3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 31-000 31-028 R: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. SAR Class 31-000 31-007: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. SAR Class 31-000 31-028: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 31-000 of 1958 is a diesel-electric locomotive series. In June and July 1958, the South African Railways placed forty-five Class 1-DE General Electric type U12B diesel-electric locomotives in service. They were later reclassified to Class 31-000 and renumbered.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 68 years ago, in 1958.
- Weighs about as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1958
- in service from
- 1958
- number built
- 45
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- General Electric
- designer
- General Electric
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, Sheltam
- top speed
- 90 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- weight
- 75.6 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565502, Wikipedia: South African Class 31-000 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.