South African Class 39-200

South African Class 39-200
No. 39-242 at Pyramid South, Pretoria, 14 May 2013
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Designer Electro-Motive Diesel Builder Transnet Rail Engineering Model EMD GT26CU-3 Build date 2009-2010 Total produced 50
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co'Co'  • Commonwealth Co+Co Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Wheel diameter 1,016 mm (40.0 in) Fuel type Diesel Prime mover EMD 645-E3B Engine type 2-stroke diesel Traction motors Six EMD D43 DC Cylinders V16 Loco brake Air & Dynamic braking Train brakes Air & Vacuum Couplers AAR knuckle
Career Operators Transnet Freight Rail Class Class 39-200 Number in class 50 Numbers 39-201 to 39-250 Delivered 2009-2010 First run 2009

The Transnet Freight Rail Class 39-200 of 2009 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive.

Near the end of 2009, the first of fifty Class 39-200 Electro-Motive Diesel type GT26CU-3 diesel-electric locomotives were placed in service by Transnet Freight Rail. The locomotives were built new after an earlier project to rebuild older locomotives to Class 39-000 locomotives was aborted.

In 2005, Transwerk, later renamed Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) and in 2013 Transnet Engineering, commenced a project to rebuild existing locomotives to Class 39-000 locomotives for Spoornet. The Electro-Motive Diesel type EMD GT26CU-3 diesel-electric locomotives were to be rebuilt from Classes 34-600 and 34-800 type GT26MC and Class 37-000 type GT26M2C locomotives. The original locomotives had all been designed by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and had been built by General Motors South Africa (GMSA) in Port Elizabeth between 1974 and 1981. Suitable frames from wrecked locomotives were used.

The rebuilding was done at the Transwerk shops in Bloemfontein. It was intended to produce one hundred Class 39-000s, but in spite of the technical success of the TRE part of the project, rebuilding was halted after completing only five locomotives, allegedly due to higher than anticipated cost. Instead of rebuilding one hundred old locomotives, it was decided to rather continue the program by building fifty new Class 39-200 locomotives.

The Class 39-200 locomotives were built new from imported and locally produced components at the Koedoespoort TRE shops east of Pretoria, in collaboration with EMD. By October 2009, more than twenty locomotives had been built and were undergoing road testing. By April 2010, the last of the fifty locomotives came off the production line, thereby completing the building project in twelve months. They were numbered in the range from 39-201 to 39-250.