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The South African type X-17 water tender was a Garratt steam locomotive tender.
Type X-17 water tenders first entered service in 1938, as auxiliary water tenders to the Class GM 4-8-2+2-8-4 Double Mountain type Garratt steam locomotives which entered service on the South African Railways in that year. [1] [2] [3]
The South African Railways Class GM 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1938 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The first Type X-17 water tenders were built by the South African Railways (SAR) in its Pietermaritzburg shops in 1938. A redesigned second version was built in 1953. [1] [2] [4] [5]
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu is the name used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in English and Zulu alike, and often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products, as well as the main economic hub of Umgungundlovu District Municipality. The public sector is a major employer in the city due to the local, district and provincial governments being located here. It is home to many schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the current population is estimated at over 600,000 residents and has one of the largest populations of Indian South Africans in South Africa.
During 1938 and 1939, the SAR placed sixteen Class GM Garratt articulated steam locomotives with a 4-8-2+2-8-4 Double Mountain type wheel arrangement in goods train service on the Mafeking line out of Johannesburg. The locomotives were built by Beyer, Peacock and Company. The initial designs of the Class GM Garratt by W.A.J. Day, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SAR from 1936 to 1939, were rejected by the Chief Civil Engineer, since the weight on the leading and trailing bogies of each engine unit would exceed the acceptable limit for the 60 pounds per yard (30 kilograms per metre) rail of the Mafeking line. To overcome the axle load objections, the water capacity of the front water tank was reduced to 1,600 imperial gallons (7,270 litres) while the rear bunker was redesigned to carry no water and with a coal capacity of 10 long tons (10.2 tonnes). The meagre water supply, which would really only be sufficient for shunting purposes, would be augmented by semi-permanently coupling a purpose-built auxiliary water tender to the locomotive. [1] [2] [3]
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-8-2+2-8-4 is a Garratt articulated locomotive consisting of a pair of 4-8-2 engine units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 4-8-2 wheel arrangement has four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. Since the 4-8-2 type is generally known as a Mountain, the corresponding Garratt type is usually known as a Double Mountain.
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. It received limited liability in 1902, becoming Beyer, Peacock and Company Limited.
The Type X-17 water tender first entered service as tenders to these locomotives. In effect, since Garratt locomotives had hitherto been considered as tank engines because they carry all their water on board, this arrangement introduced the tank-and-tender Garratt. In spite of initial criticisms and doubts, the unusual arrangement of auxiliary water tenders which had earlier only been seen on the Kitson-Meyer locomotives of the Cape Government Railways and Central South African Railways of 1903 and 1904 respectively, proved to be very effective and was later repeated upon the introduction of the Classes GMA and GO Garratts in 1954. On the Class GM, the 1,600 imperial gallons (7,270 litres) on-board water tank on the front engine unit was only used when the water tender was temporarily disconnected from the engine at running sheds. [1] [2] [3]
The Cape Government Railways Kitson-Meyer 0-6-0+0-6-0 of 1903 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910.
The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, the Orange Free State Government Railways, the Netherlands-South African Railway Company and the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways under Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Girouard. After the war had ended, the Imperial Military Railways became the Central South African Railways in July 1902, with Thomas Rees Price as General Manager. With the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the CSAR was merged with the Cape Government Railways and the Natal Government Railways to form the South African Railways.
Photographs from the 1940s show the original water tenders with a traditional high turret. The water tenders of 1938 had a water capacity of 6,750 imperial gallons (30,700 litres; 8,110 US gallons) and rode on diamond-frame bogies (similar to North American Archbar trucks) with elliptical springs. [1] [4] [5]
A second version of the Type X-17 water tender was built in 1953, for use with the first 25 Class GMA and the 25 Class GO Garratt locomotives which were to enter service the following year. These water tenders had a low flat-topped turret with a hinged hatch and a curved handrail across the tank barrel, similar to that of the Type MX tender. They had a capacity of 30,980 litres (8,184 US gallons; 6,815 imperial gallons), with a tank barrel of 1,975 millimetres (6 feet 5.8 inches) diameter inside and 10,312 millimetres (33 feet 10 inches) long. It rode on SARCAST bogies (similar to North American Bettendorf trucks) with coil springs. [4] [5] [6]
The South African Railways Class GMA 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1954 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class GO 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1954 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African type MX tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The vehicles were 13,380 millimetres (43 feet 10.8 inches) long over the coupler faces and 12,496 millimetres (41 feet) across the buffer beams. [5] [6]
Three Garratt locomotive classes were designed as tank-and-tender Garratts and rarely worked without auxiliary water tenders. The Type X-17 water tenders were originally numbered for these engines in the number ranges as shown. [1] [4] [5]
When the SAR adopted a computerised goods wagon numbering system, the surviving Type X-17 water tenders were allocated numbers in the range from 30 019 052 to 30 019 125 (short numbers 1905 to 1912) in respect of the 1938 models and in the number range from 30 019 214 to 30 019 672 (short numbers 1921 to 1967) in respect of the 1953 models. Water tenders bearing "X-17" markings have, however, been photographed bearing numbers in the 30 025 xxx number range of the Type X-20 water tenders. [4]
After the end of steam operations in the late 1980s, most of the watering facilities which once existed country-wide have either fallen into disuse or been removed. The Pretoria-based steam heritage club Friends of the Rail and the Germiston-based Reefsteamers therefore often operate their preserved Class 15F steam locomotives with preserved auxiliary water tenders to extend their water range.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-8-2+2-8-4 is a Garratt articulated locomotive consisting of a pair of 4-8-2 engine units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 4-8-2 wheel arrangement has four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck. Since the 4-8-2 type is generally known as a Mountain, the corresponding Garratt type is usually known as a Double Mountain.
The South African Railways Class 23 4-8-2 of 1938 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 21 2-10-4 of 1937 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 19B 4-8-2 of 1930 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class FC 2-6-2+2-6-2 of 1925 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class GM 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1938 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class GMA 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1954 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class GO 4-8-2+2-8-4 of 1954 was an articulated steam locomotive.
The South West African 2-8-0 of 1911 was a steam locomotive from the German South West Africa era.
The South African type XE1 tender was a steam locomotive tender from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The South African type TM tender was a steam locomotive tender from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.
The South African type EW tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The South African type MY tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The South African type X-20 water tender was a Garratt steam locomotive tender.
The South African type MY1 tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The South African type CZ tender was a condensing steam locomotive tender.
The South African type EW2 tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The South African type EW1 tender was a steam locomotive tender.
The South African type XF1 tender was a steam locomotive tender.
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