CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875

CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875
to South African Class 01 0-4-0ST 1875

Cape Government Railways 1st Class 0-4-0ST of 1875
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Hunslet Engine Company
Builder Hunslet Engine Company
Serial number 129, 135-136, 271-272, 280
Build date 1875-1882
Specifications
Configuration 0-4-0ST
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Driver diameter 30 in (762 mm)
Wheelbase 6 ft (1.829 m)
Length 20 ft 9 in (6.325 m) over couplers
Height 10 ft (3.048 m)
Weight on drivers 13 1⁄20 long tons (13.3 t) w/o
Locomotive weight 13 1⁄20 long tons (13.3 t) w/o
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 3⁄4 long ton (0.76 t)
Water capacity 280 imp gal (1,300 l; 340 US gal)
Boiler 2 ft 5 1⁄2 in (0.749 m) outside diameter
9 ft 6 in (2.896 m) inside length
4 ft 4 1⁄2 in (1.334 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 130 psi (900 kPa)
Firegrate area 4.5 sq ft (0.42 m2)
Heating surface:
– Tubes		 270 sq ft (25 m2)
– Firebox 30 sq ft (2.8 m2)
– Total 300 sq ft (28 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 9 1⁄2 in (241 mm) bore
16 in (406 mm) stroke
Valve gear Stephenson
Performance figures
Tractive effort 4,693 lbf (21 kN) at 75% pressure
Career
Operator(s) Cape Government Railways
South African Railways
Number in class 6
Number(s) M3-M4, E1, W43-W45
Delivered 1875-1882
First run 1875 [1]

The CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST of 1875 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape Colony.

In 1875 and 1882 six Cape gauge saddle-tank locomotives with a 0-4-0 wheel arrangement were placed in service on all three Systems of the Cape Government Railways. They were designated 1st Class when a classification system was adopted.[1][2][3]

Manufacturer

The Hunslet Engine Company delivered six 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives to the Cape Government Railways in 1875 and 1882, all built with domeless boilers that took steam from the steam space above the firebox.[3][1]

The first three locomotives arrived in 1875. Two went to the Midland System in Port Elizabeth and were numbered M3 and M4. The third engine, no. E1, was the first locomotive to enter service on the Eastern system in East London.[3][1]

Another three locomotives of the same domeless type were delivered to the Western System in Cape Town in 1882, numbered in the range from W43 to W45.[3][1]

Service

When a classification system for locomotives was introduced on the CGR, these locomotives were designated 1st Class.[2]

Midland System

The two locomotives on the Midland System were likely used in shunting or construction or both. At the time they entered service in 1875, the two mainlines from Port Elizabeth were completed to Uitenhage and Barkly Bridge respectively. To work these lines, the first six 2nd Class 2-6-2 tank-and-tender mainline locomotives entered service on the Midland System in that same year.[1][4]

Eastern System

Railway construction out of East London on the Eastern System only began in earnest in 1876. No. E1, the Eastern's first locomotive, arrived in East London in October 1875 and was therefore in all probability employed as construction locomotive from the outset.[1][4]

Western System

The three 0-4-0ST locomotives on the Western System were placed in service as shunting engines in Cape Town and also worked in Table Bay Harbour. At the time of their arrival in Cape Town in 1882, the mainline was already in operation to Beaufort West.[3][4]

Renumbering

CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST no. 445, c. 1885 (Possibly ex CGR no. W45, later no. 525)

These locomotives were all renumbered from time to time. By 1886 the system prefixes had been dropped. Photographic evidence such as the picture alongside suggests that there was also an intermediate CGR numbering system, applied across all three systems, at some stage between 1884 and the renumberings of the late 1880s. Apart from the occasional photograph, however, no documentary evidence of this renumbering has yet been found. The fact that no new locomotives were acquired by the CGR between 1884 and 1888 may possibly account for the lack of documented evidence about this renumbering.[1]

In 1903 one of the Western System locomotives, no. 43, was sold to the De Beers diamond mines in Kimberley.[3][2]

South African Railways

The Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, in terms of the South Africa Act. One of the clauses in the Act required that the three Colonial Government railways, the CGR, the Natal Government Railways and the Central South African Railways, also be united under one single administration to control and administer the railways, ports and harbours of the Union. While the South African Railways (SAR) came into existence in 1910, the actual classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the three constituent railways required careful planning and was only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912.[2][4]

By 1912 three of the remaining locomotives had been scrapped. The remaining two came onto the SAR roster in 1912, but were considered obsolete and were therefore designated Class 01 and renumbered by having the numeral 0 prefixed to their existing numbers.[3][2]

Works numbers

The works numbers, year in service, system, original numbers and known renumberings of the 1st Class 0-4-0ST locomotives of 1875 are shown in the table.[3][2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 C.G.R. Numbering Revised, Article by Dave Littley, SA Rail May–June 1993, pp. 94-95.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, p. 17. (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, pp. 11-13, 25.