South West African Class Hc

South West African Class Hc 0-6-0T
ex DSWA Class Hc 0-6-0T

Class Hc, c. 1930
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Henschel and Son
Builder Henschel and Son
Serial number 8334-8336/1907, 10415/1910, 19765/1929 [1]
Model Class Hc
Build date 1907-1929
Specifications
Configuration 0-6-0T
Gauge 600 mm (1 ft 11 58 in) narrow gauge
Driver diameter 24 1316 in (630 mm)
Length 17 ft 11 78 in (5.483 m)
Weight on drivers 10 1520 long tons (10.9 t)
Locomotive weight 10 1520 long tons (10.9 t) w/o
Fuel type Coal
Boiler pressure 171 psi (1,180 kPa)
Firegrate area 4.8 sq ft (0.446 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 8 2132 in (220 mm) bore
11 1316 in (300 mm) stroke
Valve gear Allan [2]
Performance figures
Tractive effort 4,575 lbf (20 kN) at 75% pressure
Career
Operator(s) Otavi Mining and Railway Company
South African Railways
Class Otavi Class Hc
Number in class 5
Number(s) 81-84, 104 [1]
Delivered 1907-1929
First run 1907 [2]

The South West African Class Hc 0-6-0T of 1907 is a South West African steam locomotive from the Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika era.

In 1907 the German Administration in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika, now Namibia, acquired three Class Hc tank locomotives with a 0-6-0 wheel arrangement for the Otavi Mining and Railway Company. One more entered service in 1910, and another was obtained by the South African Railways in 1929.[2]

Manufacturer

Three 600 millimetres (23.6 inches) narrow gauge 0-6-0 tank steam locomotives were built for the German Administration in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika (DSWA) by Henschel and Son in Germany in 1907, with works numbers 8334 to 8336. They were designated Class Hc and numbered in the range from 81 to 83.[1][2]

German South West Africa

The locomotives used Allan valve gear and the "Hc" classification identified the type as the third class to have been built for DSWA by Henschel. They were leased to the Otavi Mining and Railway Company that operated a narrow gauge railway across the Namib Desert between Tsumeb and Swakopmund.[2]

In 1910 a fourth Class Hc locomotive, no. 104 with works number 10415, was delivered by Henschel for service on the Otavi railway.[1][2]

South African Railways

During World War I the former German Colony came under South African administration and the railways in DSWA came under control of the Union Defence Force. Control of all railway operations in South West Africa (SWA) was passed on from the Military to the Director of Railways in Windhoek on 1 August 1915. On 1 April 1922 all the railway lines and rolling stock in the territory became part of the South African Railways (SAR).[2]

None of these four Class Hc locomotives survived into the SAR era, but in 1929 the SAR ordered a new one, no. 84, that was built to the same design by Henschel with works number 19765.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Henschel-Lieferliste (Henschel & Son works list), compiled by Dietmar Stresow
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 116. ISBN 0869772112.