| South African Class NG1 0-4-0T | |
|---|---|
| NG1 number 40 | |
| Power type | Steam |
| Designer | Kerr, Stuart and Company |
| Builder | Kerr, Stuart and Company |
| Serial number | 676-677[1] |
| Model | S1 Sirdar |
| Build date | 1899 |
| Total produced | 2 |
| Configuration | 0-4-0T |
| Gauge | 600 mm (23.62 in) |
| Driver diameter | 24 in (610 mm) |
| Wheelbase | 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m) |
| Length | 13 ft 6 in (4.115 m) |
| Height | 8 ft 9 in (2.667 m) |
| Frame | Plate frame |
| Axle load | 3.125 long tons (3.2 t) per driver |
| Weight on drivers | 6.25 long tons (6.4 t) |
| Locomotive weight | 11,872 lb (5.4 t) empty 6.25 long tons (6.4 t) w/o |
| Fuel type | Coal |
| Fuel capacity | 5 long cwt (250 kg) |
| Water capacity | 90 imp gal (410 l) |
| Boiler | 2 ft (0.610 m) int dia 5 ft 1.5 in (1.562 m) int length 4 ft 4.75 in (1.340 m) pitch |
| Boiler pressure | 140 psi (965 kPa) |
| Firegrate area | 3.3 sq ft (0.307 m2) |
| Heating surface: Tubes |
83.5 sq ft (7.757 m2) |
| Heating surface: Firebox |
16.5 sq ft (1.533 m2) |
| Heating surface: Total |
100 sq ft (9.290 m2) |
| Cylinders | Two |
| Cylinder size | 6 in (152 mm) bore 10 in (254 mm) stroke |
| Valve gear | Stephenson |
| Tractive effort | 1,575 lbf (7.0 kN) at 75% boiler pressure[2] |
| Career | British War Office Central South African Railways South African Railways |
| Class | Class NG1 |
| Number in class | 2 |
| Number | CSAR 676-677, SAR NG40-NG41[3] |
| Nicknames | Pankop |
| Delivered | 1900 |
| First run | 1900 |
| Withdrawn | 1931 |
| Disposition | Retired |
In 1900 the British War Office placed two Sirdar class 0-4-0T narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in service near Germiston. At the end of the Second Freedom War the locomotives were sold to a farmer, who used it on a firewood line out of Pienaarsrivier until the line and locomotives were taken over by the Central South African Railways.[4]
In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered with an "NG" prefix to their numbers. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG1.[4]
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The two Sirdar class 0-4-0T narrow gauge tank steam locomotives were built for Allan Alderson and Company of Cairo for use during the Nile Barrage construction in Egypt. In November 1899 the Director of Army Contracts of the British War Office ordered two narrow gauge steam locomotives from Kerr, Stuart and Company, for delivery within ten days since the locomotives were urgently needed by the Royal Engineers for use in a siege park in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. A siege park was a depot for holding engineer’s stores that could be required during a siege.[1][4]
By diverting two of the three locomotives that were being built for the Nile Barrage construction works in Egypt at the time, the locomotive builders were actually able to supply the locomotives within four days.[4]
The locomotives had plate frames and used Stephenson valve gear. Although they were eventually classified as two foot narrow gauge locomotives along with the rest of the South African 2 feet (610 millimetres) gauge locomotive fleet, they were actually constructed to a 600 millimetres (23.62 inches) gauge.[1]
Historically, the actual two feet narrow gauge rail spacing depended on whether or not the track was laid by a metricised country. German built narrow gauge lines in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika (DSWA, now Namibia) were therefore 600 millimetres (23.62 inches) gauge, while those in South Africa, built to Imperial standards, were 610 millimetres (24 inches) gauge.[5]
In practice, however, the two gauges are still treated as one and the same by the British Military. The same applied in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek that was being invaded by the British Military at the time. The 10 millimetres (0.39 inches) difference was considered as insignificant and in subsequent years narrow gauge locomotives regularly migrated between the lines laid to German standards in South West Africa (SWA) and those laid to Imperial standards in South Africa.[5]
During 1900 these two locomotives were used by the 47th Field Company Royal Engineers during the construction of the Bezuidenhout Light Railway, a light narrow gauge railway line from Simmer and Jack’s siding near Germiston in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek to a siege camp 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) away along the Bezuidenhout Valley.[4]
At the end of the Second Freedom War the two locomotives and rolling stock were sold to a farmer as army surplus stock. He used it to haul firewood on a 15 kilometres (9 miles) line from Pankop to Pienaarsrivier on the main line between Pretoria and Pietersburg.[4]
The Pankop line and rolling stock was later taken over by the Central South African Railways (CSAR), who extended the line and opened it to traffic in 1906 with the intention of, on the one hand, serving the immigrant farming community at Settlers in Transvaal and, on the other hand, to determine exactly how much a light railway of this nature could achieve. In CSAR service the locomotives became known as the Pankop engines and were numbered 676 and 677.[3][4]
In 1912, when the South African Railways (SAR) came into existence through the amalgamation of the three colonial railways, the CSAR, the Cape Government Railways and the Natal Government Railways, narrow gauge locomotives were included in the SAR’s narrow gauge numbering scheme and were allocated running numbers with an "NG" prefix. A system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted at some time between 1928 and 1930 and at that point the two Sirdar locomotives were classified as Class NG1.[4]
When the Settlers branch line was converted to Cape gauge in 1923, the locomotives were transferred to work on the line under construction between Elandshoek and Mount Carmel. When this line was closed in 1931, the Class NG1 locomotives were withdrawn from service.[4]
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