Natal Railway 4-4-0T Perseverance

The Natal Railway 4-4-0T Perseverance of 1876 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

In January 1876 the Natal Railway Company obtained its third and last locomotive, a broad gauge side-tank engine with a 4-4-0 American type wheel arrangement, built by Kitson and Company and named Perseverance. During the previous year the Natal Government Railways had been established and on 1 January 1877 all the assets of the Natal Railway Company were taken over by the Government of the Colony of Natal and became part of the new Government Railways.^[1][4][5]

Manufacturer

The third and last locomotive to be placed in service by the Natal Railway Company was a broad gauge 4-4-0 American type side-tank engine. It was built by Kitson and Company in 1875, with works number 2037. The locomotive arrived in Durban on 10 January 1876 on board the ship Parthenia and was offloaded with some difficulty the following day, resulting in the engine coming down with "a crash onto the bulwark, smashing some of the timbers". At a meeting of the board of directors on 2 February 1876 it was resolved to name it Perseverance.^[4][6][7]

Service

Natal Railway Company

By 25 January 1867 the original 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) line between Market Square in Durban and Point station at Durban harbour had only been extended a further 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres) to Umgeni, from where stone, quarried from the Umgeni River, was transported to the harbour. No further railway development was undertaken by the Natal Railway Company.^[8]

Despite its name, the engine Perseverance did not have a long service life. In the year before it was delivered, the Natal Government Railways had been established. All the assets of the Natal Railway Company, including the locomotive fleet of three, were purchased for the sum of £40,000 by the Natal Colonial Government. The railway continued to operate under the Natal Railway name until it became part of the Natal Government Railways with effect from 1 January 1877.^[1][5][8]

Natal Government Railways

Since the Natal Government had decided to adopt the 3 feet 6 inches Cape gauge in conformance with the government railways in the Cape of Good Hope and to extend the lines inland to Pietermaritzburg, up the north coast to Verulam and down the south coast to Isipingo, the existing tracks were regauged and the railway service life of two of the three locomotives came to an end.^[1][8]

The engine Natal of 1860 was sold to a farmer, while the engine Perseverance was converted for use as a stationary engine and employed to drive the sawmill machinery in the Durban workshops until it was scrapped in 1887. It is surmised that the second locomotive, the saddle-tank engine Durban of 1865, was regauged to Cape gauge and retained in service, but such a modification has not been confirmed.^[1][3][9]

Sister locomotives

The preserved Trinidad Government Railway engine

Three locomotives identical to the engine Perseverance were also built for the Trinidad Government Railway on the island Trinidad in 1875, with Kitson works numbers 2022 to 2024. Trinidad’s engines no. 1 and 13 were two of these locomotives and photographs exist of them.^[2]

Later versions of these locomotives on the island railway, Trinidad’s no. 16 and 17, differed mainly in respect of their larger side-tanks. The engine Perseverance, like the first three Trinidad engines, had smaller tanks with a water capacity of 494 imperial gallons (2,250 litres; 593 US gallons). The later Trinidad engines had tanks that extended further toward the front of the locomotive, with cutouts at the bottom of the front ends to allow access to parts of the motion above the running boards and with a water capacity of 620 imperial gallons (2,800 litres; 740 US gallons).^[2][3]

While the engine Perseverance was scrapped only eleven years after entering service, one of the later Trinidad locomotives was plinthed on Harris Promenade in San Fernando.

See also

• Natal Railway 0-4-0WT Natal
• Natal Railway 0-4-0ST Durban
• The 4-4-0 "American"
• South African locomotive history
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: NGR ex NRC 4-4-0T

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