South African Class 91-000

The South African Railways Class 91-000 of 1973 is a narrow gauge diesel-electric locomotive.

Between September and December 1973, the South African Railways placed twenty Class 91-000 General Electric type UM6B diesel-electric locomotives in service on its narrow gauge Avontuur Railway line, between Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape and Avontuur in the Western Cape. Some of them later also worked on the Alfred County Railway line, out of Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal.^[1][2]

Manufacturer

The Class 91-000 GE type UM6B diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built for the South African Railways (SAR) by General Electric (GE) in Erie, Pennsylvania. Twenty locomotives were delivered between September and December 1973, numbered in the range from 91-001 to 91-020. It was designed for 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge and is the largest two foot gauge diesel-electric locomotive in the world, at an average weight of 44,000 kilograms (97,000 pounds).^[3]

Works plate on no. 91-002

The usual practice was to have locomotive builder’s works plates attached to the locomotive’s frame below the cab windows. The Class 91-000 locomotives, however, had their works plates mounted on each side of the long hood. With the exception of numbers 91-001 (GE 38604), 91-002 (GE 38603), 91-016 (GE 38619) and 91-017 (GE 38618), the Class 91-000 works numbers are in sequence with their running numbers. It is very likely, however, that this was the result of body panels being swapped between locomotives during overhauls.^[4]

Characteristics

As a result of the severe clearance problems presented by the two foot gauge, it was not possible to follow the usual practice of axle-hung traction motors. Special bogies had to be designed, with the traction motors mounted between the axles, with one traction motor on each side of each bogie.^[2]

Willison coupler

The locomotives are both air and dynamically braked, while a lag control was incorporated into the train’s brake pipes to prevent bunching of the wagons upon braking and snatching upon restarting. This, combined with the cabling required for multi-unit control, resulted in altogether seven cable connections between consisted units.^[2]

The Class 91-000 also introduced the new Willison or SA3 coupler, which eventually replaced the old Norwegian Hook type coupler on South African narrow gauge rolling stock.^[2]

End of the steam era

The Class 91-000 replaced the ageing Class NG G13 and NG G16 Garratts and Class NG15 2-8-2 Kalahari steam locomotives, which had been working the Langkloof narrow gauge line until then. It is the only diesel-electric locomotive type to have operated on South Africa’s narrow gauge lines.^[2]

Service

South African Railways

These locomotives served nearly exclusively on the Langkloof line, but between 1992 and December 2003, a few of them also worked on the Alfred County Railway (ACR) narrow gauge line out of Port Shepstone. The locomotives which were transferred to and from Natal, usually travelled all the way from Port Elizabeth under their own power on what became known as Bigfoot bogies, which were actually 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Class 36-000 GE type SG10B bogies. These Bigfoot bogies were also used under the Class 91-000 locomotives whenever they had to be exchanged for maintenance purposes, sometimes running under their own power, sometimes hauled dead.^[4]

Over the years since the Class 91-000 was commissioned, the demand for rail services declined steadily on both the ACR and the Langkloof lines. Still, even though road transport had triumphed over rail transport in respect of fruit traffic from the Langkloof by the 1980s, the eastern part of the line remained busy for some years, hauling limestone from Loerie. When the quarry, which fed Loerie station by cableway, was closed, however, the fate of the narrow gauge line was virtually sealed.^[5]

Despite this, in the narrow gauge line’s centenary year in 2003, Spoornet still stated its commitment to keep the line in service, by undertaking to invest in infrastructure and technology. As recently as September 2005, there was even talk of extending the 107 kilometres (66 miles) branchline from Loerie further up the Gamtoos valley, to assist farmers who had difficulty moving their produce.^[6]

By 2009, however, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) had decided that narrow-gauge railway operations were no longer in its "core line of business" and began to cull the herd, by putting some of the Class 91-000 locomotives up for auction. Of the twenty locomotives built, eighteen were still in operation by 2009, two having been withdrawn after accident damage.^[4]

At least one Class 91-000 locomotive, no. 91-010, was still in service with TFR by 2013. It was mounted on Bigfoot bogies, of which only one was equipped with traction motors, and equipped with AAR knuckle couplers, for use as a shunting locomotive at the Swartkops electric locomotive depot in Port Elizabeth. The rest of the fleet which were still on the TFR roster, were standing idle, staged at the narrow gauge depot at Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth.

Industrial service

Five locomotives were sold to RRL Grindrod, a joint venture between Solethu Investments, a South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rail logistics company, and Grindrod Limited, a shipping and logistics group, for use at Welkom in the Free State to haul mine hoppers. Four of them were renumbered in the range from RRL 91-01 to 91-04 and their original narrow gauge bogies were cut in half and widened to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge.^[7][8][9] The fifth was the accident-damaged no. 91-009, which was completely rebuilt as a 700hp Caterpillar engine-generator.

Three more locomotives were sold on auction on 11 July 2013. These were purchased by a Port Elizabeth scrap merchant for rebuilding and resale.

Tourist/Heritage Service

Two locomotives, numbers 91-006 and 91-007, were transferred to Patons Country Railway in 2015. They were in use on narrow gauge tourist trains from Allwoodburn Siding at Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal in December 2015 and January 2016. 91-010 has been sold to Sandstone Estates in operating condition. It arrived at their facility on October 31st 2016.

Works numbers

The Class 91-000 builder's works numbers and their disposal are listed in the table.^[4]

Illustration

All the Class 91-000 locomotives were delivered in the SAR Gulf Red and whiskers livery. The main picture shows numbers 91-003 and 91-009 in that livery, on the limestone train from Loerie PPC to New Brighton on 8 April 1985. They were later all repainted in the Spoornet orange livery. Only one, no. 91-001, was again repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers.

• 
  No. 91-006 at Humansdorp station, 18 October 2009
• 
  No. 91-001 at Humewood Road, Port Elizabeth, 20 December 2006
• 
  Bigfoot no. 91-010 in shunting service at Swartkops, Port Elizabeth, 21 April 2013
• 
  No. 91-003 being equipped with Bigfoot bogies, Port Shepstone, 8 April 2004
• 
  No. 91-018 crossing the Van Stadens River with the Apple Express, 6 April 2002

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South African Class 91-000.

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 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 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 3' 6" 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 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 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 SAR Class ES SAR Class ES1 SAR Class Exp-AC SAR Class 1E SAR Class 2E SAR Class 3E SAR Class 4E SAR Class 5E s1 SAR Class 5E s2 SAR Class 5E s3 SAR Class 5E1 s1 SAR Class 5E1 s2 SAR Class 5E1 s3 SAR Class 5E1 s4 SAR Class 5E1 s5 SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6E1 s1 SAR Class 6E1 s2 SAR Class 6E1 s3 SAR Class 6E1 s4 SAR Class 6E1 s5 SAR Class 6E1 s6 SAR Class 6E1 s7 SAR Class 6E1 s8 SAR Class 6E1 s9 SAR Class 6E1 s10 SAR Class 6E1 s11 SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7E1 SAR Class 7E2 s1 SAR Class 7E2 s2 SAR Class 7E3 s1 SAR Class 7E3 s2 Spoornet Class 7E4 SAR Class 8E SAR Class 9E s1 SAR Class 9E s2 SAR Class 10E SAR Class 10E1 s1 Spoornet Class 10E1 s2 SAR Class 10E2 SAR Class 11E SAR Class 12E Spoornet Class 14E Spoornet Class 14E1 TFR Class 15E Spoornet Class 16E Spoornet Class 17E Spoornet Class 18E s1 TFR Class 18E s2 TFR Class 19E TFR Class 20E TFR Class 21E TFR Class 22E
Gas-electric	SAR Gas-electric
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 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 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
List of South African locomotive classes South African locomotive numbering and classification