South African Class 32-200 Explained

The South African Railways Class 32-200 of 1966 was a diesel-electric locomotive.

In June and July 1966, the South African Railways placed ten General Electric type U20C1 diesel-electric locomotives with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement in service in South West Africa.

Manufacturer

The Class 32-200 type GE U20C1 diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built to South African Railways (SAR) requirements by General Electric (GE) and imported. The ten locomotives were numbered in the range from to .^[1]

Class 32 series

The Class 32 consisted of two series, the high short hood Class and the low short hood Class, both GE products and both with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement. Both had single station controls.^[1]

Both versions ran on the same 1Co' bogies, three-axle Co' bogies with additional integral single axle pony trucks which was designed and produced by General Steel Castings. The fourth axle reduced the maximum axle loading sufficiently to enable these relatively heavy locomotives to operate on the very light rail which was used throughout South West Africa at the time.^[2]

The Class 32-200 was a more powerful low short hood version of the earlier Class and was essentially a Class locomotive on the bogies of the Class . This reduced its maximum axle load from the 157490NaN0 of the Class 33-000 to 12700kg (28,000lb). Apart from the bogies which necessitated a smaller fuel tank, its physical dimensions and exterior appearance were identical to that of the Class and it used the same V12 prime mover.^[1]

Service

South African Railways

While it was acquired specifically for service on light rail in South West Africa, the Class 32-200s also ended up being employed in South Africa at times. From 1972 to 1974, between the withdrawal of the Class GO Garratt locomotives and the arrival of the Class diesel-electrics on the line between Amabele and Umtata in Transkei, some of them performed temporary service on that line.

Post-SAR service

All ten locomotives survived and most were still in service by 2014.^[3]

• Numbers and are with Sheltam, renumbered 2012 and 2013, and have been working in Welkom.
• No. works at the Pretoria Portland Cement lime plant in Saldanha.
• No. works between the New Clydesdale Colliery near Witbank and the Transnet Freight Rail sidings at Bezuidenhoutsrust.
• Numbers to are still with TransNamib, the Namibian railway, renumbered 205 to 208 and with a couple believed to still be in regular use.
• Numbers and were sold to Sudan Railways.

Liveries

The class 32-000 were delivered in the new Gulf Red livery with yellow side-stripes on the long hood and a yellow V on each end. They wore this livery throughout their SAR service life.^[4]

Works numbers

The Class 32-200 builder's works numbers and disposition are listed in the table.^[3]

Class 32-200, type GE U20C1

SAR no.	GE works no.	Post-SAR owner	Post-SAR no.
32-201	35842	Sheltam	2012
32-202	35843	PPC
32-203	35844	Sheltam	2013
32-204	35845	New Clydesdale
32-205	35846	TransNamib	205
32-206	35847	TransNamib	206
32-207	35848	TransNamib	207
32-208	35849	TransNamib	208
32-209	35850	Sudan Railways
32-210	35851	Sudan Railways

Notes and References

1. Book: South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20. 28 January 1975. amended.
2. Book: Steinbrenner, Richard T.. 2003. The American Locomotive Company: A Centennial Remembrance. Warren, NJ. On Track Publishers, LLC.. 0911122-07-9.
3. Web site: SAR-L Yahoogroup message no. 47981. 17 October 2014. 18 May 2017.
4. Web site: System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 6. Germiston, the Steam and Diesel Running Sheds. Soul of A Railway. Les. Pivnic. Captions 5, 33, 36. 7 April 2017.