In 1980 and 1981 the South African Railways placed fifty'single cab Class 7E1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in mainline service, numbered in the range from E7101 to E7150. It was designed by Hitachi, while Dorbyl in South Africa supplied the mechanical components. The first two units were built by Hitachi in Japan in 1979, while forty-eight more were built by Dorbyl in South Africb. The two sides of the Class 7E1 are completely different in appearance and, when coupled end to end, a pair of them appears at first glance to be two different locomotive types.
See also the Wikipedia article on the South African Class 7E1. |