South African Class 32-200


The South African Railways Class 32-200 of 1966 was a diesel-electric locomotive.
In June and July 1966, the South African Railways placed ten General Electric type U20C1 diesel-electric locomotives with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement in service in South West Africa.

Manufacturer

The Class 32-200 type GE U20C1 diesel-electric locomotive was designed and built to South African Railways requirements by General Electric and imported. The ten locomotives were numbered in the range from to.

Class 32 series

The Class 32 consisted of two series, the high short hood Class and the low short hood Class, both GE products and both with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement. Both had single station controls.
Both versions ran on the same 1Co' bogies, three-axle Co' bogies with additional integral single axle pony trucks which was designed and produced by General Steel Castings. The fourth axle reduced the maximum axle loading sufficiently to enable these relatively heavy locomotives to operate on the very light rail which was used throughout South West Africa at the time.
The Class 32-200 was a more powerful low short hood version of the earlier Class and was essentially a Class locomotive on the bogies of the Class. This reduced its maximum axle load from the of the Class 33-000 to. Apart from the bogies which necessitated a smaller fuel tank, its physical dimensions and exterior appearance were identical to that of the Class and it used the same V12 prime mover.

Service

South African Railways

While it was acquired specifically for service on light rail in South West Africa, the Class 32-200s also ended up being employed in South Africa at times. From 1972 to 1974, between the withdrawal of the Class GO Garratt locomotives and the arrival of the Class diesel-electrics on the line between Amabele and Umtata in Transkei, some of them performed temporary service on that line.

Post-SAR service

All ten locomotives survived and most were still in service by 2014.
The class 32-000 were delivered in the new Gulf Red livery with yellow side-stripes on the long hood and a yellow V on each end. They wore this livery throughout their SAR service life.

Works numbers

The Class 32-200 builder's works numbers and disposition are listed in the table.

SAR no.		GE works
no.		Post-SAR
owner		Post-SAR
no.
32-20135842Sheltam2012
32-20235843PPC
32-20335844Sheltam2013
32-20435845New Clydesdale
32-20535846TransNamib205
32-20635847TransNamib206
32-20735848TransNamib207
32-20835849TransNamib208
32-20935850Sudan Railways
32-21035851Sudan Railways

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