#3085
South African Class 4E
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by North British Locomotive Company· from 1952· class of 40 South African electric locomotives
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Class 4E no. E258 b2: Original Image: Robert Maidment-Wilson Cropping & enhancment: Pechristener· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. SAR Class 4E E238: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Class 4E no. E238: User:Peter Bagshawe· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. Class 4E no. E258 a: Robert Maidment-Wilson· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. SAR Class 4E E258: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. SAR Class 4E E258 BPF: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. SAR Class 4E E258 ID: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 8. Class4E-E219: Steamhunter· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 9. SAR Class 4E E237: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 10. Class 4E no. E258 b: Robert Maidment-Wilson· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 4E of 1952 was an electric locomotive. Between 1952 and 1954, the South African Railways placed forty Class 4E electric locomotives with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement in temporary service on the Natal mainline and from 1954 on the mainline from Cape Town across the Hex River rail pass to Touws River in the Karoo.
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 74 years ago, in 1952.
- Weighs about as much as 26 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1952–1953
- in service from
- 1952
- number built
- 40
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- North British Locomotive Company
- designer
- General Electric Company
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, South African Railways and Harbours Administration
- top speed
- 97 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 3 kV DC catenary
- wheel arrangement
- (1′Co)+(Co1′)
- weight
- 158 t
- nicknames
- af, Groen Mamba (Green Mamba), af, Groot Mamba (Large Mamba)
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565532, Wikipedia: South African Class 4E (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.