Class 10 (Locobase 2717)

Data from "The Walschaert Valve Gear and Its Inventor" , The Railway magazine, Volume 15 (October 1904), p. 299.

North British Locomotive's contribution to the Transvaal and Orange Free State's reequipment program after the Boer War was this Pacific, which differed from the Vulcan Foundry engines found in Locobase 2914 by having piston valves, Walschaerts gear, and a Belpaire boiler. The class was later superheated; see Locobase 2915.

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Class 10-2/10A (Locobase 13089)

Data from DF Holland, Volume I, pp. 137-139. Works numbers 18971-18975.

As did many chief mechanical engineers and locomotive superintendents at this time, G G Elliott of the CSAR covered his bets by testing the new superheater innovation by buying five locomotives with saturated boilers and five with superheaters. The set in this entry were the traditional engines. They had Belpaire fireboxes, a large steam dome over the second driver

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Class 10-2/10B (Locobase 2915)

Data from Holland (1972, I). p. 138. North British works numbers 18976-18980 in 1910, Beyer Peacock works numbers 5483-5487 in 1912.

The first 5 locomotives of this class were ordered to be compared directly with identical locomotives fitted with saturated boilers. The success of the superheated variant in hauling almost 25% more load than its saturated sisters ensured that future orders would include the superheater. Another sign of its superiority was the SAR's elimination of double-headed passenger trains in the Orange Free State.

The 10s that went into service with saturated boilers (Locobases 2717 and 13089) were later updated to match the specifications shown in this entry. The profile included a relatively large Belpaire firebox and thick, thimble-shaped dome.

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Class 10BR (Locobase 13107)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972). p. 81. See Locobase 13103 for a brief comment on AG Watson's drive to place standard boilers on as many classes as possible.

Unlike some of the other updates, the installation of Standard Boiler No 1 added some heating surface area even as it shortened the tube lengths. The design also saw very little weight gain.

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Class 10C (Locobase 2936)

Data from Frank Holland (1972,II), page 16. Works numbers were 19195-19206 in 1910-1911.

These engines handled the mail traffic between Klerksdorp and Kimberly when they were first introduced. They had long boilers topped by a squat dome over the second driven axle. They later worked local Capetown passenger and freight traffic.

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Class 10C - superheated (Locobase 13090)

Data from Frank Holland (1972,II), page 16.

Locobase 2936 shows the saturated-boiler of the 10C design. Holland does not indicate when the class received superheaters. The modification looks to have been as minimal as possible. 83 small tubes were deleted in favor of the 18 flues, but the other dimensions remained essentially unchanged.

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Class 10CR (Locobase 13108)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972). p. 81. See Locobase 13103 for a brief comment on AG Watson's drive to place standard boilers on as many classes as possible.

This lighter Pacific's makeover included a Standard No 1 boiler, which had similar areas to those of the 10C (Locobase 13090), but composed of fewer, larger-diameter small tubes and more flues. Weight change

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Class 10D (Locobase 11080)

Data from Holland (1972, II); "Heavy 3 ft 6 in Gauge Locomotives", Railway Engineer, Volume 31, No 6 (June 1910), p 174; and from "Powerful Freight and Passenger Locomotives for a Narrow Gauge Railway", American Engineering and Railroad Journal (May 1910), pp. 192-194. Works number was 46715 in January 1910.

This single locomotive offered the only challenge to the British dominance of passenger locomotive supply in South Africa at the time. In size it almost perfectly matched up with the North British Class 10 locomotive of 1904. A big difference was the size of the boiler which had as much evaporative heating surface as the Class 10, and added a superheater to boot.

Size and weight should not have been a factor, so other, less-tangible reasons doubtless accounted for this engine's solitary status. It was scrapped in 1931.

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Class 16/16B (Locobase 2944)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), pp. 27-28. Works numbers were 20430-20441 in 1914.

These Pacifics worked fast passenger traffic in the upper Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal on such runs as the Johannesburg-Pretoria service. Fitted like the Class 15s with Belpaire fireboxes, many of the Class 16 parts were identical. Class 16Bs were 10 engines delivered in 1917-1918 that were virtually identical.

They served well for years.

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Class 16A (Locobase 2943)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), pp. 27-28. Works numbers were 20956-20957 in 1915.

Although very successful engines and, Holland notes, popular with the engine drivers, these engines were not repeated. The four-cylinder simple action was much smoother on the track than the more typical two outside cylinders. The limited space inside the frame of a sub-gauge locomotive, however, meant that increasing power requirements couldn't be met by increasing cylinder size.

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Class 16C (Locobase 2946)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), pp.36-38. Works numbers were 21708-21717 and 22716-22735.

Again, a very successful variant of the basic Class 16 Pacific design, but with shorter boiler tubes because of the insertion of a combustion chamber ahead of the Belpaire firebox. Holland contends these might be DA Hendrie's "crowning achievement" (along with the Class 12A Mountains):

"They proved to be excellent locomotives, free-steaming, fast, and reliable, and had a reserve of power greater than either the 16 or 16B classes."

Some of the class later had their driver diameters increased to 63" and boiler pressure increased to 200 psi.

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Class 16D/16DA ("Big Berthas") (Locobase 2952)

Data from Holland, II (1972). See also DeGolyer, Vol 72, pp. 398+ and Vol 79, pp. 506+. They came from Hohenzollern (868-73 in 1928) and Baldwin (843-850 in May 1929. Baldwin works numbers were 58309-58310 in March 1925, 58703-58707 in September.

Firebox heating surface included 22 sq ft (2.05 sq m) of arch tubes. Relatively large 12" (305 mm) piston valves served the cylinders.

An excellent example of American practice for export, these engines were an immediate success in South African service. They were expressly designed for the "long haul", according to the specs. Dubbed "Big Berthas" , the class soon set records for long-distance running, such as a 926-mile (1,491 km) run from Johannesburg to Capetown trailing the Union Limited in August 1926.

Later 16DAs had the same dimensions as the 16D. They used the same bridle casting modification as had the 15CA Mountains (Locobase 2916), which widened the rear ends of the frame to reduce cracking.

Some D and DA locomotives later received 63" drivers and had their boiler pressures incrased to 205 psi.

844 was later sold to Umgala Colliery as their #2.

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Class 16DA - wootten (Locobase 2956)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), pp. 67-68. Works numbers were 21750-21755 in 1930.

AG Watson, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SAR, ordered these with the wide Wooten firebox (note the large grate area). Operation showed that these engines' steaming ability was "phenomenal," says Holland. As a result, "the wide firebox policy, without combustion chambers, became standard on all main-line locomotives." (Firebox heating surface included 22 sq ft of arch tubes.)

The last of the class was fitted with Caprotti valve gear, but it wasn't satisfactory and #879 later was rebuilt with Walschaerts gear.

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Class 16E (Locobase 2598)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), p. 72. Works numbers were 22583-22588.

Large, high-drivered Pacific built to raise the average speed of express trains from Capetown to Johannesburg. This engine teemed with the latest thinking in express passenger design. A rotating-cam valve gear opened and closed poppet valves. Their boiler and grate covered the same surface areas as Germany's standard-gauge 01 Pacifics. Most impressive, the drivers' aspect ratio of 1.71

Although relatively novel, they presented few problems in service. Fitting so large and engine in the Cape gauge dimensions meant leaving the steam dome off the boiler. These engines never really flew down the track because of SAR policy to do otherwise. In fact, an emphasis on train weight over speed meant that instead of duplicating this sextet, the SAR plumped for 4-8-2 and 4-8-4 arrangements for their passenger engines.

Still, the 16Es were in no sense a failure and they served well into the 1960s & 1970s. Holland said in 1972: "They have been very successful in service, and are efficient and economical."

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Class 16R/16CR (Locobase 13113)

Data from Holland, Volume II (1972), pp. 86. eSee Locobase 13103 for a brief comment on AG Watson's program to install standard boilers on as many classes of SAR locomotives as possible.

Many of the Class 16 Pacifics were reboilered during the 1930s. Whatever their original specfications, the two modified sub-classes -- 16R (Class 16 reboilered) and 16CR (Classes 16B and 16C) -- had virtually identical specifications after they received Standard No 2B boilers. 16CRs weighed about 500 lb less.

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Class 42 (Locobase 989)

Based on NG7 4-6-0. Lighter weight probably reflects tank-engine design with integral coal, water storage.

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Class 5B - Enl. Karoo (Locobase 2777)

Data from OS Nock (RWC IV) and Holland (1972, II). See also "Pacific Type Locomotive, South African Railways", Locomotive Magazine, Volume 18 (14 December 1912), p. 249; and No. 45, "Bogie Passenger Engine and Tender for South African Railways", Vulcan Foundry Locomotive Catalogue, No. 45, found on Flicker's Historical Locomotive Images website at [], last accessed 26 June 2021. (Many thanks to Jorge Cerezo Toledo for his 26 June 2021 email containing links to several sites including the Vulcan Catalogue referred to above.) Works numbers were 2774-2777 in 1912.

This small class of Pacifics had Belpaire boilers, outside cylinders and slide valves, but inside valve gear, and a large steam dome. A relatively unusual feature for a Pacific wheel arrangement were the long-stroke cylinders.They were powerful for their gauge and quite successful.

One Karoo was fitted with a Standard No 1 boiler in the 1930s.

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Class 5BR (Locobase 20921)

Data from Data from South African Railways & Harbours 9 -1941 Locomotive Diagrams, p. 4 supplied in August 2013 by Allen Stanley from his extensive Rail Data Exchange.

See Locobase 13103 for a brief comment on AG Watson's drive to place standard boilers on as many classes as possible.

Of the four Enlarged Karoo Pacifics delivered by Vulcan Foundry in 1912, only this engine received Watson's Standard Boiler #1 in the 1930s.

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Class 9 (Locobase 2914)

Data from Holland (1972, I) and from "Locomotive for Central South African Rys", The Locomotive Magazine, Volume X [10] (15 January 1904), p. 12. (Note the use of the Whyte classification system in the first para of this article.) Works numbers were 1904-1907 in 1903.

According to OS Nock (RWC III), this batch of six engines was part of the Transvaal and Orange Free State's re-equipment program after the Boer War, two types of Pacifics came from two British builders in the same year. Vulcan followed the 9 class quartet with eight more locomotives produced as 4-6-4T commuter locomotives; see Locobase 2718.

Operated the Durban mail trains to Charlestown for many years, being retired in the 20s from Pietersburg line out of Pretoria.

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Class A / Class 2 (Locobase 13104)

Data from Holland Volume I (1972), p. 102. See also Cdr J Plomer, "A Long Line of Mountains", Cdr J. Plomer, The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, No. 122 (April 1970), pp. 7-25. Works numbers were 16192-16193 in 1904.

D A Hendrie's first Pacifics, these were relatively large passenger engines. Their relatively long boilers preceded a Belpaire firebox. According to Holland, Hendrie's days on the Highland Railway in Scotland"...was strongly in evidence ...the smokebox 'wings' and general appearance being very similar."

Plomer wrote that, when compared to the when Class B 4-8-0s, the Pacific pair were "equally handsome engines." Yet they "lost the limelight to the 4-8-0's [sic], being sent away to work the more level and less populated section in the highlands."

Locobase 13105 shows the Class C variant built in the SAR's own shops, which featured Hendrie's steam-reversing gear.

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Class C / Class 2C (Locobase 13105)

Data from Holland Volume I (1972), p. 103-104.

Although based on the Hendrie A pair that entered service on the NGR in 1904 (Locobase 13104), the Cs contained several changes that began with their construction in the NGR/SAR shops at Durban. Starting tractive effort was about the same and both classes had Belpaire fireboxes, but the Stephenson motion in the A was replaced by Walschaert's outside constant-lead radial valve gear. Two more tubes added to the bundle in the boiler and their greater length led to more heating surface and the firebox was a touch bigger.

Accoring to Holland, they began by complementing the As on the Charlestown-Ladysmith-Escourt run. Much later they hauled passenger and fast goods trains of perishables on the Waterval Boven-Kmoatipoort section.

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Class N/NG1 (Locobase 978)

Ex-Natal Government tank locomotives. Works numbers were 892-893 in 1906.

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Class NG10 (Locobase 986)

Data from [], last accessed 11 April 2010. See also DeGolyer, Volume 63, pp. 78+; (SGD) A. G. Watson, CME, Plate 1, NG10,Narrow Gauge Locomotive Book, 2' 0" Foot Gauge;p. 1; and Dave Richardson "Last Survivor set to steam again" on UK-based narrow gauge forum at [] . Baldwin works numbers 42633-42638 in November 1915.

One of the bigger-drivered locomotive designs on the 2'-gauge; indeed the aspect ratio of the drivers (diameter:track gauge) put them in the express-passenger category Still, a photo of one of the six little Pacifics shows slide valves, small drivers under a large boiler, relatively enormous cab, and a big steam dome over the center driving axle and ahead of the Belpaire firebox.

Richardson wrote that the NG10s were well-liked. One advantage these 4-6-2s had over Baldwin's NG9s (Locobase 985) was the addition of a pony truck under the footplate. They were "much more stable in reverse ...and could operate at a higher speed making its usage more flexible." An obvious difference was the considerable increase in areas

Two operated as late as 1962. 61 steamed until 1965 then was retired. In 1970, it was placed on display on the roof of the Port Elizabeth museum. Removed from that lofty perch, the 61 was returned to Humewood Road, but the first steps taken to begin restoration occured when Sandstone Estates took it over. The original judgement that the boiler was beyond repair proved too pessimistic. Sandstone sent the boiler to Keith Stevens in Howick in 2016.

Work proceeded and the 61 first appeared in steam at the 2019 Stars of Sandstone.

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Class NG3 (Locobase 979)

Data from [] . Also see [], both accessed 21 May 2006. Works numbers were 2687-2692 in 1907.

These pocket Pacific tanks were designed by D.A. Hendrie for the Stuartstown Railway. (Herman Steyn of the herman.rula.co.za website identifies the railway as the Esperanza-Donnybrook line laid in Alexandra County of Natal's South Coast.

They were rated at 90 tons for 24 axles up 1 in 33 (3%) grades. Three of them (4, 5, 9) went to South West Africa (Namibia) in 1915 to beef up rail operations during World War I.

Number 5 was the last to operate, serving at the Humewood Rd yard. It was sold in 1946.

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Class NG4 (Locobase 980)

Data from Wikipedia--[] 12/12/12. Works numbers were 1207-1208 in 1911, 1294-1295 in 1913, and 1342-1344 in 1914.

Ex-Natal Government tank locomotives that served in Natal all the time they were owned by first NGR, then the South African Railways. The design featured long tanks, a higher-pitched boiler than the Hawthorn, Leslie NG3s, plate frame, Belpaire firebox, and simple lines.

NG11 was sold to the Rhodesian Timber Company's Savane Sawmills in 1942. The rest were retired during the 1940s until NG16 closed things out in 1948 when it was sold to Rustenburg Platinum Mines as RPM 8. When the RPM retired the engine, it returned it to the SAR in 1969-1970. Although preservation was planned, it was almost 40 years before NG16 steamed again on the Sandstone Estates.