South African Class 91-000

The Class 91-000 replaced the Class NG G13 and NG G16 Garratts which had been working the Langkloof narrow gauge line until then, but for a number of years it worked alongside the Class NG15 Kalahari steam locomotives. It is the only diesel–electric locomotive type to have operated on South Africa's narrow-gauge lines.[2]

These locomotives served nearly exclusively on the Langkloof line, but between 1992 and December 2003 a few of them also worked on the Alfred County Railway (ACR) narrow-gauge line out of Port Shepstone. Units which were transferred to and from Natal usually travelled all the way from Port Elizabeth under their own power on what became known as Bigfoot bogies, which were actually 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Class 36-000 GE type SG10B bogies. These Bigfoot bogies were also used under the Class 91-000 locomotives whenever they had to be exchanged for maintenance purposes, sometimes running under their own power, sometimes hauled dead.[5]

Over the years since the Class 91-000 was commissioned, the demand for rail services declined steadily on both the ACR and the Langkloof lines. Still, even though road transport had triumphed over rail transport in respect of fruit traffic in the Langkloof by the 1980s, the eastern part of the line remained busy for some years hauling limestone from Loerie. When the quarry that fed Loerie station by cableway was closed, however, the fate of the narrow-gauge line was virtually sealed.[6]

Despite this, in the Avontuur Railway's centenary year in 2003 Spoornet still stated its commitment to keep the line in service by undertaking to invest in infrastructure and technology. As late as September 2005 there was even talk of extending the 107-kilometre long (66-mile) branch line from Loerie further into the Gamtoos valley to assist farmers who had difficulty moving their produce.[7]

Of the 20 built, 18 were still operational in 2009, two having been withdrawn after accident damage.[5] However, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) had decided that narrow-gauge railway operations were no longer in its "core line of business" and began putting some of the locomotives up for auction.

One Class 91-000 locomotive, No. 91-010, was still in service with TFR in 2013. It was mounted on Bigfoot bogies of which only one was equipped with traction motors, and equipped with AAR knuckle couplers for use as a shunting engine at the Swartkops electric locomotive depot in Port Elizabeth. This is the locomotive that was purchased by the Sandstone Estate less the bogies. The rest of the fleet which were still on the TFR roster were standing idle, staged at the narrow-gauge depot at Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth. Mass scrapping of these locomotives is expected to take place in January 2019.

Five locomotives were sold to RRL Grindrod, a joint venture between Solethu Investments, a South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rail logistics company, and Grindrod Limited, a shipping and logistics group, for use at Welkom in the Free State to haul mine hoppers. Four of them were renumbered in the range from RRL 91-01 to 91-04 and their original narrow-gauge bogies were cut in half and widened to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge. The fifth was the accident-damaged no. 91-009 which was completely rebuilt with a 700 hp Caterpillar main engine. It is today (December 2018) the Capitol Park Shunter for Rovos Rail and has been re-numbered 91-011 engine-generator.[8][9][10]

Three more units were sold at auction on 11 July 2013. These were purchased by a Port Elizabeth scrap merchant for rebuilding and resale. One (91-011) was sold to Argentina. By April 2017, both 013 and 018 were in storage in restored condition inside a section of the Humewood Road diesel depot, for sale. By 2023 both 013 and 018 had been sold to Madagascar on Meter Gauge bogies.

No. 91-001 is preserved at the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George.[11]

Two units, numbers 91-006 and 91-007, were transferred to Paton's Country Narrow Gauge Railway in 2015 on lease from the THF. They were used on the narrow-gauge tourist trains running from Allwoodburn Siding to Carisbrook Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal but are now dumped at Allwoodburn siding. (October 2023)

No. 91-010 was sold to Sandstone Estates in basic operating condition and arrived at their facility by road on 31 October 2016. After some maintenance and correction of faults, it performed route-proving runs during the first week of April 2017. It then entered regular service on the Sandstone Railroad during the Sandstone Stars of 2017 event. Its first duty was the recovery of NG/G16 88 which had failed at Vilima. 91-016 and 91-019 were also purchased by the Sandstone Estates in September 2017 and February 2019 respectively with 91-016 being resold to Madison Dolby of Yorkshire, England in 2022.

91-005 restored by Apple Express (2/03/2019)

In December 2018, it was confirmed that the Apple Express organization based at Humewood Road had purchased 91-005 and leased 91-020 from the THF. 91-005 was started up for the first time in over twelve years in December 2018. However, with the Apple Express losing their leader to Covid and failing to win a tender to operate, 91-005 reverted to the previous owner and was sold to the DRC (Congo) in August 2023.