Walvis Bay 2-4-2 Locomotives in South_Africa

Class Hope (Locobase 9977)

Data from Pieter Conradie's blog at [], last accessed 10 March 2009.

The author of this blog says the Kerr, Stuart design (works #652) was based on the SIRDAR type 0-4-0T, but HOPE was modified because of the low track loading - 12 lb/yard - to spread the weight over two more axles. (Gives the reader an idea of just what light rail they were using.) Its running gear was protected from debris by drop-down skirts. Conradie does not give the stroke in his otherwise reasonably full set of specs, so Locobase adopted 10" from another, very similar K, S locomotive.

Even with two more axles, the HOPE seems to have been too heavy and in any event German shippers preferred Swakopmund harbor sent the WB railway into desuetude before World War I. Remarkably, HOPE was not cut up and has been preserved.

NB: The direct heating surface (including the firebox heating surface) is an estimate calculated by subtracting the calculated tube heating surface from the reported total evaporative heating surface.