#4035
South African Class 6E1, Series 1
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Union Carriage & Wagon· from 1969· class of 20 South African electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SAR Class 6E1 Series 1 E1228: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 6E1, Series 1 of 1969 was an electric locomotive. In 1969 and 1970, the South African Railways placed twenty Class 6E1, Series 1 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service. Their limited number and the fact that they entered service before the Class 6E suggest that the Class 6E1, Series 1 units were obtained as demonstrators on redesigned bogies, before a decision was made on which of the two types would be perpetuated.
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 57 years ago, in 1969.
- 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
- 1969–1970
- in service from
- 1969
- number built
- 20
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- designer
- Union Carriage & Wagon
- operators
- Transnet Freight Rail, 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 Q7565552, Wikipedia: South African Class 6E1, Series 1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.