South African Class 6A 4-6-0 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In 1896 and 1897 the Cape Government Railways

Cape Government Railways

The Cape Government Railways was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways in 1910.-Private railways:...

placed a second batch of fifty Class 6 4-6-0

4-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...

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 in service, forty-one on its Western System, six on its Midland System and three on its Eastern System. During the Second Freedom War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

four were transferred to the Imperial Military Railways on loan, and in 1907 one was sold to the Benguela Railway in Angola. In 1912, when the remaining forty-nine locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6A.

Manufacturers

The Class 6 was designed at the Salt River works of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) at the same time as the Class 7

South African Class 7 4-8-0

In 1892 the Cape Government Railways placed six Class 7 steam locomotives with a 4-8-0 Mastodon wheel arrangement in service and between 1892 and 1893 another thirty-two were acquired. They were initially placed in service on the Cape Midland System, but were later distributed between the Cape...

, both according to the specifications of Michael Stephens, then Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR’s Western System, and under the supervision of CGR Locomotive Superintendent H.M. Beatty. Whereas the Class 7 was conceived primarily as a goods locomotive, the Class 6 was intended to be its fast passenger service counterpart.

The fifty locomotives in this second group were built between 1895 and 1897 by Dübs and Company

Dûbs and Company

Dübs & Co. was a locomotive works in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it became part of the North British Locomotive Company.-Preserved locomotives:...

and Sharp, Stewart and Company and were delivered in 1896 and 1897, numbered 161 to 201 for the CGR’s Western System, 371 to 376 for the Midland System and 660 to 662 for the Eastern System.

These locomotives differed from the previous order in having slightly larger boilers with an increased heating surface and higher coal capacity Type YC tenders.

Class 6 sub-classes

When all but one of these fifty locomotives were assimilated into the newly established South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, they were reclassified to Class 6A and renumbered 441 to 489.

The rest of the CGR’s Class 6 locomotives, together with the Class 6-L1 to 6-L3 locomotives inherited by the Central South African Railways (CSAR) from the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen (OVGS) via the Imperial Military Railways (IMR), were grouped into thirteen more sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-6-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 6, 6B to 6H and 6J to 6L, the 2-6-2 locomotives became Class 6Y and the 2-6-4 locomotives became Class 6Z.

Modifications

Several of the CSAR’s Class 6-L1 to 6-L3 locomotives were modified by P.A Hyde, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the CSAR, by having their round top fireboxes replaced with larger boilers and Belpaire firebox

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...

es and by having larger, more sheltered cabs installed. This conversion improved their performance tremendously and resulted in several of the Class 6, 6A and 6B locomotives being similarly modified by the SAR in later years, but without altering their classifications.

During the 1930s many of them were modified once again, when the CME of the SAR at the time, A.G. Watson, displayed his aversion to Belpaire fireboxes and reboilered them with round-topped fireboxes again, but retaining the larger cabs. Once again, they retained their classifications.

South Africa

The Class 6 series of locomotives were introduced primarily as passenger locomotives, but when the class became displaced by larger and more powerful locomotive classes, it literally became a "Jack-of-all-trades" that proved itself as one of the most useful and successful locomotive classes ever to be designed at the Salt River shops. It went on to see service in all parts of the country except Natal and was used on all types of traffic.

In Cape Town they held a monopoly over the suburban services until electrification arrived in 1928, and on the Reef they also worked these services between Randfontein and Springs until the loads became too heavy for them. They were employed on branch lines all over the country, Natal excluded, and practically every big station and many smaller ones had its quota of these locomotives to work the local passenger, goods and shunting services.

Like the Class 7, the Class 6 family gave good service for many years. By the time the last ones were eventually retired in 1973, the Class 6 series had achieved a service life of eighty years, a performance that can be matched by few, if any, other locomotive classes world wide.

IMR, Angola and Sudan

One of these locomotives was sold to the Benguela Railway in Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, while another four saw service with the IMR during the Second Freedom War.

During 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...

sixteen of the Classes 6 to 6D were transferred to the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

to assist with the war effort during the North African Campaign

North African campaign

During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...

. The four Class 6A locomotives in this group were numbers 465, 472, 475 and 479. They were sold to the Sudan Railways Corporation in 1942 and renumbered M707 to M710, in the same order as their former SAR running numbers.

Renumberings

During their long service lives some of the Class 6A locomotives underwent multiple renumberings. All were initially numbered into the CGR’s Western, Midland and Eastern Systems rosters. The Midland System’s locomotives, 371 to 376, were later renumbered 571 to 576. These then unused running numbers, 371 to 376, were later re-allocated to Class 8D

South African Class 8D 4-8-0

In 1903, when the first batch of Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodons had been tried and proven successful, the Cape Government Railways placed another thirty-eight Class 8 4-8-0 steam locomotives in service, six on the Cape Western System, twenty on the Cape Midland System and twelve on the Cape Eastern System...

locomotives, delivered in 1902.

The four locomotives loaned to the IMR were renumbered C501, C503, C509 and C510 for the duration of their military service, while the one sold to Angola became Benguela Railway’s number 21.

The remaining forty-nine locomotives were eventually renumbered into the SAR’s roster in 1912, becoming SAR 441 to 489. The table reflects all these renumberings as well as their builders and works numbers.

Class 6A 4-6-0
Builders, works numbers and renumbering
Builder	Year built	Works no.	CGR no.	CGR new no.	IMR no.	Benguela no.	SAR no.	Sudan no.
Dübs	1895	3332	161				441
Sharp Stewart	1896	4124	162				442
Sharp Stewart	1896	4122	163				443
Sharp Stewart	1896	4123	164				444
Dübs	1895	3330	165				445
Dübs	1895	3334	166				446
Sharp Stewart	1896	4126	167				447
Dübs	1895	3335	168				448
Sharp Stewart	1896	4127	169				449
Dübs	1895	3337	170				450
Dübs	1895	3345	171				451
Sharp Stewart	1896	4125	172				452
Dübs	1895	3346	173				453
Dübs	1895	3347	174				454
Dübs	1895	3333	175				455
Sharp Stewart	1896	4144	176				456
Dübs	1897	3437	177				457
Dübs	1897	3438	178				458
Dübs	1897	3439	179				459
Dübs	1897	3441	180				460
Dübs	1897	3442	181				461
Dübs	1897	3443	182		C509		462
Dübs	1897	3444	183		C510		463
Dübs	1897	3445	184				464
Dübs	1897	3446	185			21
Dübs	1897	3447	186				465	M707
Dübs	1897	3449	187				466
Dübs	1897	3450	188				467
Dübs	1897	3451	189				468
Dübs	1897	3452	190				469
Dübs	1897	3455	191				470
Dübs	1897	3456	192				471
Dübs	1897	3460	193				472	M708
Dübs	1897	3461	194				473
Dübs	1897	3462	195				474
Dübs	1897	3463	196				475	M709
Dübs	1897	3464	197				476
Dübs	1897	3465	198				477
Dübs	1897	3466	199		C503		478
Dübs	1897	3475	200		C501		479	M710
Dübs	1897	3476	201				480
Sharp Stewart	1896	4116	371	571			481
Sharp Stewart	1896	4117	372	572			482
Sharp Stewart	1896	4118	373	573			483
Sharp Stewart	1896	4119	374	574			484
Dübs	1897	3453	375	575			485
Dübs	1897	3454	376	576			486
Dübs	1897	3469	660				487
Dübs	1897	3470	661				488
Dübs	1897	3471	662				489

Gallery

The main picture shows Sharp Stewart built ex CGR (Western System) Class 6 182, later IMR C509, then SAR Class 6A 462, with a Belpaire firebox, at De Aar on 15 April 1978.