Hopefield / Natal Government 2-6-0 Locomotives in South_Africa

Class 1 / NG7 (Locobase 984)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works, Record of Recent Construction ((1903), No. 31, p. 30-31. See also DeGolyer, Volume 39, p. 297. Works numbers were 19456 in August 1901, 19649-19650 in October 1901. Much later the South African Railways added 36375, which was produced in April 1911.

Compared to other 2-foot Moguls, this was a powerhouse design with a big firebox. The 1911 spec state that these engines burned "colonial coal", 1 pound of which "evaporate[d] 5 1/2 lb of water."

Class K (Locobase 21204)

Data from "NGR Class K 2-6-0T" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 16 September 2024. Works numbers were 1702-1706 in 1877 and 1817-1818 in 1878

NGR's first locomotive superintendent evaluated the usefulness of the two 2-6-0T contractor tanks Durban & Pietermaritzburg and decided to order seven from Beyer, Peacock in two batches. The first of these entered service on 10 January 1878.

The five 1877 engines arrived as wood burners (typically blue gum and thornwood), which required spark arresting ballon stacks. After the two coal-burners arrived in 1878, the other five adopted the slender stack with brass tops. Their copper fireboxes had brick arches that, according to Wikipedia, considerably preceded other countries' adoption of that flame-path-extending installation.

Natal put the septet on the Durban-Pietermanitzburg main line which exapanded from both ends over the next couple of years. Over the next few decades, the class received new numbers, of which 504-506-507 still remained in service in 1906. The last two to survive as shunters (504, 506) were retired in 1930.