South African Class 14A 4-8-2

South African Classes 14A and 14R 4-8-2

Class 14R no. 1905 at Klerksdorp, 17 April 1978
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer South African Railways
Builder North British Locomotive Company
Serial number 20568-20587, 20822-20842
Model Class 14A
Build date 1914
Total produced 41
Specifications
Configuration 4-8-2 "Mountain"
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Leading dia 28.5 in (724 mm)
Driver diameter 48 in (1,219 mm)
Trailing dia 33 in (838 mm)
Wheelbase Total: 56 ft 11.75 in (17,367 mm)
Engine:
6 ft 2 in (1,880 mm) bogie
12 ft 9 in (3,886 mm) coupled
30 ft 7 in (9,322 mm) total
Tender:
4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) bogie
16 ft 9 in (5,105 mm) total
Length 65 ft 4.625 in (19,929 mm)
Height 12 ft 10 in (3,912 mm) as built
12 ft 11.75 in (3,956 mm) reboilered
Axle load 15 long tons (15.2 t) on 2nd driver as built
16.5 long tons (16.8 t) on 2nd driver reboilered, copper firebox
15.8 long tons (16.1 t) on 2nd driver reboilered, steel firebox
Adhesive weight 59.85 long tons (60.8 t) as built
63.65 long tons (64.7 t) reboilered, copper firebox
60.7 long tons (61.7 t) reboilered, steel firebox
Loco weight 85.5 long tons (86.9 t) as built
90.2 long tons (91.6 t) reboilered, copper firebox
87.3 long tons (88.7 t) reboilered, steel firebox
Tender weight 48,864 lb (22.2 t) empty
52.35 long tons (53.2 t) w/o
Loco & tender weight 178,100 lb (80.8 t) empty
137.85 long tons (140.1 t) w/o
Tender type MR - MP, MP1, MR, MS, MT, MT1, MT2, MX, MY, MY1 permitted
* 2 axle bogies
* 34 in (864 mm) wheels
* Length 25 ft 9.75 in (7,868 mm)
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 10 long tons (10.2 t)
Water cap 4,600 imp gal (21,000 l)
Firebox:
  Firegrate area
37 sq ft (3.437 m2)
Boiler As built:
5 ft 1.625 in (1,565 mm) inside diameter
19 ft (5,791 mm) inside length
7 ft 7 in (2,311 mm) pitch
Reboilered:
5 ft 7.5 in (1,714 mm) inside diameter
19 ft 4 in (5,893 mm) inside length, steel firebox
19 ft 3.625 in (5,883 mm) inside length, copper firebox
8 ft 0.5 in (2,451 mm) pitch
Boiler pressure 180 psi (1,240 kPa) as built
190 psi (1,310 kPa) reboilered
Heating surface 2,059 sq ft (191.287 m2) as built
2,075 sq ft (192.774 m2) reboilered
  Tubes As built:
118 tubes 2.25 in (57 mm) diameter
21 tubes 5.5 in (140 mm) diameter
1,909 sq ft (177.352 m2)
Reboilered:
87 tubes 2.5 in (64 mm) diameter
30 tubes 5.5 in (140 mm) diameter
1,933 sq ft (179.582 m2)
  Firebox 150 sq ft (13.935 m2) as built
142 sq ft (13.192 m2) reboilered
Superheater:
  Heating area
483 sq ft (44.872 m2) as built
492 sq ft (45.708 m2) reboilered
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 21 in (533 mm) bore
26 in (660 mm) stroke
Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures
Tractive effort At 75% boiler pressure:
32,250 lbf (143.5 kN) as built
37,360 lbf (166.2 kN) reboilered
Career
Operators South African Railways
Class Class 14A, Class 14R
Number in class 41
Numbers 1576-1595, 1901-1921
Delivered 1914-1915
First run 1914

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The South African Railways Class 14A 4-8-2 of 1914 is a steam locomotive.

In 1914 and 1915 the South African Railways placed forty-one Class 14A steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain type wheel arrangement in service.[1]

Manufacturer

Following the success of the Class 14, D.A. Hendrie, then the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR), used the design as basis for the lighter Class 14A locomotive for use on coastal lines. The second version of the Class 14 locomotive was ordered from the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) in 1913 and was built in two batches. Twenty were delivered in 1914, numbered in the range from 1576 to 1595, and another twenty-one in 1914 and 1915, numbered in the range from 1901 to 1921.[2][3]

Like the Class 14, the Class 14A had Walschaerts valve gear and a Belpaire firebox and was superheated, but it had nearly 6 inches (152 millimetres) less boiler diameter than the Class 14 in order to reduce the axle loading to 15 long tons (15.2 tonnes), specifically for use on the lighter track on the Cape Eastern mainline from East London. To compensate for the smaller boilers, they were equipped with smaller cylinders with a bore of 21 inches (533 millimetres) instead of 22 inches (559 millimetres).[1][2][4]

Watson Standard boilers

During the 1930s many serving locomotives were reboilered with a standard boiler type designed by then CME A.G. Watson as part of his standardisation policy. Such Watson Standard reboilered locomotives were reclassified by adding an "R" suffix to their classification.[1][5]

All the Class 14A locomotives except number 1915 were eventually reboilered with Watson Standard no 2 boilers. In the process they were also equipped with Watson cabs, with their distinctive slanted fronts, compared to the conventional vertical fronts of their original cabs. In spite of being lighter than the Class 14, they were reclassified to Class 14R along with reboilered Class 14 locomotives, instead of to Class 14AR. Even so, they could still be identified as ex Class 14A locomotives by the absence of sandboxes on their running boards.[1][5]

An obvious visual difference between an original and a Watson Standard reboilered locomotive is usually a rectangular regulator cover just to the rear of the chimney on the reboilered locomotive. In the case of reboilered Class 14A locomotives two even more obvious visual differences are the Watson cab and the absence of the Belpaire firebox hump between the cab and boiler on the reboilered locomotives.[5]

Service

South African Railways

As intended, the Class 14A was placed in service on the East London mainline, but although they were good locomotives, they were not very successful there and were soon relocated to be shared between the Cape Western system for use between Cape Town and Beaufort West, and the Eastern Transvaal system for use on the line to Delagoa Bay out of Pretoria, particularly between Waterval Boven and Komatipoort. The Cape Western locomotives later joined the rest of the Class in the Eastern Transvaal. They proved themselves as free steaming locomotives, low on maintenance costs and trouble-free, and therefore popular with crews and fitters alike.[1][2]

Industrial

Six were eventually sold into industrial service.

Illustration

The main picture shows second order Class 14R no. 1905 at Klerksdorp, Transvaal, on 17 April 1978. The first of the following pictures illustrate the Class 14A locomotive as built, while the rest show reboilered Class 14R (ex Class 14A) locomotives in service.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 10–11, 57–58. ISBN 0869772112.
  2. 1 2 3 Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
  3. North British Locomotive Company works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser
  4. 1 2 Durrant, A E (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. pp. 63–64. ISBN 0715386387.
  5. 1 2 3 South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended
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