South African Class G 4-8-2T

NGR Class E 4-8-2T
South African Class G 4-8-2T

300px NGR Class E no. 250, later SAR Class G no. 197

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Natal Government Railways (D.A. Hendrie) Builder North British Locomotive Company Serial number 16060-16084 Build date 1904 Total produced 25

Specifications Configuration 4-8-2T (Mountain) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia Coupled dia 42 in (1,067 mm) Trailing dia Wheelbase  • Leading 5 ft 4 in (1,626 mm)  • Coupled 11 ft 9 in (3,581 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 35 ft 5 in (10,795 mm) Height Frame type Plate Axle load  • Leading  • 1st coupled  • 2nd coupled  • 3rd coupled  • 4th coupled  • Trailing Adhesive weight Loco weight empty Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 2 LT 10 cwt (2.5 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch 7 ft (2,134 mm)  • Diameter  • Tube plates 10 ft 4 in (3,150 mm)  • Small tubes 232:  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 175 psi (1,207 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Firegrate area 19 sq ft (1.8 m2) Heating surface 1,223 sq ft (113.6 m2)  • Tubes 1,098 sq ft (102.0 m2)  • Firebox 125 sq ft (11.6 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 18 in (457 mm) bore 22 in (559 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Valve type Slide Couplers Bell link-and-pin

Performance figures Tractive effort 22,280 lbf (99.1 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Natal Government Railways South African Railways Class NGR Class E, SAR Class G Number in class 25 Numbers NGR 250-274, SAR 197-221 Delivered 1904 First run 1904 Withdrawn 1962

The leading coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class G 4-8-2T of 1904 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

In 1904, the Natal Government Railways placed twenty-five Class E 4-8-2T tank steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class G.

Manufacturer

The first locomotive to be designed for the Natal Government Railways (NGR) by D.A. Hendrie, who had succeeded G.W. Reid as Locomotive Superintendent of the NGR on 8 January 1903, was a 4-8-2T tank locomotive. It was built by the newly established North British Locomotive Company (NBL) in the former Dübs shops in Glasgow, Scotland.

Twenty-five of these locomotives were delivered in 1904, numbered in the range from 250 to 274. Until they were designated Class E at some stage between 1904 and 1908, they were known on the NGR as the Dübs B or Improved Dübs, even though Dübs and Company had already ceased to exist when the locomotives were built, having been merged into the NBL.

Characteristics

File:D.A. Hendrie.jpg

D.A. Hendrie

The locomotive was intended for use on mainline work and Hendrie used the Reid Tenwheeler (NGR Class C) and the Dübs A (NGR Class D) as basis for its design, which resulted in an engine which looked like a smaller version of the Reid Tenwheeler locomotive. With a larger boiler and working at a higher boiler pressure, the Class E was a more powerful locomotive than the NGR Class D, but Hendrie had made no radical changes, in the basic design, to the work of his predecessors.

The engine had inclined cylinders, arranged outside the plate frames. Its balanced slide valves were arranged above the cylinders and were actuated by Stephenson link motion, through rocker shafts. The locomotives were the first in South Africa to have "I" section coupling rods and connecting rods.

South African Railways

When the Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, the three Colonial government railways (Cape Government Railways, NGR and Central South African Railways) were united under a single administration to control and administer the railways, ports and harbours of the Union. Although the South African Railways and Harbours 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.

In 1912, these locomotives were designated Class G on the South African Railways (SAR) and renumbered in the range from 197 to 221.

Service

The locomotives entered service working the mainline passenger Corridor Trains out of Durban, but they were soon replaced by the NGR Class B 4-8-0 tender locomotives, Hendrie's second locomotive design, which entered service later in 1904. They were then used as banking engines from Ladysmith up the Van Reenen Pass, the rail connection between Natal and Harrismith in the Free State. They remained in use there, as well as in general service on some of the heavier branchlines, until the loads became too heavy for them.

By 1944, six of them were still working in light shunting at various marshalling yards in the Union. The last pair were withdrawn from shunting service around Pietermaritzburg in 1962. Several were sold to mines and other industrial concerns.

Preservation

Ex NGR no. 274, SAR no. 221, the last of the Class to be built, was moved from Millsite in Krugersdorp to the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George during August 2014.

• Ex NGR-SAR Class G 4-8-2T Nbr 221 (Builder- NBL) (15081956921).jpg

  No. 221, shortly after delivery to the Outeniqua Transport Museum, 30 August 2014