#4066
South African Class 6E
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Union Carriage & Wagon· from 1970· class of 80+2 South African electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 6E E1221: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 6E of 1970 was an electric locomotive. In 1970 and 1971, the South African Railways placed eighty Class 6E mainline electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in service. Two more were built for Iscor for use at the Sishen mine.
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 56 years ago, in 1970.
- Weighs about as much as 15 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1970
- in service from
- 1970
- number built
- 82
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- designer
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- operators
- Mittal Steel South Africa, Transnet Freight Rail, Sishen mine, South African Railways and Harbours Administration
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- 3 kV DC catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- weight
- 88.9 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565550, Wikipedia: South African Class 6E (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.