The rebuilding of dual cab Class 6E1, Series 2 to Series 8 locomotives to single cab Class 18E, Series 2 locomotives commenced in 2009, with their unit numbers in the range from 18-421 to 18-435 and from 18-600 up. The rebuilding included the installation of Alsthom micro-processor control technology and was done by Transnet Rail Engineering (previously Transwerk and later Transnet Engineering) at its Koedoespoort shops in Pretoria, Gauteng. In the process their number 1 end cabs were stripped of all controls in order to have a toilet installed.
No. 18-697 was rebuilt from Class 6E1, Series 5 no. E1634 and commissioned in 2012.
See also the Wikipedia article on the South African Class 18E, Series 2. |