South African Class 35-600

No. 35-662 at Vryheid Yard, 15 August 2007

Type and origin
Power type	Diesel-electric
Designer	General Motors Electro-Motive Division
Builder	General Motors South Africa
Serial number	103-1 to 103-50, 110-1 to 110-50, 111-1
Model	GM-EMD GT18MC
Build date	1976-1978
Total produced	101

Specifications
Configuration:
• AAR	C-C
• UIC	Co'Co'
• Commonwealth	Co+Co
Gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Wheel diameter	915 mm (36 in)
Wheelbase	12,675 mm (41 ft 7 in)
• Bogie	3,302 mm (10 ft 10 in)
Pivot centres	9,627 mm (31 ft 7 in)
Wheel spacing (Asymmetrical)	1-2: 1,562 mm (5 ft 1 in) 2-3: 1,740 mm (5 ft 9 in)
Length:
• Over couplers	16,485 mm (54 ft 1 in)
Width	2,819 mm (9 ft 3 in)
Height	3,924 mm (12 ft 10 in)
Axle load	13,720 kg (30,250 lb)
Adhesive weight	82,320 kg (181,480 lb)
Loco weight	82,320 kg (181,480 lb) max
Fuel type	Diesel
Fuel capacity	3,400 litres (750 imp gal)
Prime mover	GM-EMD 8-645E3
RPM range	250-900
• RPM low idle	250
• RPM idle	315
• Maximum RPM	900
Engine type	2-stroke diesel
Aspiration	GM-EMD E-8 turbocharger
Displacement	10.57 litres (645.0 cu in) per cylinder
Generator	8 pole GM-EMD D25
Traction motors	Six GM-EMD D29CCBT DC 4 pole
• Rating 1 hour	485A
• Continuous	450A @ 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
Cylinders	V8
Gear ratio	57:16
MU working	4 maximum
Loco brake	28-LAV-1 with vigilance control
Train brakes	Gardner-Denver ADJV-8400 compressor/exhauster
Air tank cap.	800 litres (180 imp gal)
Compressor	0.021 m³/s (0.74 cu ft/s)
Exhauster	0.098 m³/s (3.5 cu ft/s)
Couplers	AAR knuckle (SASKOP DS)

Performance figures
Maximum speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
Power output:
• Starting	1,195 kW (1,603 hp)
• Continuous	1,065 kW (1,428 hp)
Tractive effort:
• Starting	201 kN (45,000 lbf) @ 25% adh.
• Continuous	161 kN (36,000 lbf) @ 19 km/h (12 mph)
Factor of adh.:
• Starting	25%
• Continuous	20%
Brakeforce	65% ratio @ 345 kPa (50.0 psi)
Dynamic brake peak effort	138 kN (31,000 lbf) @ 28 km/h (17 mph)

Career
Operators	South African Railways Columbus Stainless Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail PRASA
Class	Class 35-600
Number in class	101
Numbers	35-601 to 35-700, Columbus 4
Delivered	1976-1978
First run	1976

The South African Railways Class 35-600 of 1976 is a branch line diesel-electric locomotive.

Between September 1976 and June 1978, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 35-600 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT18MC diesel-electric locomotives in branch line service. In 1977, one more Class 35-600 locomotive was built for Columbus Stainless in Middelburg, Transvaal.^[1]^[2]

Manufacturer

The Class 35-600 type GT18MC diesel-electric locomotive was designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and built in two batches for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Motors South Africa (GMSA) in Port Elizabeth. Fifty were delivered between September 1976 and May 1977, numbered in the range from 35-601 to 35-650, and another fifty between May 1977 and June 1978, numbered in the range from 35-651 to 35-700.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

In addition, another single Class 35-600 GT18MC locomotive was built new in 1977 for Columbus Stainless, a large stainless steel plant which was established in Middelburg, Transvaal in 1965.^[1]

Distinguishing features

Of the GM-EMD Class 35 locomotives, the Class 35-200 and 35-600 are visually indistinguishable from each other.^[2]

Service

The Class 35 family is South Africa’s standard branch line diesel-electric locomotive. The GM-EMD Class 35-600s were designed for light rail conditions and they work on most branch lines in the central, eastern, northern and northeastern parts of the country.^[3]A number of them also saw service in Richards Bay working the Golela line.

Works numbers

The Class 35-600 builder’s works numbers are listed in the table.^[1]

**Class 35-600, GM-EMD type GT18MC**
Loco no.	Works no.
35-601	103-1
35-602	103-2
35-603	103-3
35-604	103-4
35-605	103-5
35-606	103-6
35-607	103-7
35-608	103-8
35-609	103-9
35-610	103-10
35-611	103-11
35-612	103-12
35-613	103-13
35-614	103-14
35-615	103-15
35-616	103-16
35-617	103-17
35-618	103-18
35-619	103-19
35-620	103-20
35-621	103-21
35-622	103-22
35-623	103-23
35-624	103-24
35-625	103-25
35-626	103-26
35-627	103-27
35-628	103-28
35-629	103-29
35-630	103-30
35-631	103-31
35-632	103-32
35-633	103-33
35-634	103-34
35-635	103-35
35-636	103-36
35-637	103-37
35-638	103-38
35-639	103-39
35-640	103-40
35-641	103-41
35-642	103-42
35-643	103-43
35-644	103-44
35-645	103-45
35-646	103-46
35-647	103-47
35-648	103-48
35-649	103-49
35-650	103-50
35-651	110-1
35-652	110-2
35-653	110-3
35-654	110-4
35-655	110-5
35-656	110-6
35-657	110-7
35-658	110-8
35-659	110-9
35-660	110-10
35-661	110-11
35-662	110-12
35-663	110-13
35-664	110-14
35-665	110-15
35-666	110-16
35-667	110-17
35-668	110-18
35-669	110-19
35-670	110-20
35-671	110-21
35-672	110-22
35-673	110-23
35-674	110-24
35-675	110-25
35-676	110-26
35-677	110-27
35-678	110-28
35-679	110-29
35-680	110-30
35-681	110-31
35-682	110-32
35-683	110-33
35-684	110-34
35-685	110-35
35-686	110-36
35-687	110-37
35-688	110-38
35-689	110-39
35-690	110-40
35-691	110-41
35-692	110-42
35-693	110-43
35-694	110-44
35-695	110-45
35-696	110-46
35-697	110-47
35-698	110-48
35-699	110-49
35-700	110-50
Columbus	111-1

Liveries

The Class 35-600 were all delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red buffer beams, yellow side stripes on the long hood sides and a yellow V on each end. In the 1990s many of them began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams. Several later received the Spoornet maroon livery. In the late 1990s many were repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers on the long hood sides. After 2008 in the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) era, many were repainted in the TFR red, green and yellow livery and at least one was repainted in the PRASA blue livery.^[1]^[5]

Illustration

Overhead view of no. 35-671 at Mason's Mill, Pietermaritzburg, 8 November 2011

No. 35-622 in Spoornet maroon livery, Koedoespoort, Pretoria, 30 September 2009
No. 35-631 in Spoornet blue with outline numbers, Capital Park, 1 October 2009
No. 35-662 in Transnet Freight Rail livery, Capital Park, 26 September 2015
No. 35-672 in PRASA's backdrop blue livery, Bloemfontein, 18 September 2015

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South African Class 35-600.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 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, 42–43, 46.
^ ^a ^b ^c South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
^ ^a ^b Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0869772112.
^ EMD Exports - South African Railways GT18MC
^ Soul of A Railway, System 7, Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg, Part 9. South-Eastwards as far as Volksrust (2nd part) by Les Pivnic. Caption 4. Archived 24 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed on 11 April 2017)

Locomotives of South Africa

Steam

7' ¼" gauge	East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT
Standard 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
Cape gauge Tank engines	CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T 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 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack 4-6-4RT CSAR Railmotor Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth 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 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 Railmotor SAR Dock 0-4-0ST SAR Dock 0-4-0T SWA 2-8-0T
Cape gauge Tender engines	CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP 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 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT 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 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 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 1st SAR Class 14C 2nd SAR Class 14C 3rd SAR Class 14C 4th 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 1928 SAR Class 16DA 1930 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 SAR Katanga SWA 2-8-0
Cape 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 John King & Miner Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay 2-4-2T Hope
2' & 600mm gauges	ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR Dutton SAR NG 0-4-0T 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 SWA Class Ha SWA Class Hb SWA Class Hc SWA Class Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge

Electric

Amcoal Class E38

Gas-electric

SAR Gas-electric

Diesel

Cape 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 TFR Class 35-800 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000 TFR Class 45-000
2' gauge Diesel-electric	SAR Class 91-000
Cape gauge Diesel-hydraulic	SAR Class 61-000
Cape gauge Electro-diesel	Spoornet Class 38-000

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Four axle road switchers	BL2 GP7 GP9 GP15-1 GP15AC GP15T GP18 GP20 GP28 GP30 GP35 GP38 GP38AC GP38-2 GP39 GP39DC GP39X GP39-2 GP40 GP40P GP40P-2 GP40TC GP40X GP40-2 GP49 GP50 GP59 GP60
Six axle road switchers	SD7 SD9 SD18 SD24 SD28 SD35 SDP35 SD38 SD38AC SD38-2 SD39 SDL39 SD40 SD40A SD40-2 SD40-2W SD40T-2 SD40-2S SDP40 SD45 SD45X SD45-2 SD45T-2 SDP45 SD50 SD60 SD70 SD80MAC SD89MAC SD90MAC
Eight axle road switchers	DD35 DD35A DDA40X
Cab units (E- & F-units)	FT F2 F3 F7 FP7 F9 FP9 FL9 TA EA/EB E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 AA AB6
Cowl units	DE30AC/DM30AC F45 FP45 F40C F40PH F40PH-2 F40PH-2C F40PH-2M SDP40F SD40-2F SD50F F59PH F59PHI SD60F
Electrics	SW1200MG AEM-7 GM5FC GM6C GM10B GF6C
Industrial, military, export and narrow gauge	Model 40 DH1 DDM45 GM6W GMDH-1 GMDH-3 MRS-1 GA8 G8 G12 G16 NF110 NF210 JT42CWR (Series 66) JT42HW-HS GL26C-2 GL26MC GT18MC GT26MC GT26M2C GT26CU-3 GT-16 GA-12 GA-12b GT46MAC GT46PAC DDM45 GL8 JL8 JL18 JT22CW JT42HCW JT56ACe SDP28 SDP38
Streamliners	M-10000 M-10001 M-10002 M-10003 to M-10006 Pioneer Zephyr General Pershing Zephyr Green Diamond Flying Yankee Aerotrain (LWT12)
Experimentals and rebuilds	EMC 1800 hp B-B Beep (SWBLW) CF7 GP8 GP10 GP11 GP16 GP15D GP20D GP22ECO GP39X GP40X BL1 BL20-2 SD20 SD20-2 SD22ECO SD26 SD40X SD45X
List of EMD locomotives

This page was last edited on 5 October 2023, at 11:34