South African Class 7E2, Series 2

The South African Railways Class 7E2, Series 2 of 1983 is an electric locomotive.

South African Class 7E2, Series 2
No. E7215 at Pyramid South, Pretoria, 6 October 2009
Type and origin Power type Electric Designer 50 ^c/s Group Builder Union Carriage & Wagon Model 50 ^c/s Group 7E2 Build date 1983 Total produced 40
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co'Co'  • Commonwealth Co-Co Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Wheel diameter 1,220 mm (48.03 in) Wheelbase 13,460 mm (44 ft 1 ^7⁄8 in)  • Bogie 4,060 mm (13 ft 3 ^7⁄8 in) Pivot centres 10,200 mm (33 ft 5 ^5⁄8 in) Panto shoes 10,200 mm (33 ft 5 ^5⁄8 in) Length: ​  • Over couplers 18,465 mm (60 ft 7 in)  • Body 17,500 mm (57 ft 5 in) Width 2,896 mm (9 ft 6 in) Height: ​  • Pantograph 4,190 mm (13 ft 9 in)  • Body height 3,942 mm (12 ft 11 ^1⁄4 in) Axle load 21,000 kg (46,000 lb) Adhesive weight 124,000 kg (273,000 lb) Loco weight 124,000 kg (273,000 lb) Electric system/s 25 kV AC 50 Hz catenary Current pickup(s) Pantographs Traction motors Six MG-680  • Rating 1 hour 515 kW (691 hp)  • Continuous 500 kW (670 hp) Gear ratio 20/117 Loco brake Air & Rheostatic Train brakes Air & Vacuum Couplers AAR knuckle
Performance figures Maximum speed 88 km/h (55 mph) Power output: ​  • 1 hour 3,090 kW (4,140 hp)  • Continuous 3,000 kW (4,000 hp) Tractive effort: ​  • Starting 450 kN (100,000 lbf)  • 1 hour 319 kN (72,000 lbf)  • Continuous 300 kN (67,000 lbf)
Career Operators South African Railways Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail PRASA Class Class 7E2 Number in class 40 Numbers E7176-E7215 Delivered 1983 First run 1983

In 1983, the South African Railways placed forty Class 7E2, Series 2 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in mainline service.[1]

Manufacturer

Builder's plate, no. E7204

The 25 kV AC Class 7E2, Series 2 electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) by the 50 ^c/s Group, a consortium consisting of ACEC of Belgium, AEG-Telefunken and Siemens of Germany, Alsthom-Atlantique and Société MTE of France, and Brown Boveri of Switzerland.[2][3]

It was built by Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW) in Nigel, Transvaal, who delivered forty locomotives in 1983, numbered in the range from E7176 to E7215. UCW did not allocate builder's numbers to the locomotives it built for the SAR, but used the SAR unit numbers for their record keeping.[1]

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 no. 2 end.[1]

Builder's plate

In visual appearance, the Series 2 locomotives can be distinguished from the Series 1 by the vertical grilles just to the rear of the driver's window on both sides on the 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 units were replaced with a single long grille on Series 2 units. Like the Class 7E, some of the Class 7E2, Series 2 locomotives have distinctive "eyebrow" rainwater beadings above their cab windscreens, but these were added post-delivery and were not installed on all the units.[1]

Characteristics

To reduce flange and rail wear, the bogies of both series of the Class 7E2 have a shorter wheelbase than the Class 7E, 4,060 millimetres (13 feet 3.8 inches) instead of 4,400 millimetres (14 feet 5.2 inches).[1][2]

As on the Class 7E, the locomotive's pantograph contact shoe centres are directly above the bogie pivot centres. The reason is to reduce the possibility of pantograph hookups on catenary in sharp curves, such as in turnouts, as a result of sideways movement of the pantograph in relation to the overhead wire.[1]

Service

The Class 7E2, Series 2 was placed in service on the northern 25 kV AC routes which stretch from Pyramid South north of Pretoria via Warmbad to Pietersburg and via Brits and Rustenburg to Thabazimbi. Most of them still serve here.[4]

Liveries

All the Class 7E2, Series 2 locomotives were delivered in the SAR red oxide livery with signal red buffer beams and cowcatchers, yellow whiskers and with the number plates on the sides mounted on three-stripe yellow wings. In the 1990s some of them were repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams and cowcatchers. Some later received the Spoornet maroon livery. In the late 1990s most were repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers on the long hood sides. After 2008 in the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era, some were repainted in the TFR red, green and yellow livery and at least one was repainted in the Shosholoza Meyl purple livery.[5]

Illustration

• 
  No. E7202 in Spoornet orange livery at Pyramid South, 6 October 2009
• 
  No. E7182 in Spoornet maroon at Pyramid North, 6 October 2009
• 
  No. E7200 in Spoornet blue with outline numbers at Pyramid South, 6 October 2009

• 
  No. E7206 in Transnet Freight Rail livery at Pyramid South, 27 September 2015
• 
  No. E7201 in PRASA's Shosholoza Meyl livery at Pyramid South, 7 May 2013

References

1. 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
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 129–131. ISBN 0869772112.
3. "UCW - Electric locomotives" (PDF). The UCW Partnership. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
4. 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. 50–51, 61xx–yy.
5. Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 9. South-Eastwards as far as Volksrust (2nd part) by Les Pivnic. Caption 4. (Accessed on 11 April 2017)