Rhodesia Railways 19th class | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Wankie Coal Co. no.1 in Hwange, Zimbabwe, 1990. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reference: [1] |
The Rhodesia Railways 19th class was a class of 20 4-8-2 locomotives built between 1951 and 1953. These were similar in design to the Class 19D used by South African Railways, and were the last non-articulated steam locomotives ever purchased by Rhodesia Railways.
Between 1951 and 1953, Henschel & Son built twenty locomotives for Rhodesia Railways, as their 19th class, numbered in the range from 316 to 335. They had tenders similar to the SAR Torpedo type, but with plate frame bogies instead of cast frame Buckeye bogies. [2] [3]
A single 19C class, no. 336, was built by Henschel in 1954 as a condensing locomotive. Nicknamed "Silent Suzie", it was intended for use in Botswana, but was unpopular with crews, and was rebuilt into a non-condensing 19th Class in 1958 after being involved in a collision. [4] The condensing tender was rebuilt to a Torpedo tender by mounting a tank and coal bunker, supplied locally in Bulawayo, on the frame. [3] [5] This rebuilt tender is the one paired with no. 330 which is preserved in the Bulawayo Railway Museum. [6]
By February 1979, only three were left in service, with no. 328 allocated to the Bulawayo shed, no. 329 at Lobatse in Botswana, and no. 330 out-stationed at Mafeking in South Africa. In addition, a further nine locomotives were in storage. [7]
First Number | Henschel Builder Number | Date Built | Disposal | Notes |
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316 | 27386 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
317 | 27387 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
318 | 27388 | 1952 | Scrapped 1980 | |
319 | 27389 | 1952 | Sold Selebi-Pikwe | |
320 | 27390 | 1952 | Sold Wankie Colliery | |
321 | 27391 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
322 | 27392 | 1952 | Sold Selebi-Pikwe | |
323 | 27393 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
324 | 27394 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
325 | 27395 | 1952 | Sold Wankie Colliery | |
326 | 27396 | 1952 | Sold Wankie Colliery | |
327 | 27397 | 1952 | Scrapped 1980 | |
328 | 27398 | 1952 | Sold Selebi-Pikwe | |
329 | 27399 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
330 | 27400 | 1952 | Bulawayo Railway Museum | |
331 | 27401 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
332 | 27402 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 | |
333 | 27403 | 1952 | Scrapped 1979 | |
334 | 27404 | 1952 | Scrapped 1979 | |
335 | 27405 | 1952 | Scrapped 1976 |
At the same time as the Rhodesia Railways' order, the Hwange Colliery (then known as the Wankie Coal Company) was looking forward to cut down expendetures of having the Rhodesia Railways handling rail operations from its mines, which cost the colliery company £50 per shunt. [4]
The company decided to order four locomotives identical to the 19th class for £47,000 each from the North British Locomotive Company. These locomotives differed from the Rhodesia Railways examples by having a 12th class tender, and the absence of a superheater. The four locomotives were numbered 1 to 4. [4] [3] A few of the Rhodesian 19th class were later sold to the Wankie Colliery, continuing off where the four first-hand locomotives left off. [8] [9]
A further two locomotives were delivered by Henschel in 1952 to the Nkana copper mines in Northern Rhodesia, who numbered them 107 and 108. [5] In 1967, these were sold to a scrap merchant, who in turn sold them to Rhodesia Railways, becoming their numbers 337 and 338, and were classified as class 19B. [3] [4]