South African Class 8C 4-8-0

In 1903, soon after the establishment of the Central South African Railways, a second batch of thirty Cape Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives were ordered and placed in service as the Class 8-L3, immediately following a previous order in that same year for a variation on the same locomotive type. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8C.^[2][5][6]

Manufacturers

Upon the establishment of the Central South African Railways (CSAR) in July 1902, soon after the end of the Second Freedom War, Chief Locomotive Superintendent P.A. Hyde became the custodian of a mixed bag of locomotives inherited from the Imperial Military Railways (IMR). These included locomotives that originated with the Selati Railway, the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij (NZASM), the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (PPR) and the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen (OVGS).^[7]

The comparatively small number of serviceable locomotives immediately available for service, compounded by the poor condition of many of the original NZASM, PPR, Selati and OVGS locomotives and an expected post-war increase in traffic, led to an order for altogether sixty new steam locomotives. They were to be built in two variations, to the specifications of the Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodon type that was designed by H.M. Beatty, the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) from 1896 to 1910.^[2][6]

Orders were placed with Neilson, Reid and Company in 1903, but while they were being built, Neilson, Reid amalgamated with Dübs and Company and Sharp, Stewart and Company to form the North British Locomotive Company (NBL). As a result, the thirty locomotives of the second batch, numbered 471 to 500, were all delivered as built by the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) at the Hyde Park shops of the former Neilson, Reid.^[2][6]

They differed from the first batch of the same order only by not being equipped with Drummond water tubes in the fireboxes. To differentiate them from the Class 8-L1 and the Drummond tube equipped Class 8-L2, these locomotives became the CSAR Class 8-L3. These were the last locomotives to be ordered by the CSAR built to the design of another railway.^[2][6]

Class 8 sub-classes

In 1912, when these thirty locomotives were assimilated into the newly established South African Railways (SAR), they were renumbered 1162 to 1191 and reclassified to Class 8C.^[5][4][6]

These locomotives, together with the CSAR’s Class 8-L1 and 8-L2 4-8-0 Mastodon locomotives and all the CGR’s Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidations and 4-8-0 Mastodons, were grouped into ten different sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-8-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 8 and 8A to 8F and the 2-8-0 locomotives became Classes 8X to 8Z.^[3]

Modification

During A.G. Watson’s term as the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR from 1929 to 1936, many of the Class 8 to Class 8F locomotives were equipped with superheated boilers, larger bore cylinders and either inside or outside admission piston valves. The outside admission locomotives had their cylinder bore increased from 18.5 inches (470 millimetres) to 19 inches (483 millimetres) and retained their existing SAR classifications, while the inside admission locomotives had their cylinder bore increased to 20 inches (508 millimetres) and were reclassified by having a "W" suffix added to their existing SAR classifications.^[3][6]

Of the Class 8C locomotives, seven were equipped with superheated boilers, 19 inches (483 millimetres) bore cylinders and outside admission piston valves while retaining their Class 8C classification.^[3]

Five were equipped with superheated boilers, 20 inches (508 millimetres) bore cylinders and inside admission piston valves, and were reclassified to Class 8CW.^[3]

The Class 8C and 8CW works numbers, renumbering and superheating modifications are shown in the table.^[1][3][5]

Service

In SAR service, the 4-8-0 Class 8 family of locomotives worked on every system in the country and in the 1920s became the mainstay of motive power on many branch lines. Their final days were spent in shunting service and by 1972 they were all withdrawn.^[6]

See also

• South African Class 8 4-8-0
• South African Class 8A 4-8-0
• South African Class 8B 4-8-0
• South African Class 8D 4-8-0
• South African Class 8E 4-8-0
• South African Class 8F 4-8-0
• South African Class 8X 2-8-0
• South African Class 8Y 2-8-0
• South African Class 8Z 2-8-0
• Tender locomotive numbering and classification
• The 4-8-0 "Mastodon"
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

1. ^ ^{a b} North British Locomotive Company works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 128. ISBN 0715353829. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended
4. ^ ^{a b} Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 139. ISBN 0715354272. 
5. ^ ^{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, 15, 41-42 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 48-49. ISBN 0869772112. 
7. ^ Durrant, A E (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. p. 8. ISBN 0715386387.