South African Class 33-400


The South African Railways Class 33-400 of 1968 was a South African and Namibian diesel-electric locomotive.
Between 1968 and 1970, the South African Railways placed 115 Class General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service. Many of them were transferred to TransNamib, the Namibian Railways, upon South West Africa’s independence on 21 March 1990.

Manufacturer

The Class 33-400 type GE U20C diesel-electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways by General Electric and built by the South African General Electric-Dorman Long Locomotive Group. The 115 locomotives were delivered between July 1968 and March 1970, numbered in the range from to.

Class 33 series

The Class 33 consisted of three series, the GE Classes and and the General Motors Electro-Motive Division Class. Both manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.
The two GE-built Classes were virtually identical in appearance, but could be distinguished from each other by some ventilation openings on their bodywork.
These doors and panels could and sometimes did get swapped between models, either as replace­ment for damaged items or by chance during overhauls. An example is SCTP no. 1435, sold to the Congolese Company for Transportation and Ports, illustrated below, of which the left-side door on the nose had apparently been swapped with that of their Class no. 1436, illustrated alongside.

Service

South African Railways

Upon being commissioned, many of the Class locomotives were placed in service in South West Africa while some went to the Mafeking line working out of Johannesburg. Forty-five of them were eventually transferred to TransNamib, the Namibian Railways, upon SWA’s independence on 21 March 1990. They retained their SAR engine numbers on the TransNamib roster, but without the "33-" prefix. Some have since been sold while others have been rebuilt with reconditioned prime movers by TransNamib's workshops in Windhoek and renumbered from no. 501 up.
The two cabside number plates on Class locomotives were not identical. Usually, all the locomotives in a Class would have either Afrikaans or English at the top of all their number plates. On the Class number plates, the inscription was in Afrikaans at the top on the right hand or driver’s side, and in English at the top on the left hand or driver's assistant's side.
In South Africa, most of the Class locomotives survived in mainline and branch line service well into the 21st century, for example on the lines from De Aar to Upington, from Worcester to Voorbaai and on suburban service out of East London. From 2009, some were also employed out of Cape Town on the Overberg line across Sir Lowry's Pass to Caledon and on the Bitterfontein line up the West Coast where they replaced several Classes and South African Class 35-400| locomotives that were leased to private railway operators in several Southern African countries.
Some were employed for a while as heavy shunting engines to assemble or unload iron ore trains at the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line's terminals until the arrival of the Class in 2011 made more Classes, South African Class 34-400|, South African Class 34-500| and South African Class 34-900| locomotives available for this task.

Zambia

Between October 1978 and May 1993, Zambia Railways hired locomotives to solve its chronic shortages in motive power, mainly from South Africa but at times also from Zaire, Zimbabwe, the TAZARA Railway and even the Zambian Copper Mines. In Zambia, the South African locomotives were mainly used on goods trains between Livingstone and Kitwe, sometimes in tandem with a ZR locomotive and occasionally also on passenger trains.
Locomotives were selected from a pool of engines which was allocated by the Railways for hire to Zambia. The South African fleet in Zambia was never constant since loco­motives were continually exchanged as they became due back in South Africa for their three-monthly services. The locomotives were initially selected from the Classes, 35-000 and 35-200, but by December 1989 some Class locomotives also began to serve one or more tours of duty in Zambia.
The pool of Class 33-400 locomotives allocated by the Railways for hire to ZR from time to time included the locomotives as shown in the "Leased to" column in the table. The last Class locomotive to serve in Zambia was no. which was returned in April 1992. By the end of May 1993, no more South African locomotives were working in Zambia.

South America

In 1997, twenty Class locomotives were sold to Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica. They were since resold in 1999 to América Latina Logística in Brazil where they retained their FCA engine numbers.
In 2003, three of these locomotives, ex SAR numbers , and , were resold to the Ferroviaria Oriental in Bolivia. Of these, two were resold again to Sociedad Química y Minera in Chile.
Of these twenty locomotives in South America, ten still survived by July 2010. These include the three units sold to FOB and subsequently resold to EFO and SQM, five locomotives reported as non-operating and two which were returned to Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima, the state-owned federal railroad network of Brazil.

Sudan Railways

Ten Class 33-400 locomotives were sold to the Sudan Railways.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

In 2015, some Class 33-000 and Class 33-400 locomotives were sold to the Congolese Company for Transportation and Ports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These locomotives were refurbished in South Africa prior to being delivered to their new owners.

Industrial service

Six Class 33-400 locomotives were sold to Iscor for use at its Vanderbijlpark steel works and at Kumba’s Grootgeluk Colliery at Ellisras.

Preservation

One loco Class 33-400 no. 33-487 has been marked down on TRANSnet Heritage Foundation as a historic locomotive set to be preserved in the near future it currently resides at East London - Cambridge.

Liveries

The class 32-400 were all delivered in the Gulf Red livery with yellow side-stripes on the long hood, a yellow V on each end, signal red buffer beams and unpainted steel cowcatchers. Most of them wore this livery throughout their SAR service life. In the Spoornet era at least one was painted in Spoornet orange livery with yellow and blue chevron buffer beams and in the Transnet Freight Rail era at least one was painted in its red, green and yellow livery.

Works numbers

The Class 33-400 builder’s works numbers and eventual disposition are listed in the table.

SAR no.		Works
no.		Leased
to		Post-SAR
owner		Post-SAR
no.		Rebuilt, or
Resold to:		Rebuilt or
Resold no.
33-40136530FCA & ALL2670
33-40236531TransNamib402
33-40336532ZambiaSudan
33-40436533Sudan
33-40536534TransNamib405
33-40636535ZambiaSudan
33-40736536ZambiaTransNamib407TransNamib508
33-40836537Sudan
33-40936538Sudan
33-41036539FCA & ALL2663FOB 2009
33-41136540Sudan
33-41236541TransNamib412
33-41336542TransNamib413
33-41436543TransNamib414TransNamib503
33-41536544Sudan
33-41636545TransNamib416
33-41736546TransNamib417
33-41836547
33-41936548TransNamib419TransNamib507
33-42036549
33-42136550ZambiaFCA & ALL2661
33-42236551ZambiaTransNamib422TransNamib505
33-42336552ZambiaFCA & ALL2680
33-42436553Sudan
33-42536554ZambiaTransNamib425TransNamib509
33-42636555
33-42736556ZambiaTransNamib427
33-42836557FCA & ALL2666
33-42936558ZambiaFCA & ALL2665
33-43036559TransNamib430
33-43136560TransNamib431
33-43236561TransNamib432
33-43336562FCA & ALL2672
33-43436563TransNamib434TransNamib502
33-43536564TransNamib435
33-43636565Kumba E7
33-43736566ZambiaTransNamib437
33-43836567FCA & ALL2669
33-43936568ZambiaFCA & ALL2677
33-44036569ZambiaSudan
33-44136570ZambiaTransNamib441
33-44236571ZambiaTransNamib442
33-44336572ZambiaTransNamib443
33-44436573TransNamib444
33-44536574ZambiaTransNamib445
33-44636575ZambiaTransNamib446
33-44736576TransNamib447
33-44836577FCA & ALL2664
33-44936578ZambiaFCA & ALL2678
33-45036579Sudan
33-45136580FCA & ALL2671
33-45236581FCA & ALL2668FOB & SQM4 or 5
33-45336582TransNamib453TransNamib501
33-45436583Kumba V67
33-45536584ZambiaTransNamib455TransNamib506
33-45636585Kumba E4
33-45736586ZambiaTransNamib457
33-45836587FCA & ALL2675
33-45936588TransNamib459
33-46036589ZambiaTransNamib460
33-46136590Kumba V68
33-46236591Kumba V69
33-46336592ZambiaTransNamib463
33-46436593TransNamib464
33-46536594TransNamib465
33-46636595FCA & ALL2676
33-46736596
33-46836597TransNamib468
33-46936598FCA & ALL2674
33-47036599TransNamib470
33-47136600Kumba E5
33-47236601TransNamib472
33-47336602TransNamib473
33-47436603TransNamib474
33-47536604TransNamib475TransNamib504
33-47636605TransNamib476
33-47736606FCA & ALL2673
33-47836607TransNamib478TransNamib511
33-47936608TransNamib479
33-48036609TransNamib480
33-48136610FCA & ALL2679FOB & SQM4 or 5
33-48236611FCA & ALL2662
33-48336612TransNamib483
33-48436613TransNamib484TransNamib510
33-48536614FCA & ALL2667
33-48636615ZambiaTransNamib486
33-48736616Zambia
33-48836617Zambia
33-48936618ZambiaTransNamib489
33-49036619Zambia
33-49136620Zambia
33-49236621Zambia
33-49336622ZambiaTransNamib493
33-49436623ZambiaTransNamib494
33-49536624Zambia
33-49636625Zambia
33-49736626Zambia
33-49836627Zambia
33-49936628Zambia
33-50036629Zambia
33-50136630Zambia
33-50236631Zambia
33-50336632Zambia
33-50436633Zambia
33-50536634Zambia
33-50636635Zambia
33-50736636Zambia
33-50836637Zambia
33-50936638Zambia
33-51036639ZambiaTransNamib
33-51136640Zambia
33-51236641Zambia
33-51336642Zambia
33-51436643Zambia
33-51536644Zambia

Illustration

The main picture and the following serve to illustrate the distinguishing features of the Class and some of the liveries that they served in.