Durban Harbour's John Milne

Durban Harbour's "John Milne"

Natal Harbours Department locomotive "John Milne"
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Hunslet Engine Company
Builder Hunslet Engine Company
Serial number 225
Build date 1879
Specifications
Configuration 0-6-0ST
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Driver diameter 36 in (914 mm)
Wheelbase 7 ft 6 in (2.286 m)
Length 22 ft 11 in (6.985 m) over couplers
Height 10 ft 8 in (3.251 m) [1]
Weight on drivers 43,792 lb (19,864 kg)
Locomotive weight 43,792 lb (19,864 kg) w/o
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 34 long ton (0.76 t)
Water capacity 450 imp gal (2,000 l; 540 US gal)
Boiler 3 ft 2 in (0.965 m) diameter outside
7 ft 6.5 in (2.299 m) length inside
5 ft (1.524 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 130 psi (896 kPa)
Firegrate area 7 sq ft (0.650 m2)
Heating surface:
– Tubes
97 tubes 1 78 in (47.6 mm) diameter
353 sq ft (32.795 m2)
– Firebox 39 sq ft (3.623 m2)
– Total 392 sq ft (36.418 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 12 in (305 mm) bore
18 in (457 mm) stroke
Valve gear Stephenson
Performance figures
Tractive effort 7,020 lbf (31 kN) at 75% pressure
Career
Operator(s) Harbour Board of Natal [1]
Number in class 1
Official name John Milne
Delivered 1879
First run 1879 [1]

The Durban Harbour's "John Milne" of 1879 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

In 1879 the Harbour Board of Natal placed a single 0-6-0 saddle-tank locomotive in service, its first own locomotive for shunting work on the docks.[1][2]

Harbour Board of Natal

A board of commissioners known as the Harbour Board of Natal was established by the government of the Colony of Natal at the port of Durban in 1877. It consisted of seven members, the Colonial Engineer, the Collector of Customs, the Port Captain, the Mayor of Durban, two nominees from the Durban Chamber of Commerce and one member appointed by the Natal Government. As in the Cape Colony, the board was responsible for the continuous development of the harbour to be able to accommodate the ever increasing size and number of ships calling at the port.[1]

Railway operations in the harbour became the responsibility of the Harbours Department of the Government of Natal.[3]

Manufacturer

It would appear that until 1879 the Natal Government Railways (NGR) provided all the locomotive power for harbour working. The Harbour Board acquired its first own locomotive for shunting work on the docks in 1879. It was a 0-6-0 saddle-tank engine that was ordered from Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds and was named "John Milne", after the first engineer that had been appointed in 1851 to remove the sand-bar at the entrance to Durban Harbour.[1][2]

Service

It is not known whether the engine John Milne had been scrapped or sold by 1912, but it was no longer in service when the South African Railways (SAR) renumbering and classification was implemented in 1912, since it does not appear in the classification and renumbering lists issued by the SAR Chief Mechanical Engineer in January 1912.[1][4]

See also

References

 
 

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
  2. 2.0 2.1 NGR Class K of 1879, John Milne & no. 15
  3. Harbours Department of the Government of Natal
  4. Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912. (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)