Between June 1975 and 1981, the South African Railways placed 124 Class 36-000 General Electric type SG10B diesel-electric locomotives in service.

It is not unusual to find a locomotive on yard work with the sun-side windows covered with newspaper taped onto the insides.

In the 1990s many of the units began to be repainted in the Spoornet orange livery with a yellow and blue chevron pattern on the buffer beams.

Bigfoot bogies were also used under the narrow gauge locomotives whenever they had to be exchanged for maintenance purposes, sometimes running under their own power, sometimes hauled dead.

36-013 in Transnet Freight Rail livery approaching Rugby in Milnerton from Table Bay Harbour on 4 November 2013.