South African Class 33-000

No. 33-025 at Bellville Loco, Cape Town, 28 March 2009

Type and origin
Power type	Diesel-electric
Designer	General Electric
Builder	General Electric
Serial number	35457-35521
Model	GE U20C
Build date	1965-1966
Total produced	65

Specifications
AAR wheel arr	C-C
UIC class	Co'Co'
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter	915 mm (36.0 in)
Wheelbase	12,243 mm (40 ft 2.0 in)
• Bogie	3,505 mm (11 ft 6.0 in)
Pivot centres	9,017 mm (29 ft 7.0 in)
Wheel spacing (Assymetrical)	1-2: 1,594 mm (5 ft 2.8 in) 2-3: 1,911 mm (6 ft 3.2 in)
Length:
• Over couplers	16,866 mm (55 ft 4.0 in)
Width	2,756 mm (9 ft 0.5 in)
Height	3,931 mm (12 ft 10.8 in)
Axle load	15,749 kg (34,721 lb)
Loco weight	94,494 kg (208,324 lb) max
Fuel type	Diesel
Fuel capacity	3,600 litres (790 imp gal)
Prime mover	GE 7FDL-12
RPM range	400-1,000
• RPM low idle	400
• Maximum RPM	1000
Engine type	4 stroke diesel
Aspiration	C-B ET13 turbocharger
Generator	DC 10 pole GE 5GT-581C9
Traction motors	Six GE 5GE-761A6 DC 4 pole
• Rating 1 hour	635A
• Continuous	620A @ 20 km/h (12 mph)
Cylinders	V12
Gear ratio	92:19
MU working	4 maximum
Loco brake	28-LV-1 with vigilance control
Train brakes	Westinghouse 6CDX4UC compressor/exhauster
Air reservoir cap	700 litres (150 imp gal)
Compressor cap	0.029 m³/s (1.0 cu ft/s)
Exhauster cap	0.116 m³/s (4.1 cu ft/s)
Couplers	AAR knuckle SASKOP DS

Performance figures
Maximum speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Power output:
• Starting	1,605 kW (2,152 hp)
• Continuous	1,490 kW (2,000 hp)
Tractive effort:
• Starting	223 kN (50,000 lbf) @ 25% adhesion
• Continuous	178 kN (40,000 lbf) @ 24 km/h (15 mph)
Factor of adh: • Starting	25%
• Continuous	20%
Loco brakeforce	70% ratio @ 345 kPa (50.0 psi)
Dynamic brake peak effort	173 kN (39,000 lbf) @ 26 km/h (16 mph)

Career
Operators	South African Railways Spoornet Spoornet Traction Transnet Freight Rail COMILOG, Gabon Sudan Railways Zambia Railways TransNamib
Class	Class 33-000
Number in class	65
Numbers	33-001 to 33-065
Nicknames	Bosvark
Delivered	1965-1966
First run	1965

The South African Railways Class 33-000 of 1965 is a diesel-electric locomotive.

In 1965 and 1966, the South African Railways placed sixty-five Class 33-000 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service.^[1]

Manufacturer

The South African Class 33-000 type GE U20C diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Electric (GE) and imported. Sixty-five of these locomotives were delivered between June 1965 and January 1966, numbered in the range from 33-001 to 33-065.^[1]

Class 33 series

The Class 33 consists of three series, the GE-built Classes 33-000 and 33-400 and the General Motors Electro-Motive Division-built Class 33-200. Both of these manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.^[2]

The two GE-built Classes are virtually identical in appearance, but can be distinguished from each other by some ventilation openings on their bodywork.

The Class 33-000 has press-formed louvre openings in both short hood doors on the right side of the nose, while the Class 33-400 has no opening in either of these doors.
Just to the rear of the cab, on both sides of the long hood and more or less in line with the cab windows, both models have panels with three ventilation openings. These have two horizontal bars in each opening on the Class 33-000, and press-formed louvre openings on the Class 33-400.

These doors and panels can, and sometimes did, get swapped between models, either as replacement for damaged items or by chance during overhauls.

Service

In South Africa

The Class 33-000 was initially used to dieselise the Cape Midland region. When the Class 34-000 entered service in 1971, many Class 33-000 locomotives were transferred to Transvaal, and some later to the Cape Western system.^[2]

In the SAR era, the inner parts of cabside locomotive number plates were often unofficially painted in various colours to identify the depot to which the locomotive was allocated. Judging from the flaked paint on the plate in the picture alongside, no. 33-014 saw service in several regions over the years.^[1]

Most of these locomotives survived in mainline and branchline service well into the twenty-first century, for example on the lines from De Aar to Upington, on the branchline from Worcester to Voorbaai and in suburban passenger service out of East London. Some were later employed as heavy shunting engines to assemble or unload iron ore trains at the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore route's terminals, until the arrival of the Class 43-000 on that line in 2011 made more Class 34 locomotives available for this task.

Outside South Africa

Between October 1978 and May 1993, Zambia Railways (ZR) hired locomotives to solve it's 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.^[3]

Locomotives were selected from a pool of engines, which were 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 servicings.^[3]

The locomotives were initially selected from the Classes 33-400, 35-000 and 35-200 but, by December 1989, some Class 33-000 locomotives also began to serve one or more tours of duty in Zambia. The pool of Class 33-000 locomotives which were allocated by the Railways for hire to ZR from time to time, included the locomotive numbers as shown in the table below.^[3]

Until c. 2015, several still saw service with Spoornet Traction, whose locomotives operate in several Southern African countries. A few were leased to Sudan Railways, on a long-term contract as a result of the distance from South Africa, while others were sold to COMILOG in Gabon.^[4]

Withdrawal

SCTP logo

Although some of the locomotives had been sold to other operators over the years, most of the Class remained in South African service for fifty years. During 2015, when sufficient numbers of new GE-designed Class 43-000 locomotives had entered service, several of the remaining Class 33-000 locomotives were sold to, amongst others, TransNamib in Namibia and the Congolese Company for Transportation and Ports (SCTP, formerly Onatra) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most of these locomotives were refurbished in South Africa, prior to being delivered to their new owners.

Works numbers

The Class 33-000 builder’s works numbers, service in the Zambia Railways leasing pool and known eventual disposition are listed in the table.^[4]

**Class 33-000, type GE U20C**
Loco no.	Works no.	Leased to	Post-SAR owner	Post-SAR no.
33-001	35457	Zambia
33-002	35458		TransNamib	002
33-003	35459		Retired
33-004	35460	Sudan		3506
33-005	35461		Retired
33-006	35462	Zambia
33-007	35463
33-008	35464
33-009	35465
33-010	35466		Congo
33-011	35467	Zambia
33-012	35468	Zambia	Congo
33-013	35469	Zambia
33-014	35470
33-015	35471
33-016	35472
33-017	35473
33-018	35474
33-019	35475	Zambia	Retired
33-020	35476	Zambia
33-021	35477	Zambia	Retired
33-022	35478	Zambia
33-023	35479	Zambia	Congo
33-024	35480	Zambia	Retired
33-025	35481	Zambia
33-026	35482	Zambia	Retired
33-027	35483		COMILOG
33-028	35484	Zambia, Sudan		3501 to 3
33-029	35485	Zambia	Retired
33-030	35486	Zambia	TransNamib	030
33-031	35487	Zambia	Congo
33-032	35488	Zambia
33-033	35489	Zambia
33-034	35490	Zambia
33-035	35491	Zambia
33-036	35492	Zambia
33-037	35493		COMILOG
33-038	35494	Zambia
33-039	35495	Zambia	Congo
33-040	35496	Zambia
33-041	35497	Zambia
33-042	35498	Zambia
33-043	35499	Zambia
33-044	35500	Zambia
33-045	35501	Zambia
33-046	35502	Zambia, Sudan		3501 to 3
33-047	35503	Zambia	Retired
33-048	35504	Sudan		3501 to 3
33-049	35505
33-050	35506	Sudan		3504
33-051	35507
33-052	35508		Scrapped
33-053	35509		Congo
33-054	35510	Sudan		3505
33-055	35511
33-056	35512
33-057	35513		Congo
33-058	35514
33-059	35515		TransNamib	059
33-060	35516		Congo
33-061	35517
33-062	35518		Congo
33-063	35519
33-064	35520
33-065	35521		Congo

Illustration

The main picture and those following, serve to illustrate the distinguishing features of the Class as well as some of the liveries which they served in.

No. 33-007 in South African Railways livery at Bellville Loco Depot, Cape Town, 27 June 2009
No. 33-030 in Spoornet Traction livery, Bellville Loco Depot, Cape Town, 24 May 2009
No. 33-030 in TransNamib livery and numbered 030, De Aar, Northern Cape, 9 October 2015
Class 33-000 no. 1434, sold to the Congolese SCTP, at Koedoespoort, 29 September 2015

References

1 2 3 South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610 mm and 1065 mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
1 2 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0869772112.
1 2 3 Spoornet Diesels Leased to ZR 1978-1993. P.F. Bagshawe.
1 2 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. 38–39, 47.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South African Class 33-000.

Locomotives of South Africa

Steam

7' ¼" gauge	East London Harbour 0-4-0 Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0T Table Bay Harbour 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 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST 1902 CGR 0-6-0T 1876 Back-to-Back 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 1876 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T 1875 CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T 1882 CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack CSAR Railmotor DSWA Eight-Coupled Tank 2-8-0T Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth Harbour 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 0-4-0ST 1903 SAR 0-4-0T no. 69 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 Clayton Railmotor

3' 6" gauge Tender engines	CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Beyer, Peacock 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 1879 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT 1881 CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT 1875 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 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 DSWA Eight-Coupled Tender 2-8-0 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 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 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 Red Devil

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 0-6-0T 1871 Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Class Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Class Namaqua Copper Pioneer

2' & 600mm gauges	ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T DSWA Class Ha DSWA Class Hb DSWA Class Hc DSWA Class Hd DSWA Jung DSWA Zwillinge NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR NG 0-4-0T 1899 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

Electric

Amcoal Class E38

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 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 35-800 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

Diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation / GE Rail (GE)

Industrial and switch engines	60-ton boxcab 100-ton boxcab 600-hp centercab 1000-hp centercab DEY-2 EN-6 25-ton 35-ton 43-ton 44-ton 45-ton 50-ton 60-ton 65-ton 70-ton 80-ton 95-ton 100-ton 110-ton 125-ton 126-ton 128-ton 1800-hp transfer 2000-hp transfer U5B U6B

Universal Series	UM6B U9B U10B U12B U13B UD18 U18B U23B U25B U28B U30B U33B U36B UM12C U12C U14C U15C U17C U18C U18C1 U20C U20C1 U23C U25C U26C U28C U30C U33C U36C U50C U50

Passenger locomotives	U28CG U30CG U34CH P30CH B32-8WH Genesis series (P40DC, P32AC-DM, P42DC)

Dash 7 Series	B23-7 BQ23-7 B30-7 B30-7A B36-7 C30-7 C30-7A C36-7

Dash 8 Series	B32-8 B39-8 B40-8 B40-8W C32-8 C39-8 C40-8 C40-8M C40-8W C40-8.5W C41-8W C44-8W

Dash 9 Series	C40-9 C40-9W C44-9W BB40-9W C-38AChe

AC series	AC4400CW AC6000CW C30ACi C44ACi

Evolution Series	ES40ACi ES40DC ES44DC ES44DCi ES44AC ES44C4 ES59ACi

PowerHaul Series	PH37ACmi PH37ACi PH37ACmai

Indonesian series	U18A1A C18MMi C20EMP CM20EMP

(see also: List of GE locomotives)

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