The Class typeGE U26C diesel-electric locomotive was designed by General Electric and built for the South African Railways by the South African General Electric-Dorman Long Locomotive Group. Thirty locomotives were delivered in 1980 and 1981, numbered in the range from to.
Distinguishing features
As built, the GE Classes, and were visually indistinguishable from each other. The ex Iscor Class locomotives could be visually distinguished from the other series by the air conditioning units mounted on the cab roofs of most of them and initially, when it was still a feature unique to them, by their running board-mounted handrails. At some stage during the mid-1980s, all Class, and locomotives had saddle filters installed across the long hood, mounted just to the rear of the screens on the sides behind the cab. Since then, Class locomotives could be distinguished from the older models by the absence of the saddle filter.
Modifications
Fuel capacity
As built, the Class had a fuel tank and interlinked bogies, while the Class was delivered new to Iscor with a fuel tank to cope with the lack of en route refueling points on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line. To accommodate the larger fuel tank, the inter-bogie linkage found on all other models was omitted on the Class. To be usable on the iron ore line, Class locomotives which ended up working there were modified to a similar fuel capacity. The inter-bogie linkage was removed and the fuel tank was enlarged by changing it from saddle-shaped to rectangular box-shaped. To maintain its lateral balance, a slab of metal was attached to each bogie in place of the removed linkage. In the second picture, the weld lines on the end of the enlarged fuel tank as well as the metal slab at the end of the bogie are visible.
Running board-mounted handrails
Class locomotives which are allocated to the Sishen-Saldanha Orex line are usually further modified by having removable running board-mounted handrails installed. All South African diesel-electric locomotives have their side handrails mounted along the upper edges of their long hoods. The ex Iscor Class, however, came equipped with additional removable running board-mounted handrails. Since these handrails are slide-fit into brackets welded onto the running board, they are easily removed.
Beginning in 2010, some locomotives were equipped with electronic fuel injection and GE "Brite Star" control systems. On some of the first locomotives which were so modified, externally visible evidence of the modification is a raised middle portion of the long hood. All Brite Star-equipped locomotives emerged from this modification repainted in the Transnet Freight Rail livery.
Service
Class locomotives work on most mainlines and some branchlines in the central, western, southern and southeastern parts of the country. Some eventually joined the Class on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line to haul export ore from the open cast iron mines at Sishen in the Northern Cape to the harbour at Saldanha in the Western Cape. On the Sishen–Saldanha Orex line, GE Class 34 series diesel-electric locomotives run consisted to Class 9E and Class 15Eelectric locomotives to haul the 342-truck iron ore trains. Each truck has a 100-ton capacity and the trains are at least in length, powered by mixed consists of Class 9E and Class 15E electric and type GE U26C Class, South African Class 34-400|, South African Class 34-500|, and, from 2012, type GE C30ACi Class diesel-electric locomotives. In South Africa, mixed electric and diesel-electric consists are unique to the iron ore line.
All but seven Class 34-900 locomotives were delivered in the SAR Gulf Red livery with signal red buffer beams, yellow side stripes on the long hood sides and a yellow V on each end. In the 1990s many of the Class 34-900 units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams. In the late 1990s many were repainted in the Spoornet blue livery with outline numbers on the long hood sides. After 2008 in the Transnet Freight Rail era, many were repainted in the TFR red, green and yellow livery. The seven exceptions, numbers to, were painted in the SAR Blue Train livery and took the place of the five SAR Blue Train liveried Class locomotives, numbers to which were then all eventually repainted in Spoornet’s orange livery. Some of the Class locomotives, numbers to, and, were later repainted in Spoornet’s orange era Blue Train livery, while the other two, numbers and, received the Spoornet blue with outline numbers livery.
