#3452
South African Class 5E, Series 3
🇿🇦 South Africa ·built by Vulcan Foundry· from 1958· class of 55 South African Bo′Bo′ electric locomotives
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7 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Class 5E nos. E590 & E563: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Class 5E no. E564: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Class 5E no. E560 ID: Leith Paxton· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. SAR Class 5E Series 3 E563: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. SAR Class 5E Series 3 E576 (Dries 4): User:Les Smith· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. SAR Class 5E Series 3 E564: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. SAR Class 5E Series 3 E590: Col André Kritzinger· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The South African Railways Class 5E, Series 3 of 1958 was an electric locomotive. In 1958 and 1959, the South African Railways placed fifty-five Class 5E, Series 3 electric locomotives with a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement in mainline service.
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 68 years ago, in 1958.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1958
- in service from
- 1958
- number built
- 55
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- builders
- Vulcan Foundry, English Electric
- designer
- English Electric
- operators
- Metrorail, 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
- Bo'Bo'
- weight
- 86.4 t
- nicknames
- af, Balstamper
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7565537, Wikipedia: South African Class 5E, Series 3 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.