{{Short description|Model of 65 South African diesel-electric locomotives}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Use South African English|date=August 2013}} {{Infobox locomotive | name = South African Class 33-000 | image = SAR Class 33-000 33-025.JPG | alt = | caption = No. 33-025 at Bellville Loco, 28 March 2009 | powertype = [[Diesel-electric]] | designer = [[General Electric]] | builder = General Electric | ordernumber = | serialnumber = 35457-35521 | buildmodel = [[GE U20C]] | builddate = 1965-1966 | totalproduction = 65 | rebuilder = | rebuilddate = | numberrebuilt = | aarwheels = [[AAR wheel arrangement#C-C|C-C]] | uicclass = [[Co'Co']] | Britishclass = [[Co+Co]] | gauge = {{Track gauge|Cape|allk=on}} | bogies = | leadingdiameter = | wheeldiameter = {{convert|915|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} | trailingdiameter = | minimumcurve = | wheelbase = {{convert|12243|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | bogie = {{convert|3505|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | wheelspacing = '''1-2:''' {{convert|1594|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}}<br>'''2-3:''' {{convert|1911|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | length = | over couplers = {{convert|16866|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | over bufferbeams = | body = | pivotcentres = {{convert|9017|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|2756|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | height = {{convert|3931|mm|ftin|1|abbr=on}} | axleload = {{convert|15749|kg|lb|abbr=on}} | leadingbogie/pony= | weightondrivers = | trail bogie/pony = | locoweight = {{convert|94494|kg|lb|abbr=on}} max | fueltype = [[Diesel fuel|Diesel]] | fuelcap = {{convert|3600|L|impgal}} | lubecap = | coolantcap = | watercap = | sandcap = | powersupply = | consumption = | watercons = | primemover = [[GE Transportation Systems|GE]] [[GE FDL|7FDL-12]] | rpmrange = 400-1,000 | rpmrange low = 400 | rpmrange idle = | rpmrange max = 1000 | enginetype = [[four-stroke engine|4 stroke]] diesel | aspiration = [[Cooper Bessemer|C-B]] ET13 [[turbocharger]] | displacement = <!-- per cylinder --> | alternator = | generator = DC 10 pole GE 5GT-581C9 | tractionmotors = Six GE 5GE-761A6 DC 4 pole | t/m amps 1 hr = 635A | t/m amps cont = 620A @ {{convert|20|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | headendpower = | cylindercount = [[V12 engine|V12]] | cylindersize = | transmission = | gear ratio = 92:19 | multipleworking = 4 maximum | trainheating = | locobrakes = 28-LV-1 with vigilance control | dynamicpeakeffort= {{convert|173|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} @ {{convert|26|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | trainbrakes = Westinghouse 6CDX4UC compressor/exhauster | reservoircap = {{convert|700|L|impgal}} | compressorcap = {{convert|0.029|m3/s|ft3/s|abbr=on}} | exhaustercap = {{convert|0.116|m3/s|ft3/s|abbr=on}} | safety = | coupling = [[Janney coupler|AAR knuckle]] (SASKOP DS) | maxspeed = {{convert|100|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | poweroutput = | poweroutput start= {{convert|1605|kW|hp|abbr=on}} | poweroutput 1 hr = | poweroutput cont = {{convert|1490|kW|hp|abbr=on}} | tractiveeffort = | t/e starting = {{convert|223|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} @ 25% adhesion | t/e 1 hr = | t/e continuous = {{convert|178|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} @ {{convert|24|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} | factorofadhesion = | f/adh starting = 25% | f/adh 1 hr = | f/adh continuous = 20% | locobrakeforce = 70% ratio @ {{convert|345|kPa|psi|abbr=on}} | operator = {{flagicon|South Africa}} [[South African Railways]], [[Transnet Freight Rail]]<br>{{flagicon|Gabon}} [[COMILOG]]<br>{{flagicon|Sudan}} [[Sudan Railways]]<br>{{flagicon|Zambia}} [[Zambia Railways]]<br>{{flagicon|Namibia}} [[TransNamib]]<br>{{flagicon|Mozambique}} CDN<br>{{flagicon|DRC}} [[Société commerciale des transports et des ports|Company of Transportation and Ports]] | operatorclass = Class 33-000 | powerclass = | numinclass = 65 | fleetnumbers = 33-001 to 33-065 | officialname = | nicknames = ''Bosvark'' | axleloadclass = | locale = | deliverydate = 1965-1966 | firstrundate = 1965 | lastrundate = | withdrawndate = | preservedunits = | restoredate = | scrapdate = | currentowner = | disposition = | notes = }}
The '''South African Railways Class 33-000''' of 1965 was a diesel-electric locomotive.
In 1965 and 1966, the South African Railways placed sixty-five {{nowrap|Class 33-000}} General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service.<ref name="E&D diagram-book">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</ref>
==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 {{nowrap|33-001}} to {{nowrap|33-065}}.<ref name="E&D diagram-book"/><ref name="Soul of a Railway 6-3">[https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/home/system-6-1/part-3-the-harbour-wests-the-bluff-and-cato-creek-to-congella-featuring-the-sar-h-harbour-craft Soul of A Railway, System 6, Part 3: Durban Harbour, Wests, the Bluff & Cato Creek to Congella; featuring SAR & H Harbour Craft. Caption 94.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318001653/https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/home/system-6-1/part-3-the-harbour-wests-the-bluff-and-cato-creek-to-congella-featuring-the-sar-h-harbour-craft |date=18 March 2017 }} (Accessed on 11 March 2017)</ref>
==Class 33 series== The Class 33 family consisted of three series, the GE-built Classes {{nowrap|33-000}} and [[South African Class 33-400|{{nowrap|33-400}}]] and the [[Electro-Motive Diesel|General Motors Electro-Motive Division]]-built [[South African Class 33-200|Class 33-200]]. Both manufacturers also produced locomotives for the subsequent SAR Classes 34, 35 and 36.<ref name="Paxton-Bourne">{{Paxton-Bourne|pages=139-140}}</ref>
The two GE-built Classes were virtually identical in appearance, but could be distinguished from each other by some ventilation openings on their bodywork. * The Class 33-000 had press-formed louvre openings in both short hood doors on the right-hand side of the nose, while the Class {{nowrap|33-400}} had 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 had panels with three ventilation openings. These had two horizontal bars in each opening on the Class {{nowrap|33-000}} and press-formed louvre openings on the {{nowrap|33-400}}.
These doors and panels could get swapped between models and sometimes did, 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 [[South African Class 34-000|Class 34-000]] entered service in 1971, the Class 33-000 locomotives were relocated to Transvaal and some later to the Cape Western system.<ref name="Paxton-Bourne"/>
[[Image:SAR Class 33-000 33-014 ID.JPG|thumb|left|x100px]] 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.<ref name="E&D diagram-book"/>
Most of these locomotives survived in mainline and branch line service well into the twenty-first century, for example on the lines from [[De Aar]] to [[Upington]] and on the branch line from [[Worcester, South Africa|Worcester]] to Voorbaai. Some were later employed 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 [[South African Class 43-000|Class {{nowrap|43-000}}]] on that line in 2011 made more GE-built Class 34 locomotives available for this task.
===Outside South Africa=== Between October 1978 and May 1993, [[Zambia Railways]] (ZR) 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, Zambia|Livingstone]] and [[Kitwe]], sometimes in tandem with a ZR locomotive and occasionally also on passenger trains.<ref name="Bagshawe"/>
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.<ref name="Bagshawe">''Spoornet Diesels Leased to ZR 1978–1993''. P.F. Bagshawe.</ref><!-- Book still to be published – will update the reference then. -->
The locomotives were initially selected from the [[South African Class 33-400|Classes 33-400]], [[South African Class 35-000|35-000]] and [[South African Class 35-200|35-200]], but by December 1989 some Class {{nowrap|33-000}} locomotives also began to serve one or more tours of duty in Zambia. The pool of Class {{nowrap|33-000}} locomotives which were allocated by the Railways for hire to Zambia from time to time included the unit numbers as shown in the table.<ref name="Bagshawe"/>
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]].<ref name="Middleton">{{Middleton-SA Loco Guide|pages=38-39, 47}}</ref>
===Mozambique=== In 2013 some Class 33-000 locomotives were sold to ''Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte'' (CDN) at [[Nacala]] in northern Mozambique. CDN operates a rail link with the land-locked Malawi to the west. These locomotives were refurbished in South Africa prior to being delivered to their new owners.
===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 (SCTP, formerly [[Office National des Transports (Congo)|Onatra]]) in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. These locomotives were also refurbished in South Africa prior to being delivered to their new owners.
==Withdrawal== [[File:Class 33-000 SCTP 1434 logo.jpg|thumb|x100px|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 more than fifty years. During 2015, when sufficient numbers of new GE-designed Class {{nowrap|43-000}} locomotives had entered service, several of the remaining Class 33-000 units were sold to, amongst others, [[TransNamib]] in [[Namibia]] and the Congolese Company for Transportation and Ports (SCTP, formerly [[Office National des Transports (Congo)|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.
==Liveries== The class 33-000 were delivered in the new 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, some of those leased to other countries were painted in a maroon livery with yellow and blue chevron buffer beams and inscribed "Spoornet Traction" on the long hood sides.<ref name="Soul of a Railway 7-6">[https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/home/system-7-1/system-7-part-6-germiston-the-steam-and-diesel-running-sheds Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 6. Germiston, the Steam and Diesel Running Sheds by Les Pivnic. Caption 33.] (Accessed on 7 April 2017)</ref>
==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.<ref name="Middleton"/> {| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed sortable" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:100%;" |+'''Class 33-000, type GE U20C''' |- !<br>Loco no. ! Works<br>no. !Leased<br>to ! Post-SAR<br>owner ! Post-SAR<br>no. |- |33-001 |35457 |Zambia | | |- |33-002 |35458 | |TransNamib |002 |- |33-003 |35459 | |Withdrawn | |- |33-004 |35460 |Sudan | |3506 |- |33-005 |35461 | |Withdrawn | |- |33-006 |35462 |Zambia |TransNamib |006 |- |33-007 |35463 | | | |- |33-008 |35464 | |TransNamib |008 |- |33-009 |35465 | | | |- |33-010 |35466 | |Congo | |- |33-011 |35467 |Zambia | | |- |33-012 |35468 |Zambia |Congo | |- |33-013 |35469 |Zambia |TransNamib |013 |- |33-014 |35470 | | | |- |33-015 |35471 | | | |- |33-016 |35472 | | | |- |33-017 |35473 | |TransNamib |017 |- |33-018 |35474 | | | |- |33-019 |35475 |Zambia |Withdrawn | |- |33-020 |35476 |Zambia | | |- |33-021 |35477 |Zambia |Withdrawn | |- |33-022 |35478 |Zambia | | |- |33-023 |35479 |Zambia |Congo | |- |33-024 |35480 |Zambia |Withdrawn | |- |33-025 |35481 |Zambia | | |- |33-026 |35482 |Zambia |Withdrawn | |- |33-027 |35483 | |COMILOG | |- |33-028 |35484 |Zambia, Sudan | |3501 to 3 |- |33-029 |35485 |Zambia |Withdrawn | |- |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 |TransNamib |041 |- |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 |Withdrawn | |- |33-048 |35504 |Sudan | |3501 to 3 |- |33-049 |35505 | | | |- |33-050 |35506 |Sudan | |3504 |- |33-051 |35507 | |TransNamib |051 |- |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== <gallery mode=packed heights="220px"> File:SAR Class 33-000 33-007.JPG|No. 33-007 in South African Railways livery at Bellville Loco Depot, [[Cape Town]], 27 June 2009 File:SAR Class 33-000 33-030.JPG|No. 33-030 in Spoornet Traction livery, Bellville Loco Depot, Cape Town, 24 May 2009 File:Class 33-000 33-030.JPG|No. 33-030 in TransNamib livery and numbered 030, De Aar, Northern Cape, 9 October 2015 File:Class 33-000 SCTP 1434.jpg|Class 33-000 no. 1434, sold to the Congolese SCTP, at Koedoespoort, 29 September 2015 </gallery>
==References== {{Commons category|South African Class 33-000|position=left}} {{Reflist}} {{Locomotives of South Africa}} {{GE diesels}}
[[Category:Diesel–electric locomotives of South Africa|3320]] [[Category:C-C locomotives]] [[Category:Co′Co′ locomotives]] [[Category:Co+Co locomotives]] [[Category:General Electric locomotives]] [[Category:Cape gauge railway locomotives]] [[Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1965]] [[Category:1965 in South Africa]]