South African Class NG3 4-6-2T

The South African Class NG3 4-6-2T of 1907 is a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

In 1907 the Natal Government Railways placed six 4-6-2 Pacific type narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they retained their engine numbers, but with an "NG" prefix added. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG3.^[2][3]

Manufacturer

Commonly known as the Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks, the second batch of narrow gauge 4-6-2T tank locomotives of the Natal Government Railways (NGR) were built to the design of NGR Locomotive Superintendent D.A. Hendrie, based on his earlier design of the Hunslet Side Tank 4-6-2T locomotives of 1906.^[3]

An order for six of these locomotives was placed with Hawthorn Leslie and Company. They became part of the Class N on the NGR and were numbered in the range from 4 to 9 when they were delivered in 1907, in anticipation of the opening of the Donnybrook line the following year. The locomotives had outside plate frames and used Walschaerts valve gear.^[3]

Service

The NGR’s first venture into narrow gauge railway operation was on a line between Estcourt and Weenen, where the earlier Hunslet Side Tank locomotives were placed in service in 1906. Following on the success of this line, a similar narrow gauge line was opened on the South Coast to serve the residents of the Alexandra County. It was constructed over a distance of 158 kilometres (98 miles) between Esperanza and Donnybrook and was opened to traffic in 1908. The Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks were acquired specifically to operate the Donnybrook-Esperanza Railway.^[3]

South African Railways

The Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, in terms of the South Africa Act, enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. One of the clauses in the Act required that the three Colonial Government railways, the Cape Government Railways, the NGR and the Central South African Railways, 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.^[2][4]

In 1912 the narrow gauge locomotives were included in the SAR’s narrow gauge numbering scheme and were allocated engine numbers with an "NG" prefix, but a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted in the late 1920s. At that point, the four remaining Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks, numbers NG4, NG5, NG8 and NG9, were classified as Class NG3 on the SAR.^[1][2][3]

In SAR service, the Class NG3 remained mainly confined to the Natal narrow gauge branches. One exception was number NG5, which was transferred to the Avontuur branch in the Eastern Cape in 1939. Here it was employed in yard duties in and around Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth, where it eventually became the last survivor of the Class NG3. It remained in service until it was sold in 1946.^[3]

See also

• List of South African locomotive classes
• Narrow Gauge locomotive numbering and classification
• NGR Class N 4-6-2T 1906
• South African Class NG4 4-6-2T
• South African locomotive history
• The 4-6-2 "Pacific"
• Two foot gauge railways in South Africa

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: South African Class NG3 (4-6-2T)

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