#4449
South African Class 37-000
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by General Motors South Africa· from 1981· class of 100 South African diesel-electric locomotives
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 37-000 37-063: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Class 37-000 37-014: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Class 37-000 37-076: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. SAR Class 37-000 37-020: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. SAR Class 37-000 37-001: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. Class 37-000 37-003: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. Class 37-000 37-005: User:Railfan· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 8. SAR Class 37-000 37-024: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 9. SAR Class 37-000 37-038: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 10. SAR Class 37-000 37-047: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 37-000 of 1981 is a mainline diesel-electric locomotive. Between May 1981 and 1982, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 37-000 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT26M2C diesel-electric locomotives in service. After these locomotives were commissioned, the national carrier was not to invest in new diesel-electric locomotives again until 2009, nearly three decades later.
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 45 years ago, in 1981.
- Weighs about as much as 21 African elephants (~6 t each).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1981–1982
- in service from
- 1981
- number built
- 100
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- General Motors South Africa
- designer
- General Motors Electro-Motive Division
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, South African Railways and Harbours Administration
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- weight
- 126 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565522, Wikipedia: South African Class 37-000 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.