South African Class 6E 4-6-0

The South African Class 6E 4-6-0 of 1898 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Orange Free State.

In 1898 the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen ordered its final six new Cape 6th Class locomotives. When British forces invaded the Orange Free State during the Second Freedom War, these locomotives were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways and after the war they were renumbered into the Central South African Railways roster. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6E.^[1][3][5]

Manufacturer

The 6th Class 4-6-0 passenger steam locomotive was designed at the Salt River works of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) at the same time as the 7th Class, both according to the specifications of Michael Stephens, then the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR, and under the supervision of H.M. Beatty, then the Locomotive Superintendent of the Cape Western System. Whereas the 7th Class was conceived primarily as a goods locomotive, the 6th Class was intended to be its fast passenger service counterpart.^[1]

The first ten 6th Class locomotives of the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen (OVGS) were purchased second-hand from the CGR. These were followed by orders for twenty-four new 6th Class locomotives directly from the manufacturers that were delivered between 1895 and 1898.^[1]

A final order for six more lovomotives was placed with Sharp, Stewart and Company in 1898. Three of these had been delivered and numbered in the range from 96 to 98 on the OVGS roster, when British forces invaded the Orange Free State during the Second Boer War and the OVGS was taken over by the Imperial Military Railways (IMR). When the other three locomotives arrived, they were therefore numbered in the range from 370 to 372 on the IMR roster.^[1]

These six locomotives were delivered with larger cabs than their predecessors and with Type XE bogie-wheeled tenders. The first three locomotives retained their OVGS numbers until the war ended in 1902, when they were renumbered into the Central South African Railways (CSAR) roster. The other three locomotives retained their IMR running numbers on the CSAR and all six were reclassified to CSAR Class 6-L3.^[1][5]

Class 6 sub-classes

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 Natal Government Railways 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.^[3][6]

When these six locomotives were assimilated into the SAR in 1912, they were reclassified to Class 6E and renumbered in the range from 598 to 603. These locomotives, together with the CGR’s fleet of 6th Class locomotives and the Class 6-L1 and 6-L2 locomotives that were inherited by the CSAR from the OVGS via the IMR, were grouped into altogether fourteen sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-6-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 6, 6A to 6D, 6F to 6H and 6J to 6L, the 2-6-2 locomotives became Class 6Y and the 2-6-4 locomotives became Class 6Z.^[2][3][4]

Modifications

In the CSAR era several of their Class 6-L1 to 6-L3 locomotives, including some of the ex OVGS locomotives, were modified by P.A Hyde, the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the CSAR, by having their round top fireboxes replaced with larger Belpaire fireboxes. This conversion improved their performance tremendously. The three Class 6E locomotives that were renumbered in the range from 601 to 603 had undergone this modification.^[3][5]

During the 1930s many of them were modified once again when the CME of the SAR at the time, A.G. Watson, reboilered them with round-topped fireboxes again, but without changing their classification.^[2][5]

Service

The Class 6 family of locomotives were introduced primarily as passenger locomotives, but when the class became displaced by larger and more powerful locomotive classes, it literally became a “Jack-of-all-trades” that proved itself as one of the most useful and successful locomotive classes ever to be designed at the Salt River shops. It went on to see service in all parts of the country except Natal and was used on all types of traffic.^[1]

Renumberings

The Class 6E locomotives were renumbered twice, first from the OVGS and IMR rosters onto the CSAR roster and in 1912 onto the SAR roster. The table reflects these renumberings as well as their builder's works numbers.^[1][3][4]

See also

• South African Class 6 4-6-0
• South African Class 6A 4-6-0
• South African Class 6B 4-6-0
• South African Class 6C 4-6-0
• South African Class 6D 4-6-0
• South African Class 6F 4-6-0
• South African Class 6G 4-6-0
• South African Class 6H 4-6-0
• South African Class 6J 4-6-0
• South African Class 6K 4-6-0
• South African Class 6L 4-6-0
• South African Class 6Y 2-6-2
• South African Class 6Z 2-6-4
• The 4-6-0 "Tenwheeler"
• Tender locomotive numbering and classification
• South African locomotive history
• List of South African locomotive classes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: South African Class 6E (4-6-0)

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