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#4412

South African Class 34-900

🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by South African General Electric – Dorman Long Locomotive Group· from 1980· class of 30 South African diesel-electric locomotives

South African Class 34-900, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The South African Railways Class 34–900 of 1980 is a diesel-electric locomotive. In 1980 and 1981, the South African Railways placed thirty Class 34–900 General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.

who runs it

base stats

  • speed 100 km/htop speed
  • weight 113 tin working order
  • built 30made in total

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 46 years ago, in 1980.
  • Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).

diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).

spec sheet

built
1980
in service from
1980
number built
30
kind
Diesel-electric
traction
diesel
origin
🇿🇦 South Africa
builders
South African General Electric – Dorman Long Locomotive Group
designer
General Electric
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
113 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

family

Sources: Wikidata Q7565514, Wikipedia: South African Class 34-900 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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