South African Class B 0-6-4T

South African Class B 0-6-4T
ex NZASM 46 Tonner 0-6-4T
ex CSAR Class B 0-6-4T

NZASM 46 Tonner no. 230 "Jan Wintervogel" at Witbank, Transvaal, April 1993
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Maschinenfabrik Esslingen
Builder 175 by Esslingen
20 by Werkspoor
Serial number Esslingen:
2598-2617 (61-80, 1893-1894)
2624-2633 (81-90, 1894)
2656-2665 (91-100, 1894-1895)
2703-2712 (101-110, 1895)
2714-2733 (111-130, 1895)
2745-2789 (131-175, 1896)
2824-2843 (176-195, 1896-1897)
2854-2873 (196-215, 1897)
2877-2886 (216-225, 1897)
2941-2950 (226-235, 1897-1898)
Werkspoor:
1-10 (236-245, 1899)
29-38 (246-255, 1899)
Model NZASM 46 Tonner
Build date 1893-1899
Total produced 195
Specifications
Configuration 0-6-4T
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Driver diameter 51.5625 in (1,310 mm)
Trailing wheel
diameter		 31.875 in (810 mm)
Wheelbase 19 ft 8.21875 in (6.000 m) total
10 ft 2.03125 in (3.100 m) coupled
5 ft 3 in (1.600 m) trailing
Length 34 ft 8 in (10.566 m)
Height 12 ft 4.5 in (3.772 m)
Frame Plate frame [1]
Axle load 10.6 long tons (10.8 t) per driver
Weight on drivers 31.8 long tons (32.3 t)
Locomotive weight 45.6 long tons (46.3 t)
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 4 long tons (4.1 t)
Water capacity 1,503 imp gal (6,830 l)
Boiler 3 ft 10.5 in (1.181 m) inside diameter
12 ft 8.75 in (3.880 m) inside length
5 ft 9.5 in (1.765 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 160 psi (1,100 kPa)
Firegrate area 15.6 sq ft (1.449 m2)
Heating surface:
– Tubes		 144 tubes 1.78125 in (45.2 mm) diameter
845 sq ft (78.503 m2)
– Firebox 91.2 sq ft (8.473 m2)
– Total 936.2 sq ft (86.976 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 16.9375 in (430 mm) bore
24.9375 in (633 mm) stroke
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Tractive effort 16,580 lbf (73.8 kN) at 75% pressure
Career
Operator(s) NZASM
Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway
Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique
Imperial Military Railways
Central South African Railways
South African Railways [2]
Class NZASM 46 Tonner
CSAR & SAR Class B
Number in class NZASM 177, IMR 195, SAR 28
Number(s) NZASM 61-237
CFM 20-49
IMR 61-255
CSAR 27-202 [2][3]
SAR 1-2, 4-6, 8, 10-16, 18-22, 24-30, 33-43, 45-48, 50, 52, 54-55
Delivered 1893-1899
First run 1893
Withdrawn 1930

The South African Class B 0-6-4T of 1893 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.

Between 1893 and 1898 one hundred and seventy-five 46 Tonner 0-6-4T tank steam locomotives were placed in service by the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.[2]

In 1899 twenty more were ordered, of which only two were delivered by the time the Imperial Military Railways took over all railway operations in the two Boer Republics during the South African War. The other eighteen locomotives in this order were delivered directly to the Imperial Military Railways, who diverted two of them to Lourenço Marques.[2][4]

At the end of the war the survivors of these locomotives were taken onto the roster of the Central South African Railways, renumbered and reclassified to Class B, while the two in Mozambique were taken onto the roster of the Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique. In 1912, when the remaining locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered again but retained their Class B classification.[2][5]

Forerunners

In 1891 the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NZASM, often shortened to ZASM) of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) placed an order with Emil Kessler’s firm, the Maschinenfabrik Esslingen in Germany, for twenty 40 Tonner 0-6-2T tank steam locomotives. While these locomotives were satisfactory in service, the trailing wheels initially proved troublesome owing to insufficient sideways freedom of movement when traversing curves.[1][2]

Manufacturers

To overcome this problem, the next order with the same supplier was for 0-6-4T tank steam locomotives that were practically identical in their main dimensions, but with a four-wheeled bogie at the rear. Because of the resultant increase in weight, these locomotives became known as the 46 Tonners. They had Walschaerts valve gear, outside plate frames and used saturated steam.[1][2]

The first twenty of these were delivered between 1893 and 1894 and numbered in the range from 61 to 80. They were followed by another one hundred and fifty-five from the same manufacturer between 1894 and 1898, delivered in nine more batches and numbered in the range from 81 to 235.[1][2]

In 1899 a further order for another twenty 46 Tonners was placed with the Nederlandse Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel (Werkspoor) in the Netherlands. They were to have been numbered in the range from 236 to 255, following on the last of the Esslingen locomotives, but since delivery only commenced just before the outbreak of the South African War, only numbers 236 and 237 actually entered service with the NZASM.[2]

The remainder were commandeered by the Imperial Military Railways (IMR), which took over the operation of the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen (OVGS) and the NZASM on behalf of the invading British forces as possession was obtained of their lines. Sixteen of them were landed and erected at East London and the IMR diverted the other two to the Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique (CFM) in Lourenço Marques.[2][4][5]

Design alteration

The original design for the 46 Tonner called for a straight-backed coal bunker, but the last sixteen Esslingen-built and the twenty Werkspoor-built locomotives had the bunkers sloping outwards towards the top to increase the coal capacity by 20%, while their water tanks were also enlarged to a 10% larger capacity.[2]

Service

NZASM

In NZASM service, all the Esslingen built 46 Tonners were given names as well as engine numbers. The names are shown in Table 1.[2]

Last bolt ceremony at Heidelberg, Transvaal, 10 October 1895

The 46 Tonners became the standard mainline locomotives of the NZASM and were used on all kinds of traffic between Pretoria in the ZAR and Lourenço Marques in Mozambique. Since they did not have a leading bogie, they were found to be rough riding and it became the practice to run them bunker forward whenever possible. The bogies had a steadying effect on the locomotive when leading and the crew was not shaken up as much.[1][2]

On 10 October 1895, ZAR President Paul Kruger’s birthday, 46 Tonner no. 104 "Van Rensburg" hauled the NZASM train to the last bolt ceremony at Heidelberg, Transvaal, where the Transvaal and Natal mainlines were linked up.[6]

Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway

One of the locomotives, no. 64 Prinsloo, was leased or sold to the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (PPR) circa 1897. It retained both the NZASM number and name on the PPR.[2]

Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique

The CFM eventually had at least thirty 46 Tonners in service. Between 1897 and 1898 some of its 46 Tonners were sold to the CFM by the NZASM. The two locomotives that were delivered after the outbreak of the war and that were diverted to Lourenço Marques upon arrival, IMR 249 and 250, were also taken onto the CFM roster at the end of the war. Later, between 1907 and 1920 during the Central South African Railways (CSAR) and South African Railways (SAR) eras, six more were sold to the CFM.[4][5][7]

Imperial Military Railways

All the NZASM 46 Tonners as well as sixteen of the eighteen locomotives that were not delivered to the NZASM as a result of the outbreak of the war, were taken onto the roster of the IMR when it took over all railway operations in the ZAR during the war. It would appear that the locomotives were not renumbered in IMR service.[1][2]

Central South African Railways

Hostilities ceased on 1 June 1902. On 1 July 1902, when the IMR was transferred to civilian control and became the CSAR, the survivors of the NZASM 46 Tonners were taken onto its roster. They were designated Class B and renumbered by the CSAR, but records of the renumbering details are scant. The available information on NZASM to CSAR renumberings only covers those locomotives that the CSAR had sold to the CFM between 1907 and 1910, as shown in Table 1 and included in Table 2.[1][2][8][7]

The builders, works numbers, names, original engine numbers and renumberings onto the rosters of the CFM, CSAR and SAR are shown in the table.[1][3][8]

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 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.[6][9]

As a result of locomotive sales by the NZASM to the CFM before the war, wartime attrition and more sales by the CSAR to the CFM after the war, only fifty-five of the original one hundred and seventy-five locomotives remained to be taken onto the SAR roster by 1910. Their planned SAR number range was to be from 1 to 55, but from the several gaps in the actual number sequence it would appear that eleven of these locomotives were withdrawn or disposed of between 1910 and 1912. As a result, by the time the actual renumbering took place in 1912, only forty-four remained to be taken onto the SAR roster. They retained their Class B classification and were renumbered as shown in Table 2. The NZASM information about these locomotives that could be determined is included in the table.[1][2][3][8][9]

In SAR service the Class B was used as shunters in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and towards the end of their service lives also in the Western Cape. They were all withdrawn from service by 1930.[1]

Industrial

Several Class B locomotives were sold to mines and other industries by the CFM, CSAR and SAR when they began to be retired from government railways service, and some remained in industrial service well into the twentieth century. At least one, identified as ex NZASM 195, later CFM 27, was purchased by the Randfontein Estates Gold Mine (REGM). Another saw service with Dunn’s Locomotive Works in Witbank.[2][4][5]

Preservation

Four of the 46 Tonner locomotives are known to have survived, of which only three have seen service as Class B in the SAR. The fourth, ex NZASM no. 230 "Jan Wintervogel", was sold by the CSAR into industrial use in 1904 and therefore never entered SAR service. It was donated to the SAR for preservation in 1971, and in the Spoornet era it was steamed occasionally for enthusiast’s specials, filming and other activities. After restoration it was initially named "President Kruger", which was the name carried by 40 Tonner number 42 in the NZASM days, but its original NZASM number and name was later reinstated.[1][8]

Sides illustrated

The main picture shows NZASM 46 Tonner no. 230 "Jan Wintervogel" in steam at Witbank, Transvaal, in April 1993. The pictures below serve to illustrate all sides of the locomotive.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 10–11, 27–28. ISBN 0869772112.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 113–119, 126. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 SA Steam Overseas, Compiled by John Middleton, SA Rail July–August 1987, p. 105
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Middleton, John N. (1989). South African Railways Locomotive Allocations - 1989 (4th, 1989 ed.). Auckland Park, South Africa: Railway Preservation Group. p. 20. ISBN 0-620-13670-7
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, pp. 17, 21, 25.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 CFM locomotive list, compiled by Reimar Holzinger
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. p. 15.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 7, 13, 18-19 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)