{{Short description|Type of electric locomotive}} {{About|the South African electric locomotive|the steam locomotive|South African Class 15E 4-8-2}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use South African English|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox locomotive | name = South African Class 15E | image = Class 15E 15-006.JPG | alt = | caption = Numbers 15-006 and 15-001 at the Salkor Depot, Saldanha, 19 August 2010 | hatnote = | powertype = Electric | designer = [[Mitsui]] | builder = [[Union Carriage & Wagon]] | ordernumber = | serialnumber = | buildmodel = | builddate = 2009-2013 | totalproduction = 76 | rebuilder = | rebuilddate = | numberrebuilt = | aarwheels = [[AAR wheel arrangement#C-C|C-C]] | uicclass = [[Co'Co']] | Britishclass = [[Co-Co locomotives|Co-Co]] | gauge = {{Track gauge|Cape|allk=on}} | bogies = | leadingdiameter = | wheeldiameter = {{convert|1220|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} new<br>{{convert|1136|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} worn | trailingdiameter = | minimumcurve = | wheelbase = Unknown | bogie = {{convert|2100|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | pivotcentres = | pantoshoecentres = | wheelspacing = | length = | over couplers = {{convert|21378|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | over bufferbeams = | body = | width = {{convert|2920|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | height = | pantodown = {{convert|3885|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | bodyonly = {{convert|3885|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | frametype = | axleload = {{convert|30000|kg|lb|abbr=on}} | leadingbogie/pony= | weightondrivers = | trail bogie/pony = | locoweight = {{convert|180000|kg|lb|abbr=on}} max | sandcap = | electricsystem = [[50 kV AC]] 50 [[Hertz|Hz]] (27.5-55 kV)<br>Controls: 110 V DC (77-121 V) [[Overhead line|catenary]] | collectionmethod = [[Pantograph (transport)|Pantograph]] | alternator = | generator = | tractionmotors = Six [[Toshiba]] AC | t/m amps 1 hr = | t/m amps cont = | headendpower = | transmission = | gear ratio = | multipleworking = | trainheating = | locobrakes = [[Railway air brake|Air]], [[Regenerative brake|Regenerative]] and [[Dynamic braking#Rheostatic braking|Rheostatic]] | trainbrakes = Air | reservoircap = | compressorcap = | exhaustercap = | safety = | coupling = [[Janney coupler#Changes since 1873|AAR knuckle Type F]] ([[Tightlock coupling]]) | maxspeed = {{convert|90|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | poweroutput = {{convert|4500|kW|hp|abbr=on}} | poweroutput start= | poweroutput 1 hr = | poweroutput cont = | tractiveeffort = | t/e starting = {{convert|588|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} | t/e 1 hr = | t/e continuous = {{convert|454|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} | factorofadhesion = | f/adh starting = 33.5% | f/adh 1 hr = | f/adh continuous = 25.7% @ {{convert|35|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | locobrakeforce = {{convert|413|kN|lbf|abbr=on}}, 23.5% adh. @ {{convert|5|to|45|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | operator = [[Transnet Freight Rail]] | operatorclass = 15E | numinclass = 76 | fleetnumbers = 15-001 to 15-076 | officialname = | nicknames = | axleloadclass = | locale = | deliverydate = 2010-2013 | firstrundate = 2010 | lastrundate = | withdrawndate = | preservedunits = | restoredate = | scrapdate = | currentowner = | disposition = | notes = }}
The '''Transnet Freight Rail Class 15E''' of 2010 is a South African electric locomotive.
In 2010, [[Transnet Freight Rail]] placed the first of seventy-six Class 15E heavy electric freight locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service on the [[Sishen–Saldanha railway line|Sishen–Saldanha iron ore export line]].<ref name="Transnet 2-3-2011"/>
==Manufacturers== The 50 kV AC {{nowrap|50 Hz}} Class 15E is the product of a joint venture by Mitsui who was responsible for the design, [[Toshiba]] who supplied the electrical components, the RSD division of [[DCD (company)|DCD-Dorbyl]] who supplied the monoblock cast frame, bolster bogies and drawgear, and [[Union Carriage & Wagon]] (UCW) in [[Nigel, Gauteng|Nigel]] who constructed the bodies. It was manufactured for Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) by UCW who delivered the first locomotives in 2010.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/bengts/ellok/Transnet/2.jpg| author=Toshiba| title=Datasheet page 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/bengts/ellok/Transnet/1.jpg| author=Toshiba| title=Datasheet page 2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/06/bogies-for-the-class-15e/| website=Railways Africa| date=6 June 2009| title=Bogies for the Class 15E| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814033944/http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/06/bogies-for-the-class-15e/| archive-date=14 August 2009}}</ref>
These heavy duty electric locomotives use Toshiba-made 3-phase AC motors, powered through [[insulated-gate bipolar transistor]] (IGBT) control. They are single-cab locomotives, a feature they share with the [[South African Class 19E|Class 19E]] electric locomotives of the Coalink Line, also made with Toshiba technology, the [[South African Class 9E, Series 1|Class 9E]] Series 1 and 2 electric locomotives of the Orex Line, and electric locomotives of Classes 7E1, 7E4, 11E, 18E, 20E, 21E and 22E.
[[File:Class 15E 15-034 Signs.JPG|thumb|left|Safety signs on Class 15E rear door]] The initial order was for forty-four locomotives, of which the last were delivered by UCW and accepted by TFR in the first week of August 2011. On 2 March 2011, it was announced in a Transnet press release that, in line with Transnet's target of achieving 61 million tons per annum on the Orex line, Transnet had signed an agreement with Venus Railway Solutions, a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsui, and local [[Black Economic Empowerment|BEE]] investors for the supply of an additional thirty-two Class 15E locomotives. Production of these additional locomotives commenced in December 2011, with the first unit delivered by May 2012 and the last by August 2013.<ref name="Transnet 2-3-2011">{{cite press release| url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3ATRANSNET_BUYS_32_MORE_LOCOMOTIVES_FROM_MITSUI.pdf&page=1| author=Transnet| date=2 March 2011| title=Transnet Buys 32 More Locomotives From Mitsui}} {{dead link|date=August 2019}}</ref>
==Service== Class 15E locomotives are used exclusively on the {{convert|861|km|mi|adj=mid|-long|0|abbr=off}} Orex line to haul export ore from the open cast iron mines near [[Sishen]] in the [[Northern Cape]] to the harbour at [[Saldanha Bay]] in the [[Western Cape]]. Most of the route is across the hot and dry Northern Cape, but the last {{convert|160|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} to Saldanha runs parallel to the Atlantic coastline and is subjected to the fog and salt sea air of the West Coast.<ref name="Paxton-Bourne"/><ref name="Middleton">{{Middleton-SA Loco Guide|page=50}}</ref>
In South Africa, the Orex line is unusual for several reasons. * Construction, which began in 1973, was not undertaken by the South African Railways (SAR), but by the South African Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR), who operated the line with diesel-electric motive power. Operations on the Orex line was only taken over by the SAR in 1977. * It was electrified by the SAR at 50 kV AC, compared to the 25 kV AC high voltage which it used in other parts of the country. * At the time, it was the longest 50 kV AC electrified railway line in the world.<ref name="Paxton-Bourne">{{Paxton-Bourne|pages=129-132}}</ref> * It is the only line in South Africa where electric and diesel-electric locomotives are consisted in mixed power use.<ref name="Actom"/>
==Mixed power== On the Orex line, General Electric (GE) diesel-electric locomotives run consisted to General Electric Company (GEC) Class 9E and Mitsui Class 15E electric locomotives to haul the 342-truck iron ore trains. Each truck has a 100-ton capacity and the trains are at least {{convert|3.72|km|mi|abbr=off}} in length, powered by mixed consists of [[South African Class 9E, Series 1|Classes 9E]] and 15E electric, GE type U26C [[South African Class 34-000|Class {{nowrap|34-000}}]], [[South African Class 34-400|{{nowrap|34-400}}]], [[South African Class 34-500|{{nowrap|34-500}}]], [[South African Class 34-900|{{nowrap|34-900}}]] and GE type C30ACi [[South African Class 43-000|Class {{nowrap|43-000}}]] diesel-electric locomotives.<ref name="Actom">{{cite web| url=http://www.actom.co.za/pages/Actom-Divisions/news.asp?ID=5&DivisionID=4&BusinessUnitID=20&NewsID=45| website=Actom| title=Divisions News| date=22 July 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305083604/http://www.actom.co.za/pages/Actom-Divisions/news.asp?ID=5&DivisionID=4&BusinessUnitID=20&NewsID=45| archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Orex"/>
The use of mixed electric and diesel-electric power is necessitated by the huge voltage drops which can occur as a result of the long distance between some of the sub-stations along the route, with a supply voltage which can vary between 55 and 25 kV AC and with the lower value voltage sometimes occurring between sub-stations.<ref name="Paxton-Bourne"/> Electric-only trains would therefore reduce the maximum possible traffic frequency.
A Class 9E or Class 15E electric locomotive serves as the master of each mixed electric and diesel-electric consist, with a total of between nine and twelve locomotives per train, twelve being the maximum number allowed. Before the Class 15E was placed in service in 2010, motive power usually consisted of three sets of locomotives, each set made up of one or two Class 9E electrics and one or two Class 34 diesel-electrics, with each set's leading electric locomotive controlling its respective set of diesel-electrics by means of a ''slimkabel'' (smart cable). In effect, each ore train is made up of three separate 114-truck trains consisted together, with the locomotives of all three trains controlled by means of a [[Locotrol]] radio distributed power control system by one crew in the leading electric locomotive. A typical train would therefore be made up of locomotive set A, 114 trucks, locomotive set B, 114 trucks, locomotive set C, and 114 trucks.<ref name="Actom"/><ref name="Orex"/><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.getransportation.com/rail/rail-products/locomotives/on-board-systems/l.html| website=GE Transportation| title=Locotrol Distributed Power| url-status=usurped| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202135149/http://www.getransportation.com/rail/rail-products/locomotives/on-board-systems/l.html| archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>
{{wide image|Sishen-Saldanha Iron Ore Train.jpg|1800px|alt=Ore train about {{convert|100|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} north of Lamberts Bay|Ore train about {{convert|100|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} north of Lamberts Bay (''Scroll the bar above from left to right to see the full train's length'')}} Some problems were experienced using this configuration and after a couple of major derailments, the locomotive configuration was changed to four sets, with locomotive set D initially made up of two Class 34 diesel-electric locomotives at the rear end of the train, pushing at between 40% and 50% of tractive power at all times depending on the grades being traversed. The total maximum number allowed was still between nine and twelve locomotives per train.<ref name="Orex"/>
As more Class 15Es were delivered and placed in service and with the arrival of the GE type C30ACi Class 43-000 diesel-electrics from 2011, a single Class 9E or 15E electric replaced the pair of Class 34 diesel-electrics in set D. At the same time, the more powerful Class 15E and Class 43-000 also made it possible to use as few as seven locomotives per train, with locomotive sets A, B and C each made up of one Class 15E and one Class 34 or Class 43-000, and set D of a single Class 9E or 15E.<ref name="Orex">Information supplied by Transnet Freight Rail staff.{{nonspecific|date=August 2019}}</ref> [[File:Class 15E 15-054 sign.jpg|thumb|Notice on front door of modified unit no. 15-054, 5 October 2015]]
==Modification== During 2015, the Class 15E fleet began to be equipped with new multiple unit (MU) hardware and train control and monitoring system (TCMS) software. Modified locomotives carried temporary plaques on their front doors to indicate that the modification had been carried out and to warn train crews that the locomotive may not be connected to an unmodified locomotive by multiple unit jumper cable. Modified locomotives could only be used with unmodified locomotives through the radio distributed power system.
==Illustration== <gallery mode=packed heights="200px"> File:Class 15E 15-036.JPG|No. 15-036 in the Salkor Yard, Saldanha, 14 July 2011 File:Class 15E 15-050.JPG|No. 15-050 taking its Set B train section to the Salkor train assembly yard, 11 November 2014 File:Class 15E 15-056.jpg|No. 15-056 in the Erts Yard near Kathu, Northern Cape, 5 October 2015 File:Class 15E 15-065.JPG|No. 15-065 in the Salkor Yard, Saldanha, 13 November 2014 </gallery>
==References== {{Commons category|South African Class 15E|position=left}} {{Reflist}} {{Locomotives of South Africa}}
[[Category:Electric locomotives of South Africa|3160]] [[Category:Co-Co locomotives]] [[Category:Union Carriage & Wagon locomotives]] [[Category:Mitsui locomotives]] [[Category:Toshiba locomotives]] [[Category:50 kV AC locomotives]] [[Category:Cape gauge railway locomotives]] [[Category:Freight locomotives]] [[Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 2010]] [[Category:2010 in South Africa]]