South African Class 15CA 4-8-2 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In 1926 the South African Railways placed twenty-three Class 15CA steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s with a 4-8-2

4-8-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

Mountain wheel arrangement in service. Another sixty-one were ordered and delivered in 1929 and 1930.

Class 15C redesign

After the twelve Class 15C locomotives that were delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works

Baldwin Locomotive Works

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

in 1925 had been in service a short while, it was discovered that the frames under the front of the firebox had a tendency to crack, necessitating heavy repairs. To overcome this, a design was prepared for an almost identical locomotive, but with the frames widened under the firebox by means of a bridle casting.

Builders

The first batch of twenty-three of these redesigned 4-8-2 steam locomotives were built for the South African Railways (SAR) by the American Locomotive Company

American Locomotive Company

The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...

(ALCO). They were delivered in 1926, numbered 2039 to 2059, 2072 and 2073, and classified as Class 15CA, with the "A" indicating the manufacturer ALCO.

The earlier Baldwin built Class 15C was then reclassified to Class 15CB, actually for no good reason since in this case the "B" indicated the manufacturer Baldwin, not a branch line locomotive as was usual practice.

Another sixty-one Class 15CA locomotives were acquired from three other manufacturers in 1929 and 1930.

In 1929 four were delivered by Baldwin in the United States, numbered 2074 to 2077.
Also in 1929, ten were delivered by Società Italiana Ernesto Breda
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda, more usually referred to simply as Breda was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. The firm originally manufactured locomotives and other railway machinery, but later branched out into armaments and aircraft. In 1962,...

of Milan in Italy, numbered 2801 to 2810.
Twenty-nine were built by the North British Locomotive Company
North British Locomotive Company
The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...

(NBL) in 1928 and delivered in 1929, numbered 2811 to 2839.
In 1929 NBL built the last eighteen Class 15CA locomotives, delivered in 1930 and numbered 2840 to 2857.

The table shows the Class 15CA running numbers, builders, years built and builders’ works numbers.

Class 15CA 4-8-2
Builders & Works Numbers
SAR No.	Builder	Year	Works No.
2039	ALCO	1926	66986
2040	ALCO	1926	66987
2041	ALCO	1926	66988
2042	ALCO	1926	66989
2043	ALCO	1926	66990
2044	ALCO	1926	66991
2045	ALCO	1926	66992
2046	ALCO	1926	66993
2047	ALCO	1926	66994
2048	ALCO	1926	66995
2049	ALCO	1926	66996
2050	ALCO	1926	66997
2051	ALCO	1926	66998
2052	ALCO	1926	66999
2053	ALCO	1926	67000
2054	ALCO	1926	67001
2055	ALCO	1926	67002
2056	ALCO	1926	67003
2057	ALCO	1926	67004
2058	ALCO	1926	67005
2059	ALCO	1926	67006
2072	ALCO	1926	67007
2073	ALCO	1926	67008
2074	Baldwin	1929	60828
2075	Baldwin	1929	60829
2076	Baldwin	1929	60830
2077	Baldwin	1929	60831
2801	Breda	1929	2236
2802	Breda	1929	2237
2803	Breda	1929	2238
2804	Breda	1929	2239
2805	Breda	1929	2240
2806	Breda	1929	2241
2807	Breda	1929	2242
2808	Breda	1929	2243
2809	Breda	1929	2244
2810	Breda	1929	2245
2811	NBL	1928	23774
2812	NBL	1928	23775
2813	NBL	1928	23776
2814	NBL	1928	23777
2815	NBL	1928	23778
2816	NBL	1928	23779
2817	NBL	1928	23780
2818	NBL	1928	23781
2819	NBL	1928	23782
2820	NBL	1928	23783
2821	NBL	1928	23784
2822	NBL	1928	23785
2823	NBL	1928	23786
2824	NBL	1928	23787
2825	NBL	1928	23788
2826	NBL	1928	23789
2827	NBL	1928	23790
2828	NBL	1928	23791
2829	NBL	1928	23792
2830	NBL	1928	23793
2831	NBL	1928	23794
2832	NBL	1928	23795
2833	NBL	1928	23796
2834	NBL	1928	23797
2835	NBL	1928	23798
2836	NBL	1928	23799
2837	NBL	1928	23800
2838	NBL	1928	23801
2839	NBL	1928	23802
2840	NBL	1929	24008
2841	NBL	1929	24009
2842	NBL	1929	24010
2843	NBL	1929	24011
2844	NBL	1929	24012
2845	NBL	1929	24013
2846	NBL	1929	24014
2847	NBL	1929	24015
2848	NBL	1929	24016
2849	NBL	1929	24017
2850	NBL	1929	24018
2851	NBL	1929	24019
2852	NBL	1929	24020
2853	NBL	1929	24021
2854	NBL	1929	24022
2855	NBL	1929	24023
2856	NBL	1929	24024
2857	NBL	1929	24025

Modifications

They were delivered with 57 inches (1,447.8 mm) diameter driving wheels and their boilers were set at an operating pressure of 200 pound per square inches (1,379 kPa). All of them were eventually rewheeled with 60 inches (1,524 mm) diameter driving wheels and, to compensate for the loss of tractive effort due to the larger diameter drivers, their operating boiler pressure was increased to 210 pound per square inches (1,447.9 kPa) by an adjustment of the setting of their safety valves. This modification enabled these mixed traffic locomotives to handle the fastest main line passenger trains.

Three of the Class 15CB and Class 15CA locomotives were later reboilered with boiler numbers 9504 to 9506, which were of similar dimensions, but with a different tube arrangement. Since these were not Watson Standard boilers, the locomotives were not reclassified.

South African Railways

The Class 15CAs were placed in service on the main line between Cape Town and Kimberley, but like the Class 15CB, they were later transferred to Bloemfontein from where they worked throughout the Free State until they eventually ended up on the Eastern Transvaal system. Here they worked out of Pretoria to Pietersburg in the north and from there to Tzaneen in the east and Messina on the Rhodesian border in the north, and also out of Witbank and Breyten.

In the mid 1960s a few joined the Class 15CB on the Natal North Coast line, and in 1983 they all went from there to the Cape Northern system for use on the lines from Beaconsfield in Kimberley, working north to Mafeking and south to De Aar. Eventually nearly forty of them ended up as heavy shunters at Kaserne and Germiston in Johannesburg, where they replaced the Class 12AR

South African Class 12A 4-8-2

Between 1919 and 1929 the South African Railways placed sixty-seven Class 12A steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain wheel arrangement in service.-Manufacturers:...

and Class S1

South African Class S1 0-8-0

In 1947 the South African Railways placed twelve Class S1 shunter steam locomotives with a 0-8-0 wheel arrangement in service, built in the Salt River workshops in Cape Town...

Industrial

Three Class 15CA locomotives were sold into industrial service. Numbers 2807 and 2839 went to Dunn’s Locomotive Works and were eventually sold to Rustenburg Platinum Mines. Number 2811 went to South Witbank Colliery as number 4.

Gallery

The main picture shows Breda of Milan built 2802 serving as school guard at Esselen Park, the Transnet

Transnet

Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on April 1, 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department of Public Enterprises, or DPE, of the South African...