CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884

This article is about one of several different Cape Government Railways locomotive types to be designated "3rd Class". For other CGR 3rd Class locomotives, see Cape Government Railways 3rd Class locomotives.

CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884

300px Neilson works picture, c. 1884

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Cape Government Railways (J.D. Tilney) Builder Neilson and Company Serial number 3080-3081 Build date 1883 Total produced 2

Specifications Configuration 4-4-0 (American) Driver axle 1st coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia Coupled dia Tender wheels Wheelbase 38 ft 9 in (11,811 mm)  • Engine 17 ft 9 in (5,410 mm)  • Leading 5 ft (1,524 mm)  • Coupled 6 ft 6 in (1,981 mm)  • Tender 9 ft 3 in (2,819 mm)  • Tender bogie Length:  • Over couplers Height 12 ft (3,658 mm) Tender weight Tender type 3-axle (1 leading, 1 bogie) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 5 LT (5.1 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch 6 ft (1,829 mm)  • Tube plates  • Small tubes 143:  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 130 psi (896 kPa) Safety valve Salter Firegrate area 18.25 sq ft (1.695 m2) Heating surface 762.83 sq ft (70.869 m2)  • Tubes 679.6 sq ft (63.14 m2)  • Firebox 83.23 sq ft (7.732 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 15 in (381 mm) bore 20 in (508 mm) stroke Valve gear Joy Couplers Bell link-and-pin

Performance figures Tractive effort 9,000 lbf (40 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Cape Government Railways Class CGR 3rd Class Number in class 2 Numbers E53-E54 Delivered 1884 First run 1884

The Cape Government Railways 3rd Class 4-4-0 of 1884 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1884, the Cape Government Railways placed two experimental 3rd Class tender locomotives with a 4-4-0 American type wheel arrangement in service. They were designed at the Salt River shops in Cape Town, to be able to use the low-grade local coal with its high content of incombustible matter.

Stormberg coalfields

In 1883, the extension of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) Eastern System's line from Queenstown reached Sterkstroom and passed through the Stormberg coalfields, where the Molteno and Cyphergat mines were operating.

While the Colonial coal was much cheaper than imported Welsh coal, it had a non-combustable content of as high as 29%. This led to difficulties when it was used in locomotives, since it frequently caused train delays as a result of unscheduled stops to allow the firemen to clear the grate of clinker and ash.

File:J.D. Tilney.jpg

J.D. Tilney

In attempts to overcome the problem, John D. Tilney, the Eastern System's Locomotive Superintendent, carried out many experiments on some of the 4th Class 4-6-0TT locomotives which had entered service on the Eastern System in 1880. One of these involved modifying the boilers and frames to accommodate oscillating firebars and larger fireboxes. He also modified approximately thirty locomotives, by installing extended fireboxes with wire netting spark arresters and steam blowers, and can be considered one of the foremost pioneers of these devices.

Tilney's initiatives did not pass unnoticed. In 1881, the General Manager appointed Mr. Hawthorne R. Thornton as Chief Locomotive Superintendent for the whole of the Cape of Good Hope, in response to the "growing tendency on the part of the several Locomotive Superintendents to bring in modifications of designs in essential parts of the engines and rolling stock".

Manufacturer

Based on the results of Tilney's experiments, complete sets of drawings for an experimental 4-4-0 American type tender passenger locomotive, as well as an experimental 4-6-0 Tenwheeler type tank-and-tender goods locomotive, were prepared at the CGR's Salt River shops in 1882 and submitted to Neilson and Company, for the construction of two 4-4-0 and four 4-6-0 locomotives.

Characteristics

The locomotives were delivered with Joy valve gear. The design of the two types was also an early attempt at standardisation, since their boilers and tenders and many other parts were made interchangeable.

The three-axle tender was unusual, since the leading axle was mounted in a rigid frame, while the other two were mounted in a bogie. This was the first time that a bogie was used under a tender in South Africa, but also the only time that this tender wheel arrangement was used on the CGR. This peculiar tender wheel arrangement appeared in South Africa on only one other occasion, eighteen years later on the Baldwin-built Zululand Railway Company 2-6-0 construction locomotive in Natal.

The firebox was specially designed to Tilney's specifications, in order to cope with the high percentage of clinker and ash content of Colonial coal from the Stormberg Range. A large drop-grate, which occupied approximately half of the firebox area, with specially-designed sawtooth-shaped firebars, was arranged at the front end of the firebox. The firebars could be vibrated by a hand-operated lever in the cab, while the drop grate was controlled by two chains, fitted at each end and also manipulated from the cab.

Service

The 4-4-0 locomotives entered service in 1884 and were designated 3rd Class, numbered E53 and E54 for the Eastern System. Engine no. E54 was delivered to the Eastern system, where Tilney carried out extensive tests using the Stormberg coal. Engine no. E53 was initially delivered to the Western System, for evaluation and testing by Chief Locomotive Superintendent Thornton who, in turn, experimented with coal from Viljoensdrif.

The locomotives gave good results during testing and in service. It was reported at year-end in 1884 that the use of the low-grade coal led to a saving of 1¾d. per engine-mile. They were, however, difficult to fire due to their very long and narrow grates, and it was admitted in the report that dealing with the large drop-grate and the increased amount of clinker and ash, placed greater physical strain on the firemen.

When better quality coal, which was more suitable for use in the standard locomotives, began to become available from the coalfields in Natal, no more locomotives of this experimental design were ordered.

Both locomotives were renumbered by 1886, when the system number prefixes were done away with and the Eastern System's locomotives were renumbered into the 600 number range. Engine no. E53 became no. 645 and engine no. E54 became no. 646. Neither entered South African Railways service, since both were withdrawn from CGR service between 1900 and 1910.

Illustration

• CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 Joy b.jpg

  No. 646 at King William's Town on 7 November 1899

• CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 Joy c.jpg

  No. 646 in King William's Town station, November 1899