CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880

The CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT of 1880 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape Colony.

In 1880 and 1881 the Cape Government Railways placed eighteen 4th Class 4-6-0 tank-and-tender locomotives in mainline service on its Midland System working out of Port Elizabeth and Eastern System working out of East London. Four of these locomotives were still in service to come onto the South African Railways roster in 1912.^[1]

Manufacturer

Increasing traffic and heavier loads on the Cape Government Railways (CGR) lines into the interior, from Port Elizabeth on the Cape Midland System and East London on the Cape Eastern System, led to a requirement for larger and more powerful locomotives by the late 1870s. The 4th Class 4-6-0 tank-and-tender locomotive was designed by Michael Stephens, at that stage the Locomotive Superintendent of the Western System in Cape Town, and six locomotives were ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company in 1879. These were delivered to the Midland System in 1880, numbered in the range from M34 to M39.^[1][2]

They were followed by two more batches of six from the same manufacturer. The second batch was delivered to the Eastern System in 1880 and 1881, numbered in the range from E27 to E32, and the last batch in 1881 once again to the Midland System, numbered in the range from M50 to M55.^[2]

Characteristics

These locomotives, which used Stephenson valve gear and had coupled wheels of 38 inches (965 millimetres) diameter, were intended for freight work. All the locomotives were delivered with optional tenders and depending on the task at hand and the distance involved, they could be used in either the tank engine or the tank-and-tender configuration. To facilitate easy uncoupling from the tender and coupling to rolling stock while working as a tank engine, the engine-to-tender couplings were the standard bell couplers that were in use at the time.^[1]

Since the engine did not have a coal bunker, photographs of a locomotive working in the tank engine configuration sometimes show the engine with a bag of coal slung onto the side tanks or stowed on the running boards. These locomotives retained their side-tanks throughout their working lives.^[1]

Modifications

No. 450 (ex no. M50) with extended smokebox, c. 1896

J.D. Tilney, the Eastern System's Locomotive Superintendent, carried out many experiments on some of these 4th Class locomotives. One of the modifications introduced by Tilney was an extended smokebox to make room for a very efficient spark arrester constructed of wire mesh. Several locomotives on the Eastern and Midland systems were altered to incorporate these spark arresters, as shown in the photograph alongside of no. 450 with an extended smokebox at Port Elizabeth.^[1]

Another modification involved modifying the boilers and frames to accommodate oscillating firebars and larger fireboxes in order to overcome the problems associated with the low-grade local coal from the Cyphergat collieries. Mechanical firegrate shaking was accomplished by means of a collar on the front coupled axle that could engage a roller with eccentrically mounted connecting rods to the oscillating firebars. The drawings to illustrate the operation of the oscillating firebars were published in Mechanical Engineers in 1890.^[1][3]

Service

Cape Government Railways

At the time the 4th Class entered service, the Eastern System's lines were open to King William's Town and approaching Queenstown, with the latter being opened on 5 May 1880. Those of the Midland System were completed to Graaff Reinet and Cookhouse respectively.^[4]

All these locomotives were renumbered more than once during their service lives on the CGR. By 1886 the system prefixes were done away with and the Midland System's locomotives were all renumbered by replacing the letter prefix M with the numeral 1. By 1888 the six Eastern System locomotives were renumbered into the 600 number range. The Midland System locomotives were renumbered twice more, into the 200 number range by 1890 and into the 400 number range by 1899.^[1][2]

By 1899 the first batch of six locomotives of the Midland System were no longer reflected in the locomotive register, and by 1904 all six of the Eastern System were gone from the register as well.^[1][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.^[4][5]

By 1912 four locomotives survived, numbers 451 to 454. They were considered obsolete by the SAR, designated Class 04 and renumbered by having the numeral 0 prefixed to their existing numbers.^[5]

Works numbers

The works numbers, year built, original numbers and renumberings of the Cape 4th Class of 1880 are set out in the table.^[1][2][5]

See also

• CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882
• CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884
• The 4-6-0 wheel arrangement
• South African locomotive history
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880

Locomotives of South Africa Steam Brunel gauge HBEL 0-4-0 HBTB 0-4-0T HBTB 0-4-0WT HBTB 0-4-0ST Broad gauge CGR Aid CGR Blackie CGR 0-4-2 CGR 2-4-0T NRC Durban NRC Natal NRC Perseverance Cape gauge Tank CGR Coffee Pot CGR 040 1873 CGR 040 1874 CGR 060 1876 CGR 060 1902 CGR 260 1900 CGR 260 1902 CGR 1st 040 1875 CGR 1st 440 1875 CGR 1st 040 1876 CGR 1st 260 1876 CGR 2nd 1882 CGR 3rd 1900 CGR RM CSAR C CSAR E CSAR Rack CSAR RM Dbn Congella Dbn Edward Innes Dbn John Milne Dbn Sir Albert HBPE 040 Kowie 060 Kowie 440 M&S 462 NGR Dbn & Pmb NGR I 262 NGR K 040 NGR K 060 NGR K 260 NZASM 10T NZASM 14T NZASM 18T NZASM 19T NZASM 32T NZASM 40T PPR 26T PPR 35T SAR RM SAR 0-4-0ST SAR 040 69 SAR A SAR B SAR C SAR C1 SAR C2 SAR D SAR E SAR F SAR G SAR H SAR H1 SAR H2 SAR J SAR K SWA 2-8-0T Cape gauge Tender CGR 1st 260 1876 BP CGR 1st 260 1876 K CGR 1st 260 1879 CGR 1st 440 1879 CGR 1st 1881 CGR 1st 1891 CGR 2nd 1875 CGR 3rd 1883 CGR 3rd 1884 CGR 3rd 1889 CGR 3rd 1898 CGR 3rd 1901 CGR 3rd 1903 CGR 4th 1880 CGR 4th 1882 CGR 4th 1884 CGR 4th 1897 CGR 5th 1890 CGR 5th 1891 NGR Havelock NGR I 260 Exp-1 Exp-2 Exp-3 Exp-4 Exp-5 Exp-6 SAR S SAR S1 SAR S2 SAR 1 SAR 1A SAR 1B SAR 2 SAR 2C SAR 3 SAR 3A SAR 3B SAR 4 SAR 4A SAR 5 SAR 5A SAR 5B SAR 6 SAR 6A SAR 6B SAR 6C SAR 6D SAR 6E SAR 6F SAR 6G SAR 6H SAR 6J SAR 6K SAR 6L SAR 6Y SAR 6Z SAR 7 SAR 7A SAR 7B SAR 7C SAR 7D SAR 7E SAR 7F SAR 8 SAR 8A SAR 8B SAR 8C SAR 8D SAR 8E SAR 8F SAR 8X SAR 8Y SAR 8Z SAR 9 SAR 10 SAR 10A SAR 10B SAR 10C SAR 10D SAR 11 SAR 12 SAR 12A SAR 12B SAR 13 SAR 14 SAR 14A SAR 14B SAR 14C SAR 15 SAR 15A SAR 15B SAR 15C SAR 15CA SAR 15E SAR 15F SAR 16 SAR 16A SAR 16B SAR 16C SAR 16D SAR 16DA SAR 16E SAR 17 SAR 18 SAR 19 SAR 19A SAR 19B SAR 19C SAR 19D SAR 20 SAR 21 SAR 23 SAR 24 SAR 25 SAR 25NC SAR 26 SWA 2-8-0 Cape gauge Articulated CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR FC SAR FD SAR GA SAR GB SAR GC SAR GCA SAR GD SAR GDA SAR GE SAR GEA SAR GF SAR GG SAR GH SAR GK SAR GL SAR GM SAR GMA SAR GO SAR HF SAR KM SAR MA SAR MB SAR MC SAR MC1 SAR MD SAR ME SAR MF SAR MG SAR MH SAR MJ SAR MJ1 SAR U 2ft 6in gauge CCC 1871 CCC Britannia CCC Caledonia CCC Clara CCC Condenser CCC Scotia NCC Pioneer 2ft & 600mm gauges ACR NG-G16A CGR NG 060 CGR NG 462 CGR A CGR C NGR N SAR 040 1899 SAR NG1 SAR NG2 SAR NG3 SAR NG4 SAR NG5 SAR NG6 SAR NG7 SAR NG8 SAR NG9 SAR NG10 SAR NG-G11 SAR NG-G12 SAR NG-G13 SAR NG-G14 SAR NG15 SAR NG-G16 SWA Ha SWA Hb SWA Hc SWA Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge Diesel -electric SAR DS SAR DS1 SAR 31-000 SAR 32-000 SAR 32-200 SAR 33-000 SAR 33-200 SAR 33-400 SAR 34-000 SAR 34-200 SAR 34-400 SAR 34-500 SAR 34-600 SAR 34-800 SAR 34-900 SAR 35-000 SAR 35-200 SAR 35-400 SAR 35-600 SAR 36-000 SAR 36-200 SAR 37-000 SN 39-000 TFR 39-200 TFR 43-000 SAR 91-000 Afro4000 -hydraulic SAR 61-000 Electro-diesel SN 38-000 Electric SAR ES SAR ES1 Exp-AC SAR 1E SAR 2E SAR 3E SAR 4E SAR 5E-S1 SAR 5E-S2 SAR 5E-S3 SAR 5E1-S1 SAR 5E1-S2 SAR 5E1-S3 SAR 5E1-S4 SAR 5E1-S5 SAR 6E SAR 6E1-S1 SAR 6E1-S2 SAR 6E1-S3 SAR 6E1-S4 SAR 6E1-S5 SAR 6E1-S6 SAR 6E1-S7 SAR 6E1-S8 SAR 6E1-S9 SAR 6E1-S10 SAR 6E1-S11 SAR 7E SAR 7E1 SAR 7E2-S1 SAR 7E2-S2 SAR 7E3-S1 SAR 7E3-S2 SN 7E4 SAR 8E SAR 9E-S1 SAR 9E-S2 SAR 10E SAR 10E1-S1 SAR 10E1-S2 SAR 10E2 SAR 11E SAR 12E SN 14E SN 14E1 TFR 15E SN 16E SN 17E SN 18E-S1 TFR 18E-S2 TFR 19E TFR 20E TFR 21E E38 List of South African locomotive classes Rail transport in South Africa