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Clayton Railmotor no. RM11, c. 1929 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The South African Railways Clayton Railmotor of 1929 was a steam railmotor.
In 1929, the South African Railways acquired a single self-contained steam railmotor for low-volume passenger service. The vehicle was a vertical boilered steam locomotive with a passenger coach as an integral part of the locomotive itself. [1]
The first steam railmotors in South Africa were the Cape Government Railways steam railmotor no. M6 and the Central South African Railways steam railmotor no. M2 which were introduced in 1906 and 1907 respectively. During the years since its establishment in 1910, several petrol-driven railmotors had been placed in low-volume passenger service by the South African Railways (SAR). In 1928, despite its declared preference for petrol-engine railcars, the Railways Administration decided to acquire a single experimental steam railmotor. [1] [2]
The Cape Government Railways Railmotor of 1906 was a South African steam railmotor locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The CSAR Railmotor of 1907 was a South African steam railmotor locomotive from the pre-Union era in Transvaal Colony.
An order for one steam railmotor was placed with Clayton Carriage and Wagon in June 1928, at a purchase price of £4,780 plus £65 for a spare geared wheelset. Although it was initially intended for Durban, the railmotor was delivered to Cape Town instead. It was erected in the Salt River workshops and numbered RM11. After initial trial runs, the railmotor entered regular service on 24 September 1929. [1]
Clayton Equipment Company Ltd, now known simply as Clayton Equipment Ltd or CEC and CEL, is a locomotive construction company that specialises in locomotives for underground mining operations.
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.
Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa, colloquially named the Mother City. It is the legislative capital of South Africa and primate city of the Western Cape province. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
The vertical boiler of the engine was located to the rear of the front driving compartment and had an outer cylindrical shell and an inner firebox, with the middle portion of the firebox pressed into a square cross-section. The coal bunker and water tank were mounted on the power bogie and the bunker part was separate from the coach body to enable it to swivel with the power bogie. The engine unit had two cylinders with piston valves which drove a spur gear on the driving axle, while the two axles of the power bogie were connected with coupling rods. For bi-directional operation, the railmotor had a second driving cab at the rear end of the coach. [1]
Piston valves are one form of valve used to control the flow of steam within a steam engine or locomotive. They control the admission of steam into the cylinders and its subsequent exhausting, enabling a locomotive to move under its own power. The valve consists of two piston heads on a common spindle moving inside a steam chest, which is essentially a mini-cylinder located either above or below the main cylinders of the locomotive.
The rear end of the railmotor rode on conventional passenger bogies. The coach had the capacity to seat 30 first class and 35 second class passengers in two compartments and it also had a baggage compartment immediately to the rear of the front driving cab and boiler. [1]
The vehicle was equipped with the old Johnston link-and-pin couplers instead of the new AAR knuckle couplers that were introduced in 1927. The reason was most likely that the commuter carriages in service at the time were all still equipped with the older couplers.
The Janney Coupler is a semi-automatic railway coupler. The earliest commercially successful version of the knuckle coupler, it was patented by Eli H. Janney in 1873.
The railmotor was initially placed in service on the Milnerton line for a brief period and often operated with a passenger carriage in tow. When this line was closed to regular traffic on 31 July 1930, the railmotor was transferred to the Cape Flats line. [1] [2]
The railmotor fleet was reported as giving good results and accomplishing the objects of economical working and speedier and more comfortable travel compared to steam train services, since mixed trains on branch lines usually resulted in slower passenger service as a result of frequent stops to load or unload goods. [3]
The Clayton railmotor was later used on the Overberg line to Caledon. No more steam railmotors were acquired, however, and all subsequent railmotor models on the SAR were petrol-driven vehicles. [1]
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered driving wheels on one axle and no trailing wheels. This type of locomotive is often called a Jervis type, the name of the original designer.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-6-2+2-6-4 is a Garratt or Union Garratt articulated locomotive using a pair of 4-6-2 engine units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 4-6-2 wheel arrangement of each engine unit has four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading bogie, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. Since the 4-6-2 type is known as a Pacific, the corresponding Garratt type is usually known as a Double Pacific.
Railmotor is a British railway lightweight railcar, that is, a railway carriage with a small steam traction unit or diesel or petrol engine integrated into it.
The steam rail motors (SRM) were self-propelled carriages operated by the Great Western Railway in England and Wales from 1903 to 1935. They incorporated a steam locomotive within the body of the carriage.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, 2-6-2+2-6-2 is an articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-6-2 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-6-2 wheel arrangement has a single pair of leading wheels in a leading truck, followed by three coupled pairs of driving wheels and a pair of trailing wheels in a trailing truck. Since the 2-6-2 type was often called the Prairie type, the corresponding Garratt and Modified Fairlie types were usually known as a Double Prairie.
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) operated two classes of twenty steam railmotors in total.
The South African Railways Class 18 2-10-2 of 1927 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 16E 4-6-2 of 1935 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 12A 4-8-2 of 1919 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 6Z 2-6-4 of 1901 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The South African Railways Class 5 4-6-2 of 1912 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class HF 2-8-2+2-8-2 of 1927 was an articulated steam locomotive.
A steam railcar is a rail vehicle that does not require a locomotive as it contains its own steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams. In 1848 they made the Fairfield steam carriage that they sold to the Bristol & Exeter Railway, who used it for two years on a branch line.
The NZASM 19 Tonner 0-4-2T of 1891 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in Transvaal.
The South African Railways Class 14C 4-8-2 of 1918 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 14C 4-8-2 of 1919 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 16DA 4-6-2 of 1930 was a steam locomotive.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0+4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and four trailing wheels on two axles mounted in a bogie.
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