives were not used only for shunting and pickups. Shortly after entering service they were used to haul the "Witblitz" shipping container express train all the way between Johannesburg and Cape Town. This saved time, by avoiding the need to change locomotives at Beaufort-West and Kimberley to negotiate the 25 kV AC section between these two centres, since it could be traversed in diesel-only mode.^[4]

Even though the Class 38-000 is usually limited to a top speed of 100 kilometres per hour (62 miles per hour), the "Witblitz" regularly attained speeds of 120 kilometres per hour (75 miles per hour) on some sections. Although the "Witblitz" express trains have long been discontinued, some of the 120 km/h speed limit boards were still in existence between Potchefstroom and Worcester as late as 2005.^[4]

For a number of years, the Class 38-000 also became the prime motive power on trains 5558 and 5559, the PX speed-freight overnight container trains between Durban Goods and Johannesburg's City Deep. It was found that the Class 10Es electric locomotives, which were previously used on this duty, could not achieve the 140 kilometres per hour (87 miles per hour) speeds at which these fifty-wagon trains were booked. These trains were the Natal Corridor (NATCOR) equivalent of the "Witblits" trains.^[5]

In 1998, forty of these locomotives, numbers 38-011 to 38-050, and a number of electric locomotives were sold to Maquarie-GETX (General Electric Finance) and leased back to Spoornet for a ten-year period, which expired in 2008.^[3]

By 2012, Class 38-000 locomotives still often ran with full loads on the mainlines between Broodsnyersplaas and Welgedacht and to the Sentrarand classification yards in Gauteng.^[4]

Dates in service

The Class 38-000's years of construction, as shown on their builder's plates, and dates in service, where known, are listed in the table.^[3]

**Class 38-000 build dates and dates in service**^[3]
Loco no.	Year built	Date in service
38-001	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-18-000018 Apr 1993
38-002	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-03-25-000025 Mar 1993
38-003	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001992-09-10-000010 Sep 1992
38-004	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001992-09-15-000015 Sep 1992
38-005	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001992-11-16-000016 Nov 1992
38-006	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-03-25-000025 Mar 1993
38-007	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-02-09-00009 Feb 1993
38-008	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-03-18-000018 Mar 1993
38-009	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-01-27-000027 Jan 1993
38-010	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-02-09-00009 Feb 1993
38-011	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-07-00007 Apr 1993
38-012	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-05-19-000019 May 1993
38-013	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-03-23-000023 Mar 1993
38-014	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-02-00002 Apr 1993
38-015	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-15-000015 Apr 1993
38-016	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-05-00005 Apr 1993
38-017	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-04-22-000022 Apr 1993
38-018	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-05-03-00003 May 1993
38-019	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-05-19-000019 May 1993
38-020	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-06-02-00002 Jun 1993
38-021	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-06-01-0000Jun 1993
38-022	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-06-11-000011 Jun 1993
38-023	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001993-07-01-0000Jul 1993
38-024	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-07-01-0000Jul 1993
38-025	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-07-01-0000Jul 1993
38-026	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-08-01-0000Aug 1993
38-027	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-08-01-0000Aug 1993
38-028	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-08-17-000017 Aug 1993
38-029	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-09-01-0000Sep 1993
38-030	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-09-01-0000Sep 1993
38-031	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-10-01-0000Oct 1993
38-032	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-09-01-0000Sep 1993
38-033	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-10-01-0000Oct 1993
38-034	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-11-01-0000Nov 1993
38-035	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-11-01-0000Nov 1993
38-036	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-11-01-0000Nov 1993
38-037	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-12-01-0000Dec 1993
38-038	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-12-01-0000Dec 1993
38-039	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001993-12-01-0000Dec 1993
38-040	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-02-01-0000Feb 1994
38-041	000000001992-01-01-00001992	000000001994-02-01-0000Feb 1994
38-042	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-02-17-000017 Feb 1994
38-043	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-03-01-0000Mar 1994
38-044	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-045	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-046	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-047	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-048	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-049	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-01-01-00001994
38-050	000000001993-01-01-00001993	000000001994-07-30-000030 Jul 1994

Class E38 locomotives

During the production of the Class 38-000 for Spoornet, UCW also built three Class E38 electric locomotives for Amcoal Mines, for use at the Landau Colliery near Witbank, Mpumalanga. The Class E38 electric locomotive is identical in appearance and dimensions to the Class 38-000, but was designed for 3 kV DC electric operation only.^[3]

Illustration

The main picture shows no. 38-012 in Spoornet orange livery. Other liveries which were applied to Class 38-000 locomotives, are illustrated below.

No. 38-008 in Spoornet blue with outline numbers at Leeuhof, Vereeniging, 10 May 2009
No. 38-012 in Transnet Freight Rail livery at Sentrarand, Gauteng, 18 May 2013

References

1 2 3 4 5 South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
↑ "UCW - Electric locomotives" (PDF). The UCW Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
1 2 3 4 5 Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. pp. 35, 63.
1 2 3 Railways Africa, 24 Jan 2012: Class 38 Electro-diesel in Operation
↑ Message no. 48235 Re: sar-L 1992: Class 38-000

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South African Class 38-000.

Locomotives of South Africa

Steam

7' ¼" gauge	East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT

4' 8½" gauge	Cape 0-4-0T Blackie Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid Natal 0-4-0ST Durban Natal 0-4-0WT Natal Natal 4-4-0T Perseverance

3' 6" gauge Tank engines	CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack 4-6-4RT CSAR Railmotor Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth 0-4-0ST Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NGR 2-6-0T Durban & Pietermaritzburg NGR Class I 2-6-2T NGR Class K 0-4-0ST NGR Class K 0-6-0ST NGR Class K 2-6-0T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 13 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese SAR Class A SAR Class B SAR Class C SAR Class C1 SAR Class C2 SAR Class D SAR Class E SAR Class F SAR Class G SAR Class H SAR Class H1 SAR Class H2 SAR Class J SAR Class K SAR Railmotor SAR Dock 0-4-0ST SAR Dock 0-4-0T SWA 2-8-0T

3' 6" gauge Tender engines	CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 NGR Havelock NGR Class I SAR Class Exp 1 SAR Class Exp 2 SAR Class Exp 3 SAR Class Exp 4 SAR Class Exp 5 SAR Class Exp 6 SAR Class S SAR Class S1 SAR Class S2 SAR Class 1 SAR Class 1A SAR Class 1B SAR Class 2 SAR Class 2C SAR Class 3 SAR Class 3A SAR Class 3B SAR Class 4 SAR Class 4A SAR Class 5 SAR Class 5A SAR Class 5B SAR Class 6 SAR Class 6A SAR Class 6B SAR Class 6C SAR Class 6D SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6F SAR Class 6G SAR Class 6H SAR Class 6J SAR Class 6K SAR Class 6L SAR Class 6Y SAR Class 6Z SAR Class 7 SAR Class 7A SAR Class 7B SAR Class 7C SAR Class 7D SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7F SAR Class 8 SAR Class 8A SAR Class 8B SAR Class 8C SAR Class 8D SAR Class 8E SAR Class 8F SAR Class 8R SAR Class 8X SAR Class 8Y SAR Class 8Z SAR Class 9 SAR Class 10 SAR Class 10A SAR Class 10B SAR Class 10C SAR Class 10D SAR Class 11 SAR Class 12 SAR Class 12A SAR Class 12B SAR Class 13 SAR Class 14 SAR Class 14A SAR Class 14B SAR Class 14C 1st SAR Class 14C 2nd SAR Class 14C 3rd SAR Class 14C 4th SAR Class 15 SAR Class 15A SAR Class 15B SAR Class 15C SAR Class 15CA SAR Class 15E SAR Class 15F SAR Class 16 SAR Class 16A SAR Class 16B SAR Class 16C SAR Class 16D SAR Class 16DA 1928 SAR Class 16DA 1930 SAR Class 16E SAR Class 17 SAR Class 18 SAR Class 19 SAR Class 19A SAR Class 19B SAR Class 19C SAR Class 19D SAR Class 20 SAR Class 21 SAR Class 23 SAR Class 24 SAR Class 25 SAR Class 25NC SAR Class 26 SAR Katanga SWA 2-8-0

3' 6" gauge Articulated engines	CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR Class FC SAR Class FD SAR Class GA SAR Class GB SAR Class GC SAR Class GCA SAR Class GD SAR Class GDA SAR Class GE SAR Class GEA SAR Class GF SAR Class GG SAR Class GH SAR Class GK SAR Class GL SAR Class GM SAR Class GMA SAR Class GO SAR Class HF SAR Class KM SAR Class MA SAR Class MB SAR Class MC SAR Class MC1 SAR Class MD SAR Class ME SAR Class MF SAR Class MG SAR Class MH SAR Class MJ SAR Class MJ1 SAR Class U

2' 6" gauge	Cape Copper John King & Miner Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay 2-4-2T Hope

2' & 600mm gauges	ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR Dutton SAR NG 0-4-0T SAR Class NG1 SAR Class NG2 SAR Class NG3 SAR Class NG4 SAR Class NG5 SAR Class NG6 SAR Class NG7 SAR Class NG8 SAR Class NG9 SAR Class NG10 SAR Class NG-G11 SAR Class NG-G12 SAR Class NG-G13 SAR Class NG-G14 SAR Class NG15 SAR Class NG-G16 SWA Class Ha SWA Class Hb SWA Class Hc SWA Class Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge

Electric

Amcoal Class E38

Gas-electric

SAR Gas-electric

Diesel

3' 6" gauge Diesel-electric	PRASA Class Afro 4000 SAR Class DS SAR Class DS1 SAR Class 31-000 SAR Class 32-000 SAR Class 32-200 SAR Class 33-000 SAR Class 33-200 SAR Class 33-400 SAR Class 34-000 SAR Class 34-200 SAR Class 34-400 SAR Class 34-500 SAR Class 34-600 SAR Class 34-800 SAR Class 34-900 SAR Class 35-000 SAR Class 35-200 SAR Class 35-400 SAR Class 35-600 TFR Class 35-800 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000

2' gauge Diesel-electric	SAR Class 91-000

3' 6" gauge Diesel-hydraulic	SAR Class 61-000

3' 6" gauge Electro-diesel	Spoornet Class 38-000

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