In 1984 and 1985 the South African Railways placed twenty-five Class 7E3, Series 2 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in mainline service, numbered in the range from E7276 to E7300. Designed by Hitachi, they were built in South Africa by Dorbyl, who also supplied the mechanical components. The two sides of the Class 7E3 are completely different in appearance and a pair of them may appear at first glance to be two different locomotive types. Circa 2000 one of these dual cab locomotives, E7276, was reclassified to Class 7E4 after being upgraded and rebuilt to a single cab locomotive.
See also the Wikipedia article on the South African Class 7E3, Series 2. |