South African Class 16E 4-6-2 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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

Manufacturer

The Class 16E 4-6-2 Pacific locomotive was designed by A.G. Watson, the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR) from 1929 to 1936, and built by 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....

in Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Six locomotives were delivered in 1935, numbered 854 to 859.

With their 72 inches (1,828.8 mm) diameter driving wheels the Class 16E was considered to be the most remarkable Cape gauge express passenger locomotive ever built. The driving wheels were the largest ever used on any less than 4 foot standard gauge locomotive, and it had an all-up weight and tractive effort equal to or exceeding most Pacifics outside North America. It used rotary cam poppet valve gear, driven by outside rotary shafts, which resulted in extremely free-running characteristics. It also boasted the largest fire grate on any Pacific outside North America.

At 9 in 3 in (2.82 m) above rail level, their boiler centre-line was the highest-pitched on the SAR. Because of this and the limitations of the loading gauge, it was impossible to install a normal steam dome and its place was taken by an inspection man-hole. Steam was collected through numerous small feeder pipes fixed into two collector pipes, which were arranged as high as possible above the water surface. The collector pipes then joined together to form a main steam pipe, 7 inches (177.8 mm) in diameter, which led to the superheater header and multiple valve regulator, situated in the smokebox.

Watson Standard boilers

The Class 16E was delivered with a Watson Standard no. 3A boiler, one of the range of a standard boiler type designed by Watson as part of his standardisation policy. It was also equipped with the altered cab with the slanted front design that, like the Watson Standard boiler, was to become standard on later SAR steam locomotive classes.

Many serving locomotives were reboilered with these Watson Standard boilers and Watson cabs, and new locomotives that were acquired in the Watson era and later were built with such boilers. An obvious visual identifying feature of a Watson Standard boilered locomotive is usually a rectangular regulator cover just to the rear of the chimney.

Service

The Class 16E Pacifics were placed in service at Kimberley and regularly worked trains like the Union Express, that was to become the Blue Train

Blue Train (South Africa)

The Blue Train travels an approximately journey in South Africa between Pretoria and Cape Town. It is one of the most luxurious train journeys in the world...

after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and the Union Limited south to Beaufort West and north to Johannesburg. Although they were never stationed at Braamfontein Loco in Johannesburg, they were serviced there in the process of working between Kimberley and Johannesburg.

They proved to be very successful, efficient and economical in service. When the original wooden bodied coaches of the Union Express were replaced with heavier steel bodied air conditioned coaches in 1939, however, the Class 16E was considered to be inadequate to the task and was relocated to 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...

in the Orange Free State.

From here they hauled regular passenger trains, including the Orange Express, working north to Johannesburg and south to De Aar as well as across to Kimberley. When air conditioned lounge cars were added to trains like the Orange Express and Trans-Karoo, they were again considered as not powerful enough for the additional load and were eventually withdrawn from service in 1972.

Preservation

Two locomotives survive and were still relatively intact by 2010. Number 858, "Betty", was stored in the open at Beaconsfield, Kimberley, while number 857 was in storage at Bloemfontein, parked under cover at the locomotive depot.

Commemoration

A 20c postage stamp depicting a Class 16E locomotive was one of a set of four commemorative postage stamps that were issued by the South African Post Office on 27 April 1983, to commemorate the steam locomotives of South Africa that were rapidly being withdrawn from service at the time. The artwork and stamp design was by the noted stamp designer and artist Hein Botha.

The particular locomotive depicted was Class 16E 858. The outline of a traditional SAR locomotive number plate was used as a commemorative cancellation for De Aar on the date of issue.

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