#3987
South African Class 33-400
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by South African General Electric – Dorman Long Locomotive Group· from 1968· class of 115 South African diesel-electric locomotives
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 33 Namibia: Harald Süpfle , cropped by FritzG· CC BY-SA 2.5
- 2. Class 33-000 SCTP 1436: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Class 33-400 33-488: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. Class 33-400 33-506 IDL: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. Class 33-400 33-506 IDR: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. Class 33-400 SCTP 1435: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. Class 33-400 no. 33-440: User:Peter Bagshawe· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 8. Class 33-400 no. 33-500: Mark Berry· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 9. Class 33 cdn No. 112: SAR Connecta· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 10. Class 33-400 33-445: User:Wynand Vermeulen· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 33-400 of 1968 was a South African and Namibian diesel-electric locomotive. Between 1968 and 1970, the South African Railways placed 115 Class 33-400 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives in service. Many of them were transferred to TransNamib, the Namibian Railways, upon South West Africa’s independence on 21 March 1990.
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 58 years ago, in 1968.
- Weighs about as much as 16 African elephants (~6 t each).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1968–1970
- in service from
- 1968
- number built
- 115
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- South African General Electric – Dorman Long Locomotive Group
- designer
- General Electric
- operators
- TransNamib, Transnet Freight Rail, Vale, Rumo S.A., rail transport in Bolivia, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, Kumba Iron Ore, rail transport in Sudan, Zambia Railways, South African Railways and Harbours Administration
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Co'Co'
- weight
- 94.5 t
- nicknames
- Bosvark
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q7565507, Wikipedia: South African Class 33-400 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.