South African Class 6D 4-6-0

In 1898 a fourth batch of thirty-three Class 6 4-6-0 steam locomotives were placed in service by the Cape Government Railways. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6D.^[2][4][6]

Manufacturers

The Class 6 was designed at the Salt River works of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) at the same time as the Class 7, both according to the specifications of Michael Stephens, Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR’s Western System at the time, and under the supervision of CGR Locomotive Superintendent H.M. Beatty. Whereas the Class 7 was conceived primarily as a goods locomotive, the Class 6 was intended to be its fast passenger service counterpart.^[2]

The thirty-three locomotives in this fourth group of the Class 6 were built in 1898 by Neilson, Reid and Company. Of these locomotives, twenty-six went to the CGR’s Western System, numbered 234 to 259, three to the Midland System, numbered 585, 586 and 594, and four to the Eastern System, numbered 665 to 668.^[2]

These locomotives represented a further advance on earlier Class 6 locomotives, with a greater heating surface and a larger grate area. They did, however, revert to the same Type YC six wheeled tenders that were previously used with the second group of Class 6 locomotives.^[2]

Class 6 sub-classes

When these locomotives were assimilated into the newly established South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, they were renumbered 565 to 597 and reclassified to Class 6D. The rest of the CGR’s Class 6 locomotives, together with the Class 6-L1 to 6L3 locomotives inherited by the Central South African Railways (CSAR) from the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen (OVGS) via the Imperial Military Railways (IMR), were grouped into thirteen more sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-6-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 6, 6A to 6C, 6E to 6H and 6J to 6L, the 2-6-2 locomotives became Class 6Y and the 2-6-4 locomotives became Class 6Z.^[3][4][5]

Service

South Africa

The Class 6 series of locomotives were introduced primarily as passenger locomotives, but when the class became displaced by larger and more powerful locomotive classes, it literally became a “Jack-of-all-trades” that proved itself as one of the most useful and successful locomotive classes ever to be designed at the Salt River shops. It went on to see service in all parts of the country except Natal and was used on all types of traffic.^[2]

In Cape Town they held a monopoly over the suburban services until electrification arrived in 1928, and on the Reef they also worked these services between Randfontein and Springs until the loads became too heavy for them. They were employed on branch lines all over the country, Natal excluded, and practically every big station and many smaller ones had its quota of these handy locomotives to work the local passenger, goods and shunting services.^[2]

Like the Class 7, the Class 6 family gave good service for many years. By the time the last ones were retired in 1973, the Class 6 series had achieved a service life of eighty years, a performance that can be matched by few, if any, other locomotive classes world wide.^[2]

Sudan

During World War II sixteen of the Classes 6 to 6D were transferred to the Middle East to assist with the war effort during the North African Campaign. The two Class 6D locomotives in this group were numbers 572 and 587. They were sold to the Sudan Railways Corporation in 1942 and renumbered M714 and M715, in the same order as their former SAR running numbers.^[2][6][7]

Renumbering

The table shows their works numbers and renumberings.^[2][4][5]

See also

• South African Class 6 4-6-0
• South African Class 6A 4-6-0
• South African Class 6B 4-6-0
• South African Class 6C 4-6-0
• South African Class 6E 4-6-0
• South African Class 6F 4-6-0
• South African Class 6G 4-6-0
• South African Class 6H 4-6-0
• South African Class 6J 4-6-0
• South African Class 6K 4-6-0
• South African Class 6L 4-6-0
• South African Class 6Y 2-6-2
• South African Class 6Z 2-6-4
• Tender locomotive numbering and classification
• The 4-6-0 "Ten-wheeler"
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Neilson, Reid works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 47, 56-57. ISBN 0715353829. 
3. ^ ^{a b} South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 8, 12, 14, 31-32 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)
5. ^ ^{a b c} Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 137-138. ISBN 0715354272. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 41-44. ISBN 0869772112. 
7. ^ Class 6 to 6D sold to Sudan Railways during the WWII North African Campaign, list compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Reimar Holzinger