South African Class 19B 4-8-2

South African Class 19B 4-8-2
& South African Class 19BR 4-8-2
1412 taking water at Blouwater, circa 2001
Power type Steam
Designer South African Railways
Builder Berliner Maschinenbau
Serial number 9827-9840[1]
Model Class 19B
Build date 1930
Total produced 14
Configuration 4-8-2 "Mountain"
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Leading wheel
diameter		 28.5 in (724 mm)
Driver diameter 54 in (1,370 mm)
Trailing wheel
diameter		 34 in (864 mm)
Wheelbase Total: 58 ft 8.75 in (17.901 m)
Engine:
6 ft 4 in (1.930 m) pilot
14 ft 5 in (4.394 m) coupled
32 ft 3 in (9.830 m) total
Tender:
4 ft 7 in (1.397 m) bogie
16 ft 9 in (5.105 m) total
Length 67 ft 3.625 in (20.514 m) total
Height 12 ft 10.875 in (3.934 m)
Frame Bar frame
Axle load 12.95 long tons (13.2 t) on 3rd driver
Weight on drivers 51.2 long tons (52.0 t)
Locomotive weight 78.7 long tons (80.0 t)
Tender weight 48,864 lb (22.2 t) empty
52.35 long tons (53.2 t) w/o
Locomotive & tender
combined weight		 158,800 lb (72.0 t) empty
131.05 long tons (133.2 t) w/o
Tender type MR - MP, MP1, MR, MX, MY, MY1 permitted
* 2 axle bogies
* Wheels 34 in (864 mm) dia
* Length 25 ft 9.75 in (7.868 m)
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 10 long tons (10.2 t)
Water capacity 4,600 imp gal (21,000 l)
Boiler 5 ft (1.524 m) int dia
20 ft 2 in (6.147 m) int length
8 ft (2.438 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 200 psi (1,380 kPa)
Firegrate area 37 sq ft (3.437 m2) as built
36 sq ft (3.345 m2) reboilered
Heating surface:
Tubes		 As built:
120 tubes 2.25 in (57.2 mm) ext dia
21 tubes 5.5 in (140 mm) ext dia
2,036 sq ft (189.151 m2)
Reboilered:
76 tubes 2.5 in (63.5 mm) ext dia
24 tubes 5.5 in (140 mm) ext dia
1,700 sq ft (157.935 m2)
Heating surface:
Flues		 13 sq ft (1.208 m2) as built
16 sq ft (1.486 m2) reboilered
Heating surface:
Firebox		 127 sq ft (11.799 m2) as built
123 sq ft (11.427 m2) reboilered
Heating surface:
Total		 2,176 sq ft (202.157 m2) as built
1,839 sq ft (170.849 m2) reboilered
Superheater area 506 sq ft (47.009 m2) as built
404 sq ft (37.533 m2) reboilered
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 21 in (533 mm) bore
26 in (660 mm) stroke
Valve gear Walschaerts (1401–1413)
Caprotti (1414)
Tractive effort 31,850 lbf (141.7 kN) at 75% boiler pressure[2]
Career South African Railways
Class Class 19B, Class 19BR
Number in class 14
Number 1401–1414
Delivered 1930
First run 1930
Withdrawn 1977
Disposition Retired

In 1930 the South African Railways placed fourteen Class 19B steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain wheel arrangement in service. One of them was later reboilered and reclassified to Class 19BR.[2]

Contents

Manufacturer

The South African Class 19B 4-8-2 steam locomotive was a later model of the original Class 19. It was virtually identical to the Class 19 apart from the wheelbase of the front bogie, which had been increased from 6 feet 2 inches (1.880 metres) to 6 feet 4 inches (1.930 metres) in order to improve the clearance between the cylinders and the bogie wheels, since the bogie wheels of predecessors Class 19 and Class 19A fouled the cylinder covers on sharp curves. Because of this difference they were classified as Class 19B.[1][3]

They were built in Germany by Berliner Maschinenbau AG (BMAG), the former L. Schwartzkopff, and delivered in 1930, numbered 1401 to 1414. All but one were built with Walschaerts valve gear .[1][4]

Number 1414 was equipped with Caprotti valve gear as an experiment. After thirteen years, however, the Caprotti valve gear was removed at the Uitenhage workshops in 1943 and replaced with Walschaerts valve gear. The experiment did result in the successor Class 19C being built with Rotary Cam Poppet valve gear.[1][4]

Watson Standard boilers

During the 1930s many serving locomotives were reboilered with a standard boiler type designed by then Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) A.G. Watson as part of his standardisation policy. Such Watson Standard reboilered locomotives were reclassified by adding an "R" suffix to their classification.[2][4]

When Class 19B 1410 was reboilered with a Watson Standard no. 1A boiler, it therefore became the sole Class 19BR. In the process it was also equipped with a Watson cab with its distinctive slanted front, compared to the conventional vertical front of the original cab.[2][4]

Service

South African Railways

Some Class 19B locomotives served around Cape Town and between Kimberley and Vryburg, but most of them spent their working lives on the line between Graaff Reinet and Rosmead across the Lootsberg Pass, until they were eventually replaced by Class 19D locomotives. A couple were also allocated to Sydenham in Port Elizabeth and occasionally worked on the Grahamstown branch. By 1977 they were all withdrawn from service.[4][5]

Industrial

After being retired from SAR service, several were sold into a second career in industrial service.[5]

Gallery

The main picture shows the Transnet National Collection’s preserved Class 19B 1412 taking water at Blouwater before piloting a Class GMAM and the Union Express across the Lootsberg Pass, circa 2001. When retired, 1412 was initially plinthed at Middelburg in the Cape Province and later restored.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0715354272. 
  2. ^ a b c d South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, pp21 & 21A, as amended
  3. ^ Secunda, Sasol Synfuels East, ex-SAR Class 19B No 1413
  4. ^ a b c d e Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 8, 10-11, 71. ISBN 0869772112. 
  5. ^ a b c Durrant, A E (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. pp. 97-98. ISBN 0715386387.