Drawings of SAR/Spoornet electrics.....
- Thread starter MadHatter
- Start date
There are other types of which I don't have drawings of such as the newest 18E (Old 5E and 6E's converted) which have a toilet installed @ the other end for the lady drivers mostly............
Having seen photos of these, I find most of them look rather boring. They're boxcabs, and that's to be expected.
Except that several classes have strange diagonal braces running to the bogies. What are those for?
The 9E also has a strange shape. There's something mildly appealing about it.
Except that several classes have strange diagonal braces running to the bogies. What are those for?
The 9E also has a strange shape. There's something mildly appealing about it.
Hi Triplex
Those "Diagonal Braces" that you are refering to are shock absorbers. If you take a look at the 5E's and earlier they don't have those.
The 5E's were known as "Balstampers" (In English: Ball Hitters, if you know what I mean) because of their ruff ride so to speak.
As stated earlier, the 9E's have a garage on them for a small motor bike so that the drivers assistant can ride the length of the train to check that all is ok. They have 5050HP.
Thanks for the reply.
Those "Diagonal Braces" that you are refering to are shock absorbers. If you take a look at the 5E's and earlier they don't have those.
The 5E's were known as "Balstampers" (In English: Ball Hitters, if you know what I mean) because of their ruff ride so to speak.
As stated earlier, the 9E's have a garage on them for a small motor bike so that the drivers assistant can ride the length of the train to check that all is ok. They have 5050HP.
Thanks for the reply.
Aside from the 3E and the engine below it which I'll assume is 4E, I don't see build dates. Since the first few do look older, I figure the classes were numbered in order of introduction. Or are they?... the 8E looks pretty old-fashioned. However, the styling on most classes is so homogenous and lacking in reference points for a North American viewer, I can't guess when they were built.
They are not shock asorbers, they are traction links - they reduce the amount of force transmitted through the bolster.
The 5Es rough ride was due to the bogie design, which changed in later variants.
At the time of building, the 9E was the most powerful electric locomotive built for the 3' 6" gauge. It operates on 50kV AC. Only the Sishen-Saldahna line is electrified at this voltage, the majority of the SAR electrification is at 3kV DC, with some sections of 25kV AC.