CSAR Class E 4-10-2T

The Central South African Railways Class E 4-10-2T of 1901 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.

In 1901 and 1902, during the Second Boer War, the Imperial Military Railways placed thirty-five tank locomotives with a 4-10-2T wheel arrangement in service, built to the design of the Reid Tenwheeler of the Natal Government Railways. In 1902, they came onto the roster of the Central South African Railways and were designated Class E.^[1][2]

Origin

When the Natal Government Railways (NGR) identified a requirement for a tank locomotive which could haul at least one and a half times as much as a Dübs A 4-8-2T locomotive, a 4-10-2T tank locomotive was designed by George W. Reid, Locomotive Superintendent of the NGR at the end of the nineteenth century. On the NGR, these locomotives became known as the Reid Tenwheelers, later designated the NGR Class C.^[1][2]

Manufacturers

G.W. Reid

In 1901, during the Second Boer War, the Imperial Military Railways (IMR) of the invading British forces experienced a shortage of locomotives, as a result of damage caused during hostilities and the demands which were placed on the Railways by the British Military. Lieutenant-Colonel E.P.C. Girouard KCMG DSO RE, the Commissioner of Railways for the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, therefore placed urgent orders for thirty-five locomotives of the NGR’s Reid Tenwheeler type.^[1][2][3]

To ensure rapid delivery, the order was split between Dübs and Company, who built engine numbers 220 to 234, and Neilson, Reid and Company, who built numbers 235 to 254.^[1][2][3]

Characteristics

To be able to negotiate sharp curves, both the first and fifth pairs of coupled wheels of the Reid Tenwheeler locomotive were flangeless. The locomotive used saturated steam and was equipped with Allan straight link valve gear. The trailing Bissel truck was of the Cartazzi type, which allowed the axle some lateral movement.^[1]

The main shortcoming of the Reid Tenwheeler was a tendency to derail while reversing, particularly over points, since the trailing drivers were flangeless. On the NGR, this was overcome by increasing the tyre width of these wheels from 6 inches (152 millimetres) to 7 inches (178 millimetres).^[1]

While the IMR locomotive was identical in construction to those built for the NGR, it had a weatherboard affixed to the coal bunker, to offer the crew better protection against the elements when travelling bunker forward. The locomotives were more ornate than those in Natal and, in true military style, their brass domes, chimney caps and boiler bands were polished. The practice of polished brasswork was a trade mark of the IMR and was done with all their new locomotives. It was even continued on the Central South African Railways (CSAR) after the IMR was disbanded.^[1]

Service

Imperial Military Railways

Most of the IMR’s Reid Tenwheelers had been in service for less than a year, when peace was declared on 1 June 1902. On 1 July 1902, the control of the railways was handed back to civilian authority.^[4]

Central South African Railways

The IMR was transformed into the CSAR, which took control of all railways in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. One of the first steps taken by the CSAR, was to classify and renumber all the locomotive stock, with tank locomotives classified alphabetically and tender locomotives numerically. The Reid Tenwheeler engines were designated Class E, but retained their IMR engine numbers.^[1][4]

Rebuilding to 4-8-2T Mountain

From c. 1903, six locomotives, numbers 222, 233 to 235, 245 and 252, were converted to 4-8-2T Mountain type engines, by removing the fifth pair of coupled wheels and blanking off the resulting opening in the frame, similar to the modification which was being done by the NGR on its own Reid Tenwheelers, to make them better suited for the tight curves encountered on points during yard working.^[1][2]

Rebuilding to 4-8-0TT Mastodon

Since the small coal and water capacity of the Reid Tenwheelers limited their radius of action, one of them was converted to a tank-and-tender configuration in 1904. The coal bunker, trailing bissel truck and the fifth pair of coupled wheels were removed, the frame was shortened and the locomotive was equipped with a tender from an obsolete Cape 4th class locomotive. As a tank-and-tender type, the modified locomotive was able to haul the same load as before, used less oil, was less troublesome and was considered by crews to be much more comfortable. As a result, the remaining twenty-eight unmodified Reid Tenwheelers were similarly modified to the 4-8-0TT Mastodon type configuration, using three-axle tenders from CSAR Class 6-L2 locomotives. This increased the coal capacity from 4 to 5 ¹⁄₂ long tons (4.1 to 5.6 tonnes) and the water capacity from 1,880 to 4,320 imperial gallons (8,500 to 19,600 litres), which resulted in a considerable increase in the operating range of the locomotive.^[1][2]

Both modified versions of the locomotive were not reclassified on the CSAR, but were referred to as the "Class E Converted". By 1912, when the classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the Cape Government Railways, NGR and CSAR onto the South African Railways roster took place, none of these locomotives survived in their original 4-10-2T Reid Tenwheeler configuration.^[1][2][3][5]

Works numbers

The CSAR Class E builders, works numbers, rebuilding and disposition are listed in the table.^[1][5][6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CSAR Class E (4-10-2T).

Locomotives of the Central South African Railways 3' 6" gauge CSAR 0-6-0ST 1896 CSAR 4-6-0T 1887 CSAR Class 6-L1 CSAR Class 6-L2 CSAR Class 6-L3 CSAR Class 7 CSAR Class 8-L1 CSAR Class 8-L2 CSAR Class 8-L3 CSAR Class 9 CSAR Class 10 1904 CSAR Class 10 1910 CSAR Class 10-2 Saturated CSAR Class 10-2 Superheated CSAR Class 10-C CSAR Class 11 CSAR Class B 0-6-4T CSAR Class C 2-8-4T CSAR Class D CSAR Class E 4-8-0TT CSAR Class E 4-8-2T CSAR Class E 4-10-2T CSAR Class F CSAR Class M CSAR Mallet Saturated CSAR Mallet Stoker CSAR Mallet Superheated CSAR Rack 4-6-4T CSAR Railmotor IMR 0-6-0ST 1896 IMR 4-6-0T 1887 IMR 46 Tonner 0-6-4T IMR 55 Tonner 2-6-4T IMR 7th Class 4-8-0 IMR 8th Class 4-8-0 IMR Reid Tenwheeler 4-10-2T IMR Western Australian 2-8-4T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner NZASM 46 Tonner OVGS 6th Class 1893 OVGS 6th Class 1896 OVGS 6th Class 1898 PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese PPR 55 Tonner 2' gauge CSAR Pankop List of South African locomotive classes South African locomotive history

Locomotives of South Africa Steam 7' ¼" gauge East London Harbour 0-4-0 Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0T Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0WT 4' 8½" gauge Cape 0-4-0T Blackie Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid Natal 0-4-0ST Durban Natal 0-4-0WT Natal Natal 4-4-0T Perseverance 3' 6" gauge Tank engines CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST 1902 CGR 0-6-0T 1876 Back-to-Back CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T 1875 CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T 1882 CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack CSAR Railmotor DSWA Eight-Coupled Tank 2-8-0T Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth Harbour 0-4-0ST Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NGR 2-6-0T Durban & Pietermaritzburg NGR Class I 2-6-2T NGR Class K 0-4-0ST NGR Class K 0-6-0ST NGR Class K 2-6-0T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese SAR 0-4-0ST 1903 SAR 0-4-0T no. 69 SAR Class A SAR Class B SAR Class C SAR Class C1 SAR Class C2 SAR Class D SAR Class E SAR Class F SAR Class G SAR Class H SAR Class H1 SAR Class H2 SAR Class J SAR Class K SAR Clayton Railmotor 3' 6" gauge Tender engines CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Beyer, Peacock CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT 1881 CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT 1875 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 DSWA Eight-Coupled Tender 2-8-0 NGR Havelock NGR Class I SAR Class Exp 1 SAR Class Exp 2 SAR Class Exp 3 SAR Class Exp 4 SAR Class Exp 5 SAR Class Exp 6 SAR Class S SAR Class S1 SAR Class S2 SAR Class 1 SAR Class 1A SAR Class 1B SAR Class 2 SAR Class 2C SAR Class 3 SAR Class 3A SAR Class 3B SAR Class 4 SAR Class 4A SAR Class 5 SAR Class 5A SAR Class 5B SAR Class 6 SAR Class 6A SAR Class 6B SAR Class 6C SAR Class 6D SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6F SAR Class 6G SAR Class 6H SAR Class 6J SAR Class 6K SAR Class 6L SAR Class 6Y SAR Class 6Z SAR Class 7 SAR Class 7A SAR Class 7B SAR Class 7C SAR Class 7D SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7F SAR Class 8 SAR Class 8A SAR Class 8B SAR Class 8C SAR Class 8D SAR Class 8E SAR Class 8F SAR Class 8R SAR Class 8X SAR Class 8Y SAR Class 8Z SAR Class 9 SAR Class 10 SAR Class 10A SAR Class 10B SAR Class 10C SAR Class 10D SAR Class 11 SAR Class 12 SAR Class 12A SAR Class 12B SAR Class 13 SAR Class 14 SAR Class 14A SAR Class 14B SAR Class 14C SAR Class 15 SAR Class 15A SAR Class 15B SAR Class 15C SAR Class 15CA SAR Class 15E SAR Class 15F SAR Class 16 SAR Class 16A SAR Class 16B SAR Class 16C SAR Class 16D SAR Class 16DA SAR Class 16E SAR Class 17 SAR Class 18 SAR Class 19 SAR Class 19A SAR Class 19B SAR Class 19C SAR Class 19D SAR Class 20 SAR Class 21 SAR Class 23 SAR Class 24 SAR Class 25 SAR Class 25NC SAR Class 26 Red Devil 3' 6" gauge Articulated engines CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR Class FC SAR Class FD SAR Class GA SAR Class GB SAR Class GC SAR Class GCA SAR Class GD SAR Class GDA SAR Class GE SAR Class GEA SAR Class GF SAR Class GG SAR Class GH SAR Class GK SAR Class GL SAR Class GM SAR Class GMA SAR Class GO SAR Class HF SAR Class KM SAR Class MA SAR Class MB SAR Class MC SAR Class MC1 SAR Class MD SAR Class ME SAR Class MF SAR Class MG SAR Class MH SAR Class MJ SAR Class MJ1 SAR Class U 2' 6" gauge Cape Copper 0-6-0T 1871 Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Class Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Class Namaqua Copper Pioneer 2' & 600mm gauges ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T DSWA Class Ha DSWA Class Hb DSWA Class Hc DSWA Class Hd DSWA Jung DSWA Zwillinge NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR NG 0-4-0T 1899 SAR Class NG1 SAR Class NG2 SAR Class NG3 SAR Class NG4 SAR Class NG5 SAR Class NG6 SAR Class NG7 SAR Class NG8 SAR Class NG9 SAR Class NG10 SAR Class NG-G11 SAR Class NG-G12 SAR Class NG-G13 SAR Class NG-G14 SAR Class NG15 SAR Class NG-G16 Electric Amcoal Class E38 SAR Class ES SAR Class ES1 SAR Class Exp-AC SAR Class 1E SAR Class 2E SAR Class 3E SAR Class 4E SAR Class 5E s1 SAR Class 5E s2 SAR Class 5E s3 SAR Class 5E1 s1 SAR Class 5E1 s2 SAR Class 5E1 s3 SAR Class 5E1 s4 SAR Class 5E1 s5 SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6E1 s1 SAR Class 6E1 s2 SAR Class 6E1 s3 SAR Class 6E1 s4 SAR Class 6E1 s5 SAR Class 6E1 s6 SAR Class 6E1 s7 SAR Class 6E1 s8 SAR Class 6E1 s9 SAR Class 6E1 s10 SAR Class 6E1 s11 SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7E1 SAR Class 7E2 s1 SAR Class 7E2 s2 SAR Class 7E3 s1 SAR Class 7E3 s2 SAR Class 8E SAR Class 9E s1 SAR Class 9E s2 SAR Class 10E SAR Class 10E1 s1 SAR Class 10E2 SAR Class 11E SAR Class 12E Spoornet Class 7E4 Spoornet Class 10E1 s2 Spoornet Class 14E Spoornet Class 14E1 Spoornet Class 16E Spoornet Class 17E Spoornet Class 18E s1 TFR Class 15E TFR Class 18E s2 TFR Class 19E TFR Class 20E TFR Class 21E TFR Class 22E Diesel 3' 6" gauge Diesel-electric PRASA Class Afro 4000 SAR Class DS SAR Class DS1 SAR Class 31-000 SAR Class 32-000 SAR Class 32-200 SAR Class 33-000 SAR Class 33-200 SAR Class 33-400 SAR Class 34-000 SAR Class 34-200 SAR Class 34-400 SAR Class 34-500 SAR Class 34-600 SAR Class 34-800 SAR Class 34-900 SAR Class 35-000 SAR Class 35-200 SAR Class 35-400 SAR Class 35-600 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 35-800 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000 2' gauge Diesel-electric SAR Class 91-000 3' 6" gauge Diesel-hydraulic SAR Class 61-000 3' 6" gauge Electro-diesel Spoornet Class 38-000 List of South African locomotive classes Rail transport in South 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