South African Class 31 000

Manufacturer

The South African Class 31-000 type GE U12B diesel-electric locomotive was designed for the South African Railways (SAR) and built by General Electric in 1958. They were the first diesel-electric road locomotives to enter SAR service in quantity.

Reclassification & renumbering

Upon delivery, they were classified as Class 1-DE and numbered in the range from D700 to D744, in the electric locomotive number range. When the SAR adopted a new classification and numbering system for electric and diesel-powered locomotives c. 1960, they were reclassified to Class 31-000 and renumbered in the range from 31-001 to 31-045.

Orientation

The Class 31-000 is a high short hood locomotive. While the short hood end is usually considered as the front end, the cab is equipped with dual station controls to make it fully bidirectional.

Service

They were placed in service working out of Johannesburg to Kroonstad in the Free State and to Volksrust on the mainline to Natal. By the 1980s they were relegated to shunting and pickup service on the Reef and at some other major centres.

Of the original forty-five locomotives, forty survived into the Spoornet era in the 1990s. Now retired from Spoornet service, some still see service in private hands. Three of them, numbers 31-001 (D700), 31-005 (D704) and 31-038 (D737), were acquired by Sheltam for use at Rand Uranium near Randfontein and at Welkom. The first two were converted to low short hood locomotives and were still in service in 2014, while the third was used for spare parts.

Another private rail operator, RRL Grindrod, owns no. 31-009 (D708) as its no. RB-201, which is employed at Welkom.

Works numbers

The Class 31-000 builder's works numbers, renumbering and disposition are listed in the table.

Illustration

Some of the liveries which were applied to Class 31-000 locomotives are illustrated below.