NZASM 0-6-4 Locomotives in South_Africa

Class 46 tonner/B (Locobase 20765)

Data from "South African Class B 0-6-4T" in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia at [], last accessed 25 July 2020. See also "KRACHT - circa 1897", The History of the Steam Locomotives that have Served The Electricity Supply Industry in South Africa, Eskom, pp. 41-43, archived at [], last accessed 23 July 2020, p. 44. Maschinenfabrik Esslingen works numbers were 2598-2617, 2624-2632 in 1894; 2633, 2656-2665, 2703-2712, 2714-2720 in 1895; 2721-2633, 2745-2789, 2824 in 1896; 2825-2843, 2854-2873, 2877-2886, 2941-2943 in 1897; 2944-2950 in 1898. Werskspoor's serials were 1-10, 29-38.

The Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij was the Dutch South African railway that bought nine batches of this design to serve "all kinds" of freight traffic between Pretoria and Mozambique's capital Lourenco Marques.

Using a design with no leading trucks caused problems, especially given the overhang of the cyliners, says Wikipedia. They were tolerable at slow speeds but oscillations built up at higher speeds to the point that a 46-tonner could derail on straight track. This was exacerbated by a workaround to fix a conflict between the bogie's traverse and the engine's firebox, some stays, and even some rivets.

One solution the crews adopted to avoid the very rough ride was to run bunker first, which put the bogie truck ahead of the engine. This steadied the locomotive and "the crew was not shaken up as much."

As hostilities between the Afrikaaners and the British brewed up into the Second Boer War, the ZASM ordered 20 from Nederlandse Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel (Werkspoor). But only the first two arrived in time to join the rest of the stud. The other 18 were drafted into the United Kingdom's Imperial Military Railway, which would soon take possession of the rest.

The Central South African Railway took over the B class after the end of the Boer War. According to Wikipedia, the CSAR modified some of the running gear: "The original crank webs had solid crank-pin collars. New crank webs were fitted, which enabled solid bushed connecting and coupling rods to be fitted in place of the original split brass type. The original unbalanced slide valves were replaced with balanced slide valves."

Over the next two decades, a total of 30 locomtives would be sold to the Caminhos de Ferro de Motambique.

The CSAR retired the B class by 1919 and several of the class were sold to private operators.