CSAR Class E 4-10-2T

The CSAR Class E 4-10-2T of 1901 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.

In 1901 and 1902, during the South African War, the Imperial Military Railways placed thirty-five tank locomotives with a 4-10-2 wheel arrangement in service, built to the design of the Reid Tenwheeler of the Natal Government Railways. In 1902 they came onto the roster of the Central South African Railways and were designated Class E.^[1]

Origin

When the Natal Government Railways (NGR) identified a requirement for a tank locomotive that could haul at least one and a half times as much as a Dübs A 4-8-2T locomotive, a 4-10-2T tank locomotive was designed by G.W. Reid, Locomotive Superintendent of the NGR at the end of the nineteenth century. On the NGR these locomotives became known as the Reid Tenwheelers.^[1]

Manufacturers

In 1900 the Imperial Military Railways (IMR) placed orders with Dübs and Company and Neilson, Reid and Company for the construction of thirty-five Reid Tenwheeler locomotives. Fifteen locomotives were delivered from Dübs in 1901 and were numbered in the range from 220 to 234. These were followed by twenty locomotives from Neilson, Reid in 1902, numbered in the range from 235 to 254.^[1][3]

Characteristics

In order to negotiate sharp curves, both the first and fifth pairs of coupled driving wheels of the Reid Tenwheeler locomotive were flangeless. The locomotive used saturated steam and was equipped with Allan straight link valve gear. The trailing Bissel truck was of the Cartazzi type that allowed the axle some lateral movement.^[1]

The main shortcoming of the Reid Tenwheeler was a tendency to derail while reversing, particularly over points, since the trailing drivers were flangeless. On the NGR this was overcome by increasing the tyre width of these wheels from 6 inches (152 millimetres) to 7 inches (178 millimetres).^[1]

While the IMR locomotive was identical in construction to those built for the NGR, it had a weatherboard affixed to the coal bunker to offer the crew better protection against the elements when travelling backwards. The locomotives were more ornate than those in Natal and, in true military style, their brass domes, chimney caps and boiler bands were polished. The practice of polished brasswork was a trade mark of the IMR and was done with all their new locomotives. It was even continued on the Central South African Railways (CSAR) after the IMR was disbanded.^[1]

Service

Imperial Military Railways

Most of the IMR’s Reid Tenwheelers had been in service for less than a year when peace was declared on 1 June 1902. On 1 July 1902 the control of the railways was handed back to civilian authority.^[4]

Central South African Railways

The IMR was transformed into the CSAR, which took control of all railways in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. One of the first steps taken by the CSAR was to classify and renumber all the locomotive stock, with tank locomotives classified alphabetically and tender locomotives numerically. The Reid Tenwheelers were designated Class E, but retained their IMR engine numbers.^[1][4]

Circa 1903 six locomotives, numbers 222, 233 to 235, 245 and 252, were converted to 4-8-2T locomotives by removing the fifth pair of driving wheels and blanking off the resulting opening in the frame, similar to the modification that was done by the NGR on its own Reid Tenwheelers to make them better suited for the tight curves encountered on points during yard working.^[1]

Since the small coal and water capacity of the Reid Tenwheelers limited their radius of action, one of them was converted to a tank-and-tender configuration in 1904. The coal bunker, trailing bissel truck and the fifth pair of driving wheels were removed, the frame was shortened and the locomotive was equipped with a tender from an obsolete Cape 4th class locomotive. As a tank-and-tender type, the modified locomotive was able to haul the same load as before, used less oil, was less troublesome and was considered by crews to be much more comfortable. The result was that the remaining twenty-eight unmodified Reid Tenwheelers were similarly modified to a 4-8-0TT configuration. They were not reclassified on the CSAR, but were referred to as the "Class E Converted".^[1]

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 Cape Government Railways, the NGR and the CSAR, 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 none of the locomotives survived in their original 4-10-2T Reid Tenwheeler configuration. Of the modified locomotives, the twenty-nine 4-8-0TT locomotives were designated Class 13 on the SAR and renumbered in the range from 1310 to 1338, while the five survivors of the six 4-8-2T locomotives were designated Class H1 and renumbered in the range from 222 to 226. No. 234 had been scrapped prior to 1912, while no. 222 retained the same engine number throughout its career.^[1][3][5]

Works numbers

The CSAR Class E builders, works numbers, rebuilding and disposition are shown in the table.^[1][5]

See also

• List of South African locomotive classes
• South African Class H 4-10-2T (ex NGR)
• South African Class H1 4-8-2T (ex CSAR)
• South African Class H2 4-8-2T (ex NGR)
• South African Class 13 4-8-0TT (ex CSAR)
• South African locomotive history
• The 4-10-2 "Reid Tenwheeler"

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: CSAR Class E (4-10-2T)

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