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

In 1893 and 1894 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 forty 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, twenty-two on its Western System and eighteen on its Midland System. In 1897 ten of them were sold to the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen. At the end of the Second Boer War in 1901, these ten became the Class 6-L1 on the Central South African Railways. In 1912, when all forty locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered but retained their Class 6 classification.

Manufacturer

The Class 6 4-6-0 passenger steam locomotive 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 forty locomotives were built 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 delivered between 1893 and 1894, numbered 139 to 160 for the Western System and 353 to 370 for the Midland System. Fourteen of the Midland System’s eighteen locomotives were later renumbered.

The Class 6 locomotives were the forerunners of one of the most useful classes of locomotives to see service in South Africa. They were fast, easy to handle, good steamers and had an exceptionally low maintenance cost with long periods between major overhauls. They were so advanced over previous designs that C.B. Elliot, General Manager of the CGR at the time, stated in his annual report in 1894 that they would render practicable the running of passenger trains between Cape Town and Johannesburg in 48 hours.

Class 6 sub-classes

When these forty locomotives were assimilated into the newly established South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, after some had also seen service on the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen (OVGS), the Imperial Military Railways (IMR) and the Central South African Railways (CSAR), they were renumbered 401 to 440, but they retained their Class 6 classification.

The rest of the CGR’s Class 6 locomotives, together with the Class 6-L2 and 6-L3 locomotives inherited by the CSAR from the OVGS via the IMR, were grouped into thirteen more sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-6-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 6A to 6H and 6J to 6L, the 2-6-2 locomotives became SAR Class 6Y and the 2-6-4 locomotives became Class 6Z.

Modifications

Several of the CSAR’s Class 6L1 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. Of the SAR Class 6 locomotives, only ex CSAR Class 6-L1 336, renumbered SAR 401, had undergone this modification. 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 was introduced primarily as a passenger locomotive, but when it 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 handy locomotives to work the local passenger, goods and shunting services.

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

Sudan

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 seven Class 6 locomotives in this group were numbers 402, 403, 406, 417, 421, 423 and 436. They were sold to the Sudan Railways Corporation in 1942 and renumbered M700 to M706, in the same order as their former SAR running numbers.

Renumberings

During their long service lives some of the Class 6 locomotives underwent multiple renumberings. All were initially numbered into the CGR’s Western and Midland Systems rosters. Fourteen of the Midland System’s locomotives, 353 to 355 and 360 to 370, were later renumbered 553 to 555 and 560 to 570. By the time the renumbering took place, the four that were not renumbered (356 to 359) had already been sold to the OVGS.

Two of the Western System and eight of the Midland System locomotives were sold to the OVGS in 1897 and renumbered to OVGS 60 to 69. It would appear that the CGR’s Western System was more concerned with having unbroken number ranges than the CGR itself was about awarding different classifications to dissimilar locomotives, even if they were of different wheel arrangements. The numbers of the two Western System locomotives that were sold to the OVGS, 155 and 160, were subsequently allocated again to two of the batch of fourteen locomotives that were delivered by Neilson, Reid and Company in 1902 and that were to become the Class 6J

South African Class 6J 4-6-0

In 1902 fourteen Class 6 bar framed steam locomotives with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement were placed in service by the Cape Government Railways. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6J....

.

When the Orange Free State was occupied by the invading British forces during the Second Freedom War, these OVGS locomotives were taken over and used by the IMR, but not renumbered. When the IMR reverted to civilian control after the war and became established as the CSAR, these ten locomotives were reclassified to CSAR Class 6-L1 and renumbered CSAR 336 to 345.

All forty locomotives were eventually renumbered into the SAR’s roster in 1912, becoming SAR Class 6 401 to 440. Only one of the Class 6 locomotives underwent all these renumberings, from CGR 365 to CGR 565, then OVGS 65, then CSAR 341, then SAR 436 and finally Sudan Railway M706. The table shows all these renumberings as well as their Dübs works numbers and dates.

Class 6 4-6-0
Works numbers and renumbering
Year	Dübs no.	CGR no.	CGR new no.	OVGS no.	CSAR no.	SAR no.	Sudan no.
1893	3050	139				402	M700
1893	3051	140				403	M701
1893	3052	141				404
1893	3053	142				405
1893	3054	143				406	M702
1893	3055	144				407
1893	3068	145				415
1893	3069	146				416
1893	3070	147				417	M703
1893	3071	148				418
1893	3072	149				419
1893	3073	150				420
1893	3060	151				421	M704
1894	3087	152				422
1894	3088	153				423	M705
1894	3089	154				424
1894	3090	155	See 6J South African Class 6J 4-6-0 In 1902 fourteen Class 6 bar framed steam locomotives with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement were placed in service by the Cape Government Railways. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6J....	60	336	401
1894	3099	156				425
1894	3100	157				426
1894	3101	158				427
1894	3102	159				428
1893	3091	160	See 6J South African Class 6J 4-6-0 In 1902 fourteen Class 6 bar framed steam locomotives with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement were placed in service by the Cape Government Railways. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6J....	66	342	437
1894	3097	353	553			429
1894	3098	354	554			430
1893	3056	355	555			431
1893	3057	356		61	337	432
1893	3058	357		62	338	433
1893	3059	358		63	339	434
1893	3066	359		64	340	435
1893	3061	360	560			408
1893	3062	361	561			409
1893	3063	362	562			410
1893	3064	363	563			411
1893	3065	364	564			412
1893	3067	365	565	65	341	436	M706
1894	3096	366	566			413
1893	3092	367	567	67	343	438
1893	3093	368	568	68	344	439
1893	3094	369	569	69	345	440
1894	3095	370	570			414

Gallery

The main picture shows ex CGR (Midland System) Class 6 no. 368, later renumbered CGR no. 568, then OVGS Class 6 no. 68, then CSAR Class 6-L1 no. 344, then SAR Class 6 no. 439 and finally Rovos Rail’s

Rovos Rail

Rovos Rail is a private railway company operating out of Capital Park Station in Pretoria, South Africa. The Society of International Railway Travelers has regularly named the Pride of Africa, as the train is called, as one of the World's Top 25 Trains because of its excellent accommodation, public...

restored “Tiffany”.