#3453
South African Class 61-000
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Henschel & Sohn· from 1958· class of 7 South African diesel-hydraulic locomotives
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2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 61-000 61-006 (D750) 2: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
- 2. SAR Class 61-000 61-006 (D750) 1: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 61-000 of 1959 was a diesel-hydraulic locomotive. Between May and July 1959, the South African Railways placed seven Class 1-DH Henschel type DH-1420 diesel-hydraulic locomotives in service to also gain experience with other forms of diesel motive power than diesel-electric. The locomotives were later reclassified to Class 61-000.
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.
- 491 kW is about 6 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 13 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 12 years (1959–1971).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1958
- in service from
- 1959
- retired
- 1971
- status
- retired
- number built
- 7
- kind
- Diesel-hydraulic
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Henschel & Sohn
- designer
- Henschel & Son
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company
- top speed
- 89 km/h
- power
- 491 kW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- Type 4 WHHP 315 batteries, * 64 V, 32 Cells, 280 amp/hr, * 2 Delco & Bendix starters
- wheel arrangement
- B′B′
- weight
- 75.6 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565546, Wikipedia: South African Class 61-000 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.