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

Between 1935 and 1937 the South African Railways placed forty-four Class 15E 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. (The Class 15D classification was never used.)

Manufacturers

The Class 15E 4-8-2 Mountain mixed traffic steam locomotive was a refinement of the Class 15C and Class 15CA

South African Class 15CA 4-8-2

In 1926 the South African Railways placed twenty-three Class 15CA steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain wheel arrangement in service. Another sixty-one were ordered and delivered in 1929 and 1930.-Class 15C redesign:...

. It was designed by A.G. Watson, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR) from 1929 to 1936, and incorporated many of the improvements that had been developed by him, two of which were a vastly enlarged standardised boiler and a Watson cab.

They were built by three manufacturers. In 1935 British locomotive builders Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns

Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns

Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd was a locomotive builder with works in North East England.-History:The company was formed in September 1937 when Robert Stephenson and Company, which was based in Darlington took over the locomotive building department of Hawthorn Leslie and Company, based in...

(RSH) delivered twenty locomotives, numbered 2858 to 2877. Henschel and Son

Henschel & Son

Henschel & Son was a German company, situated in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons....

of Germany built and delivered sixteen in two batches in 1936, numbered 2878 to 2893. In 1936 German locomotive builders Berliner Maschinenbau

Berliner Maschinenbau

Berliner Maschinenbau AG was a German manufacturer of locomotives.The factory was founded by Louis Victor Robert Schwartzkopff on 3 October 1852 as Eisengießerei und Maschinen-Fabrik von L. Schwartzkopff in Berlin ....

built another eight locomotives, which were delivered in 1937, numbered 2894 to 2901.

Valve gear

Because of the free running that was achieved with the Class 19C

South African Class 19C 4-8-2

In 1935 the South African Railways placed fifty Class 19C steam locomotives with a Mountain wheel arrangement in service.-Manufacturer:When the need for more branch line locomotives became apparent in 1934, tenders were invited by the South African Railways for another fifty Class 19B locomotives...

and Class 16E

South African Class 16E 4-6-2

In 1935 the South African Railways placed six Class 16E steam locomotives with a Pacific wheel arrangement in passenger train service.-Manufacturer:...

that were equipped with Rotary Cam Poppet valve gear, Watson decided to concentrate on this type of valve gear for all his future designs. The Class 15E was therefore built with poppet valve gear. Like the other classes with poppet valve gear, the Class 15E was fast, but some trouble was initially experienced with the gear in the reverse position. This was corrected by modifying the reversing cams and these, as well as new forward cams, were manufactured at the Salt River shops in Cape Town.

Watson Standard boilers

The Class 15E was delivered with a Watson Standard no. 3B boiler and a Watson cab. In the 1930s Watson designed a standard boiler type as part of his standardisation policy. Many serving locomotives were reboilered with these Watson Standard boilers and in the process they were also equipped with Watson cabs, with their distinctive slanted fronts compared to the conventional vertical fronts of their original cabs. New locomotives that were acquired in the Watson era and later, such as the Class 15E, were built with such boilers and cabs.

South African Railways

The Class 15E was placed in service on the line between Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

and Beaufort West

Beaufort West

Beaufort West is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 37 000 inhabitants in 2001....

. Later, when the Class 15F

South African Class 15F 4-8-2

The Class 15F was the most numerous steam locomotive class in South African Railways service. Between 1938 and 1946 two hundred and fifty-five of these steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain wheel arrangement were placed in service.-Manufacturers:...

and Class 23

South African Class 23 4-8-2

In 1938 and 1939 the South African Railways placed one hundred and thirty-six Class 23 steam locomotives in service. The Class 23 was the last and the largest 4-8-2 Mountain locomotive to be designed by the South African Railways.-Manufacturers:...

were placed in service, the Class 15E locomotives were relocated further north to work between Beaufort West and De Aar. In the 1950s they were again relocated, this time to Bethlehem

Bethlehem, Free State

Bethlehem is a town in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs river along a fertile valley just south of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 highway....

in the Orange Free State

Orange Free State

The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...

, from where they worked to Harrismith

Harrismith

Harrismith, named after Sir Harry Smith, is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa, situated on the N3 highway approximately midway between Johannesburg, about 300 km north-east, and Durban. The town is at the junction with the N5 highway, which continues west towards the...

, Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...

and Kroonstad

Kroonstad

Kroonstad is the third-largest town in the Free State province of South Africa, and lies two hours drive from Gauteng. In the 1991 census it had a population of 110,963...

. They were all withdrawn from regular service in 1973, except number 2878 which was retained in running order for excursion trains.

Some of the locomotives that worked on sections with tunnels were equipped with smoke deflecting cowls around their chimneys.

Other operators

Eleven of the Class 15E locomotives were eventually sold to neighbouring countries or into industrial service. Six of them were sold to Rhodesia Railways (RR) in 1970, where they retained their 15E classification but were renumbered by omitting the first digit of their SAR numbers. The Rhodesian locomotives did not last long in RR service, however, and were scrapped in 1973.

Three locomotives were sold to Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique (CFM) in 1972, where they were renumbered 721, 722 and 723 respectively.

Two locomotives were sold to Dunn’s Locomotive Works to be employed at Durban Navigation Collieries (Durnacol) at Dannhauser in Natal.

The table shows the Class 15E running numbers, builders, years built, works numbers and post SAR owners.

Class 15E 4-8-2
Builders, Works Numbers & Disposal
SAR No.	Builder	Year	Works No.	Sold to	New No.
2858	RSH	1935	4090
2859	RSH	1935	4091
2860	RSH	1935	4092
2861	RSH	1935	4093
2862	RSH	1935	4094
2863	RSH	1935	4095
2864	RSH	1935	4096
2865	RSH	1935	4097
2866	RSH	1935	4098
2867	RSH	1935	4099
2868	RSH	1935	4100
2869	RSH	1935	4101
2870	RSH	1935	4102	CFM	721
2871	RSH	1935	4103
2872	RSH	1935	4104	Dunn
2873	RSH	1935	4105
2874	RSH	1935	4106
2875	RSH	1935	4107
2876	RSH	1935	4108
2877	RSH	1935	4109
2878	Henschel	1936	23000
2879	Henschel	1936	23001
2880	Henschel	1936	23002
2881	Henschel	1936	23003	RR	881
2882	Henschel	1936	23004	RR	882
2883	Henschel	1936	23005	RR	883
2884	Henschel	1936	23006
2885	Henschel	1936	23007	RR	885
2886	Henschel	1936	23008	RR	886
2887	Henschel	1936	23009
2888	Henschel	1936	23010
2889	Henschel	1936	23111
2890	Henschel	1936	23112
2891	Henschel	1936	23113	CFM	722
2892	Henschel	1936	23114
2893	Henschel	1936	23115
2894	Berliner	1936	10585	CFM	723
2895	Berliner	1936	10586	Dunn
2896	Berliner	1936	10587
2897	Berliner	1936	10588
2898	Berliner	1936	10589	RR	898
2899	Berliner	1936	10590
2900	Berliner	1936	10591
2901	Berliner	1936	10592

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