South African Class NG10 4-6-2

South African Class NG10 4-6-2

Class NG10 number NG62, circa 1930
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Baldwin Locomotive Works
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works
Serial number 42633-42638
Build date 1916
Total produced 6
Specifications
Configuration 4-6-2 "Pacific"
Gauge 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge
Leading wheel
diameter
22 in (559 mm)
Driver diameter 36 in (914 mm)
Trailing wheel
diameter
20.5 in (521 mm)
Wheelbase Total: 40 ft 3.75 in (12.287 m)
Engine:
4 ft (1.219 m) bogie
6 ft 6 in (1.981 m) coupled
19 ft 7.5 in (5.982 m) total
Tender:
4 ft 3 in (1.295 m) bogie
13 ft 9 in (4.191 m) total
Length 47 ft 1.375 in (14.361 m)
Height 10 ft 6 in (3.200 m)
Frame Bar frame
Axle load 6.3875 long tons (6.5 t) on 2nd driver
Weight on drivers 19.7 long tons (20.0 t)
Locomotive weight 28.45 long tons (28.9 t) w/o
57,850 lb (26.2 t) empty
Tender weight 18.75 long tons (19.1 t) w/o
15,000 lb (6.8 t) empty
Locomotive and tender
combined weight
47.2 long tons (48.0 t) w/o
72,850 lb (33.0 t) empty
Tender type 2 axle bogies
22 in (559 mm) wheels
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 4 long tons (4.1 t)
Water capacity 1,930 imp gal (8,800 l)
Boiler 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m) inside diameter
12 ft 4.75 in (3.778 m) inside length
5 ft (1.524 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 180 psi (1,240 kPa)
Firegrate area 14.2 sq ft (1.319 m2)
Heating surface:
– Tubes
119 tubes 1.875 in (47.625 mm) diameter
727 sq ft (67.541 m2)
– Firebox 56 sq ft (5.203 m2)
– Total 783 sq ft (72.743 m2)
Cylinders Two [1]
Cylinder size 13.5 in (343 mm) bore
18 in (457 mm) stroke
Valve gear Walschaerts [2]
Performance figures
Tractive effort 12,302 lbf (55 kN) at 75% pressure
Career
Operator(s) South African Railways
Class Class NG10
Number in class 6
Number(s) NG61-NG66
Nicknames Sixty
Delivered 1916
First run 1916 [1]
Withdrawn 1962 [2]

The South African Class NG10 4-6-2 of 1916 is a South African steam locomotive from the South African Railways era.

In 1916 the South African Railways placed six steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement in service on the Langkloof narrow gauge line. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG10.[2]

Manufacturer

During World War I the usual British locomotive suppliers were hard pressed to satisfy British requirements and this led to several new locomotive types for the SAR being ordered from North American builders. In 1916 the South African Railways (SAR) placed an order with the Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States of America for six narrow gauge locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement. The locomotives were delivered in 1916 and were numbered in the range from NG61 to NG66.[2]

Characteristics

The locomotives were more powerful than previous types and, with their more commodious cabs, proved popular with the crews. Since a classification system for narrow gauge locomotives had not yet been adopted by the SAR, these locomotives became popularly known as the Sixties, based on their engine number range.[2]

They were typically American in appearance, with an ornate chimney cap and steam dome as well as a third engine number on a disk on the front of the smokebox door, in addition to the usual cabside number plates. They had outside bar frames, Belpaire fireboxes and Walschaerts valve gear.[2]

Service

They were placed in service on the Langkloof line between Port Elizabeth and Avontuur in the Eastern Cape, where they spent most of their working lives. Much of that time they worked out of Loerie, either assisting up the bank or on the Patensie branch.[2]

In 1948 numbers NG63 and NG64 were transferred to South West Africa, where they performed yard work, while the rest remained on the Avontuur line performing similar work around Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth.[2]

Classification and withdrawal

The system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted by the SAR somewhere between 1928 and 1930 and at that point these locomotives were classified as Class NG10.[1][2]

All six were withdrawn from service by 1962 as a direct result of the regauging of all the narrow gauge lines in South West Africa to Cape gauge. Some of the older narrow gauge locomotive stock in that territory were retired and scrapped while the rest were all transferred to South Africa.[2]

Illustration

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 South African Railways and Harbours Narrow Gauge Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” Gauge, S.A.R. Mechanical Dept. Drawing Office, Pretoria, 28 November 1932
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 104–105, 110. ISBN 0869772112.