South African Class D 2-6-4T
Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway no. 1 President Kruger, CSAR Class D no. 209, SAR Class D no. 56 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South African Railways Class D 2-6-4T of 1898 is a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.
Between 1898 and 1900 the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway placed six 55 Tonner 2-6-4 Adriatic type tank steam locomotives in service. During the South African War the Transvaal government took possession of the railway and it became part of the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij until the Imperial Military Railways took over all railway operations in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.[1]
At the end of the war these locomotives were taken onto the roster of the Central South African Railways, renumbered and reclassified to Class D. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered once again, but retained their Class D classification.[1][2]
The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway
The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (PPR) was a private railway that operated between Pretoria West via Warmbad and Nylstroom to Pietersburg, constructed under a concession granted by the government of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) to Hendrik Jacobus Schoeman on 30 October 1895. Construction commenced in 1897 and the line was opened to traffic as far as Nylstroom by 1 July 1898. Potgietersrus was reached on 1 October 1898 and Pietersburg on 1 May 1899.[1][3][4]
Manufacturer
In 1897 the PPR ordered six 2-6-4 Adriatic type tank locomotives from Beyer, Peacock and Company. At the time these locomotives were amongst the most advanced designs yet to be seen in South Africa. They had Walschaerts valve gear and were the first South African locomotives to be equipped with Belpaire fireboxes.[1][5]
Service
Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway
Five of the six locomotives were delivered to the PPR in 1898. They were to be numbered in the range from 1 to 6, but only five of them went into service since one, number 5, was lost at sea. Number 6 was therefore renumbered to 5 to rectify the gap in the numbering sequence and a replacement for the lost locomotive was ordered from Beyer, Peacock.[1][6]
On the PPR they were known as 55 Tonners. Of these locomotives, number 1 was the only one to be named. It bore the name President Kruger in cast brass plates on the tank sides.[1]
NZASM
As a result of the outbreak of the South African War (1899 to 1902), the ZAR government took possession of the PPR and its rolling stock in October 1899, just five months after completion of the line. The line was then briefly worked by the Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NZASM) until the that railway was itself seized by the Imperial Military Railways (IMR).[1]
Imperial Military Railways
At the outbreak of the war, control of all railways in the Cape of Good Hope and Natal Colonies was taken over by the invading British military. It was operated by the IMR which was established on 7 October 1899 with the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel E.P.C. Girouard KCMG DSO RE as Director of Railways for the South African Field Forces. While Girouard largely left control of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) and the Natal Government Railways (NGR) in the hands of the civilian staff, the railway lines of the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen (OVGS) in the Orange Free State and of the NZASM and its recently seized PPR in the ZAR came under the IMR’s control as possession was obtained of their lines.[1]
The replacement sixth locomotive was delivered to the IMR in 1900 and became the new number 6.[1]
Central South African Railways
Hostilities ceased on 1 June 1902. On 1 July 1902 the IMR was transferred to civilian control and became the Central South African Railways (CSAR). These six locomotives were taken onto its roster, classified as the CSAR’s Class D and renumbered in the range from 209 to 214. During 1904 all six locomotives were upgraded by the CSAR by having their cylinder diameter increased by 1 inch (25 millimetres), which improved their hauling capacity by 15%.[1][2]
South African Railways
The Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, in terms of the South Africa Act. One of the clauses in the Act required that the three Colonial Government railways, the CGR, the NGR and the CSAR, 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][7][8]
In 1912 these six locomotives retained their Class D designation on the SAR, but they were renumbered once again, in the range from 56 to 61. In SAR service the Class D was used on suburban traffic on the Witwatersrand and in the Western Cape. They were withdrawn from service by 1930.[5]
Works numbers
The Class D works numbers and renumberings are shown in the table below.[1][2][5]
Works no. |
Year built |
PPR no. |
IMR no. |
CSAR no. |
SAR no. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3943 | 1897 | 1 | 1 | 209 | 56 |
3944 | 1897 | 2 | 2 | 210 | 57 |
3945 | 1897 | 3 | 3 | 211 | 58 |
3946 | 1897 | 4 | 4 | 212 | 59 |
3948 | 1897 | 5 | 5 | 213 | 61 |
4127 | 1900 | 6 | 214 | 60 | |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 1: 1859-1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 120, 122, 126, 132–133. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
- 1 2 3 4 Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 7, 11, 13, 19 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)
- ↑ Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 183, ref. no. 200954-13
- ↑ Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 184, ref. no. 200954-13
- 1 2 3 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 29. ISBN 0869772112.
- ↑ Beyer, Peacock and Company production list, excluding Garratts, Customer List V1 04.08.02
- ↑ The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, p. 25.
- ↑ Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
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