South West African Class Hc

DSWA Class Hc 0-6-0T
South West African Class Hc 0-6-0T

300px Class Hc, c. 1930

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Henschel & Son Builder Henschel & Son Serial number 8334-8336/1907, 10415/1910, 19765/1929 Model Class Hc Build date 1907-1929

Specifications Configuration 0-6-0T Gauge 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow gauge Driver diameter Length Adhesive weight Loco weight w/o Fuel type Coal Boiler pressure Firegrate area 4.8 sq ft (0.446 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size bore stroke Valve gear Allan

Performance figures Tractive effort 4,575 lbf (20 kN) at 75% pressure

Career Operators Otavi Mining and Railway Company South African Railways Class Otavi Class Hc Number in class 5 Numbers 81-84, 104 Delivered 1907-1929 First run 1907

The South West African Class Hc 0-6-0T of 1907 is a narrow gauge steam locomotive from the Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika era.

In 1907 the German Administration in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika, now Namibia, acquired three Class Hc tank locomotives with a 0-6-0 wheel arrangement for the Otavi Mining and Railway Company. One more entered service in 1910, and another was obtained by the South African Railways in 1929.

Manufacturer

Three 600 millimetres (23.6 inches) narrow gauge 0-6-0 tank steam locomotives were built for the German Administration in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika (DSWA) by Henschel and Son in Germany in 1907, with works numbers 8334 to 8336. They were designated Class Hc and numbered in the range from 81 to 83.

German South West Africa

The locomotives used Allan valve gear and the "Hc" classification identified the type as the third class to have been built for DSWA by Henschel. They were leased to the Otavi Mining and Railway Company that operated a narrow gauge railway across the Namib Desert between Tsumeb and Swakopmund.

In 1910 a fourth Class Hc locomotive, no. 104 with works number 10415, was delivered by Henschel for service on the Otavi railway.

South African Railways

During World War I the former German Colony came under South African administration and the railways in DSWA came under control of the Union Defence Force. Control of all railway operations in South West Africa (SWA) was passed on from the Military to the Director of Railways in Windhoek on 1 August 1915. On 1 April 1922 all the railway lines and rolling stock in the territory became part of the South African Railways (SAR).

None of these four Class Hc locomotives survived into the SAR era, but in 1929 the SAR ordered a new one, no. 84, that was built to the same design by Henschel with works number 19765.