South African Class 17 4-8-0TT

Last updated

South African Class 17 4-8-0TT

SAR Class 17 1432 (4-8-0).jpg

SAR Class 17 no. 1432, circa 1930
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer Natal Government Railways
(William Milne)
Builder Dübs and Company
South African Railways
Serial number See table
Model SAR Class 17
Build date 1926-1929
Total produced 21
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 4-8-0TT (Mastodon)
 •  UIC 2’Dn2t
Driver 2nd coupled axle
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Leading dia. 25 3⁄4 in (654 mm)
Coupled dia. 39 in (991 mm)
Tender wheels 34 in (864 mm)
Wheelbase 44 ft 11 1⁄2 in (13,703 mm)
 • Engine 19 ft 9 in (6,020 mm)
 • Leading 5 ft (1,524 mm)
 • Coupled 11 ft (3,353 mm)
 • Tender 16 ft 1 in (4,902 mm)
 • Tender bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm)
Length:
​
 • Over couplers 52 ft 2 1⁄2 in (15,913 mm)
Height 12 ft 2 1⁄2 in (3,721 mm)
Frame type Plate
Axle load 8 LT 10 cwt (8,636 kg)
 •  Leading 9 LT 6 cwt (9,449 kg)
 • 1st coupled 8 LT 2 cwt (8,230 kg)
 • 2nd coupled 8 LT 10 cwt (8,636 kg)
 • 3rd coupled 8 LT 3 cwt (8,281 kg)
 • 4th coupled 8 LT 3 cwt (8,281 kg)
 • Tender bogieBogie 1: 16 LT 15 cwt (17,020 kg)
Bogie 2: 17 LT 18 cwt (18,190 kg)
Adhesive weight 32 LT 18 cwt (33,430 kg)
Loco weight 42 LT 4 cwt (42,880 kg)
Tender weight 34 LT 13 cwt (35,210 kg)
Total weight 76 LT 17 cwt (78,080 kg)
Tender type 2-axle bogies or 3-axle
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 5 LT 10 cwt (5.6 t)
Water cap 1,358 imp gal (6,170 l) engine
Tender cap. 2,600 imp gal (11,800 l) tender
Firebox type Belpaire
 • Firegrate area 24 sq ft (2.2 m2)
Boiler:
​
 • Pitch 7 ft (2,134 mm)
 • Diameter 3 ft 10 3⁄4 in (1,187 mm)
 • Tube plates 10 ft 10 1⁄8 in (3,305 mm)
 • Small tubes187:1 3⁄4 in (44 mm)
Boiler pressure 160 psi (1,103 kPa)
Safety valve Ramsbottom
Heating surface 992 sq ft (92.2 m2)
 • Tubes 930 sq ft (86 m2)
 • Firebox 62 sq ft (5.8 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 17 in (432 mm) bore
21 in (533 mm) stroke
Valve gear Stephenson
Valve type Slide
Couplers Johnston link-and-pin
AAR knuckle (1930s)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 18,670 lbf (83.0 kN) @ 75%
Career
Operators South African Railways
Class Class 17
Number in class 21
Numbers 1415–1435
Delivered 1926-1929
First run 1926
Withdrawn 1961
The leading coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class 17 4-8-0TT of 1926 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

Union of South Africa state in southern Africa from 1910 to 1961, predecessor to the Republic of South Africa

The Union of South Africa is the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape Colony, the Natal Colony, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony. It included the territories that were formerly a part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.

Colony of Natal British colony in south Africa (1843–1910)

The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its provinces. It is now the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

Contents

Between 1926 and 1929, to address a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives, the South African Railways rebuilt twenty-one Class A 4-8-2 Mountain type tank steam locomotives to Class 17 4-8-0 Mastodon type tank-and-tender locomotives. [1] [2] [3] [4]

South African Class A 4-8-2T A 4-8-2T tank locomotive dating from 1888, originally known as a Natal Government Railways Class D (or Dübs) locomotive.

The South African Railways Class A 4-8-2T of 1888 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

4-8-0 locomotive wheel arrangement

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading truck or bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. In North America and in some other countries the type was usually known as the Mastodon and sometimes as the Twelve-wheeler.

Manufacturers

The Natal Government Railways (NGR) Class D 4-8-2T Mountain type tank locomotive was designed by William Milne, the locomotive superintendent of the NGR from 1877 to 1896, and built by Dübs and Company. One hundred of these locomotives were delivered in ten batches by Dübs between 1888 and 1899 and in 1915 another two were built from spare parts by the South African Railways (SAR) in their Durban shops. [1] [5]

Natal Government Railways A government owned organization that managed the railway system in the Colony of Natal from 1875 to 1911

The Natal Government Railways (NGR) was formed in January 1877 in the Colony of Natal.

Dübs and Company defunct British locomotive manufacturer

Dübs & Co. was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it amalgamated with two other Glasgow locomotive manufacturers to create the North British Locomotive Company.

Durban Place in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Durban is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is famous for being the busiest port in the country. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg. In 2015, Durban was recognised as one of the New7Wonders Cities.

Belpaire firebox

Beginning in 1905, these NGR Class D locomotives, originally known on the NGR as the "Dübs A", were gradually reboilered and fitted with Belpaire fireboxes with wider firegrates. The unmodified locomotives were then designated NGR Class D1 while the modified locomotives with Belpaire fireboxes were designated Class D2. [1] [5] [6]

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and square in cross-section, indicated by the longitudinal ridges on the top sides. However, it is the similar square cross-section inner firebox which provides the main advantages of this design i.e. it has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox where the heat is greatest, improving heat transfer and steam production, compared with a round-top shape.

In SAR service, the NGR Class D1 and D2 were both designated Class A in 1912 while the modified locomotives were referred to as Class A Belpaire. [1] [5]

Rebuilding

NGR Class D1 no. 105, c. 1900 NGR Class A (4-8-2).jpg
NGR Class D1 no. 105, c. 1900

When a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives developed in the 1920s as a result of increasing traffic throughout the country and particularly on the Witwaters­rand, the SAR modified twenty-one of the Class A Belpaire 4-8-2 Mountain type tank loco­mo­tives. [1] [4] [7]

The modifications were done between 1926 and 1929 and consisted of the removal of their trailing bissel bogies and coal bunkers, the shortening of their main frames and the addition of tenders to increase their coal and water capacity, thereby converting them to 4-8-0 Mastodon type tank-and-tender locomotives. [1] [4] [7]

Tenders from various scrapped locomotive types were used. The tender depicted in the main picture is a three-axle tender while the official SAR locomotive diagram depicts a tender with four axles on two bogies. [1] [2] [3]

Service

These rebuilt 4-8-2TT locomotives were reclassified to Class 17 and renumbered in the range from 1415 to 1435. They were employed as shunting engines around Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth and gave more than thirty years service in this format. In October 1957 Pietermaritzburg’s last two Class 17s were transferred from Masons Mill to Greyville near Durban. The locomotives were all withdrawn from service by 1961, more than seventy years after the first Class A locomotive was built. [3] [4] [7] [8]

In November 1953 two of these locomotives, numbers 1423 and 1431, were purchased by the Zambezi Saw Mills Company for use on their Livingstone-Mulobezi logging railway in Northern Rhodesia. These two engines were scrapped between 1961 and 1963.

Works numbers and renumbering

Related Research Articles

South African Class GL 4-8-2+2-8-4

The South African Railways Class GL 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1929 was an articulated steam locomotive.

South African Class 16C 4-6-2 class of 30 South African 4-6-2 locomotives

The South African Railways Class 16C 4-6-2 of 1919 was a steam locomotive.

South African Class 14 4-8-2 locomotive class

The South African Railways Class 14 4-8-2 of 1913 was a steam locomotive.

South African Class H 4-10-2T A 4-10-2 tank locomotive developed in 1899 as a Class C tank locomotive on Natal Government Railway. Reclassified in 1912 as a Class H tank locomotive by South African Railways

The South African Railways Class H 4-10-2T of 1899 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class H2 4-8-2T

The South African Railways Class H2 4-8-2T of 1909 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

The South African Railways Class 1 4-8-0 of 1904 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class 1B 4-8-2 class of 6 South African 4-8-2 locomotives

The South African Railways Class 1B 4-8-2 of 1904 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class 1A 4-8-0 class of 21 South African 4-8-0 locomotives

The South African Railways Class 1A 4-8-0 of 1910 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

The South African Railways Class 2C 4-6-2 of 1910 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class 3 4-8-2 class of 30 South African 4-8-2 locomotives

The South African Railways Class 3 4-8-2 of 1909 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class C 4-6-0T class of 37 South African 4-6-0T locomotives

The South African Railways Class C 4-6-0T of 1879 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class G 4-8-2T A tank locomotive developed as the Natal Government Railways Class E locomotive in 1904 and reclassified as a South African Railways Class G locomotive in 1912.

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

South African Class J 4-6-4T class of 6 South African 4-6-4T locomotives

The South African Railways Class J 4-6-4T of 1915 was a steam locomotive.

South African Class NG4 4-6-2T A narrow gauge 4-6-2T tank locomotive that first saw service in 1911.

The South African Railways Class NG4 4-6-2T of 1911 was a narrow-gauge steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

South African Class GCA 2-6-2+2-6-2

The South African Railways Class GCA 2-6-2+2-6-2 of 1927 was an articulated steam locomotive.

The South African Railways Class GE 2-8-2+2-8-2 of 1925 was an articulated steam locomotive.

NGR Class K 2-6-0T class of 7 steam locomotives of the Natal Government Railways from 1877

The Natal Government Railways Class K 2-6-0T of 1877 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

NGR 4-6-2TT <i>Havelock</i> The first steam locomotive to be built in South Africa

The Natal Government Railways 4-6-2TT Havelock of 1888 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

The South African type SH tender was a steam locomotive tender from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1944). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter III - Natal Government Railways. (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, June 1944. p. 423.
  2. 1 2 South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, pp. 21 & 21A, as amended
  3. 1 2 3 Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 10–11, 26–27, 68. ISBN   0869772112.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Soul of A Railway, System 6, Part 2: Greyville Loco, Greyville Station to Umgeni & Berea Road to Rossburgh. Caption 7. (Accessed on 26 November 2016)
  5. 1 2 3 Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 90–91. ISBN   978-0-7153-5382-0.
  6. ↑ The Railway Report for year ending 31 Dec. 1908, Natal Government Railways, p. 39, par 14.
  7. 1 2 3 Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 63. ISBN   978-0-7153-5427-8.
  8. ↑ Soul of A Railway, System 6, Part 5: The New Main Line from Rossburgh to Pietermaritzburg compiled by Les Pivnic. Caption 103. (Accessed on 26 August 2017)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.