South African Class 7D 4-8-0 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Between 1899 and 1903 the Rhodesian Railways placed fifty-two Cape Class 7 4-8-0

4-8-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. The type was nicknamed the Mastodon or Twelve-wheeler in North America....

Mastodon 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. One more was obtained from the Imperial Military Railways in March 1901 as replacement for a locomotive that was damaged beyond local repair abilities during delivery.

In May 1915 five of these locomotives were sold to the South African Railways, where they were renumbered and reclassified, four of them to Class 7D and the remaining one erroneously to Class 7B. At the same time, the ex Imperial Military Railways locomotive was also sold back to South Africa and was, also erroneously, designated Class 7D.

Rhodesian Class 7

Fifty-two Cape Class 7 4-8-0 steam locomotives were built for the Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesia Railways (BMR), later the Rhodesian Railways (RR), between 1899 and 1903. These locomotives were acquired by Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...

at the time when railways were still expanding from South Africa via Bechuanaland into Southern Rhodesia in the southwest and from Beira

Beira, Mozambique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. Beira had a population of 412,588 in 1997, which grew to an estimated 546,000 in 2006...

in Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

to Umtali in the east, and while the Second Freedom War (the Anglo-Boer War) was being waged. At the time the system was composed of several smaller railways, still largely under construction, that were eventually all linked up in 1902. These were:

The fledgling Bechuanaland Railways (BR) that was still being operated by the Cape Government Railways (CGR) from Vryburg via Mafeking in the Cape Colony to Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

in Southern Rhodesia.

The Mashonaland Railways (MR) that operated in Southern Rhodesia from Bulawayo to Umtali in the east.

The Rhodesia Railways Northern Extensions (RRM) that operated north and east of Bulawayo towards Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...

.

The Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesia Railways (BMR) that operated between Umtali in Southern Rhodesia and Beira in Mozambique.

The fifty-two locomotives were ordered in five batches from three British manufacturers.

Twelve were delivered by Neilson, Reid and Company between August and October 1899. They were virtually identical to the ex CGR Class 7A
South African Class 7A 4-8-0
Between 1896 and 1901 the Cape Government Railways placed a second batch of altogether forty-six Class 7 steam locomotives with a 4-8-0 Mastodon wheel arrangement in service on its Midland and Eastern Systems...

. Two of them were numbered BR 7 and 8 for the BMR, for service at the Beira end, while the rest were numbered RR 1 to 10. In 1901 eleven of them were renumbered MR 8 to 18, 20 and 21, not in order, for the BMR. The exception was RR 8, which was delivered damaged beyond local repair abilities, apparently while in transit through the area under control of the British Military near Mafeking. A Neilson, Reid built Class 7 locomotive of the Imperial Military Railways (IMR), number IMR 110, was subsequently transferred to the BMR at Umtali in March 1901 as replacement for the damaged RR 8. It was renumbered MR 19, the number that would have been allocated to RR 8. The renumberings are tabled below.

A second batch of twelve were delivered by Neilson, Reid in August 1900 and numbered RR 11 to 22. They were placed in service on the line from Vryburg to Bulawayo and based at Mafeking. In 1901 four of them, RR 11, 12, 17 and 20, were relocated to the BMR and renumbered MR 20 to 23, in order. Many of the Neilson, Reid built locomotives from both batches were renumbered a second time in 1906, as shown in the table.

A third batch of eight locomotives were delivered from Kitson and Company between 1901 and 1903, numbered RR 23 to 30. These were built with 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 instead of the usual round-topped fireboxes that earlier Class 7 locomotives of the CGR, the IMR and the RR were delivered with. They were also placed in service at Mafeking.

The fourth batch of ten locomotives, again with Belpaire fireboxes, was delivered from 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 October and November 1903. They were numbered RR 31 to 40. Of these, RR 31 to 38 were allocated to the Mashonaland Railways-Kalomo-Broken Hill (MR-KB) section. They retained their RR numbers, but had brass plates with the letters "KB" affixed above their number plates on their cab sides to indicate their ownership. The other two were also placed in service at Mafeking.

The fifth and final batch of ten Rhodesian Class 7 locomotives were also built by NBL and delivered in November and December 1903, numbered RR 41 to 50. They were also placed in service at Mafeking.

Their builders, works numbers and renumberings are shown in the table.

Rhodesian Class 7, SAR Class 7D
Builders, works numbers and renumberings
Builder	Works No.	Year	RR No.	1901 No.	1906 No.	SAR No.
Neilson, Reid	5675	1899	BR 7	MR 14	MR 8
Neilson, Reid	5676	1899	BR 8	MR 15	MR 9
Neilson, Reid	5677	1899	RR 1	MR 8	RRM 63	Class 7B South African Class 7B 4-8-0 In 1900 the Imperial Military Railways placed twenty-five Cape Class 7 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service. In that same year, three Cape Class 7 locomotives that had been ordered by the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway were also placed in service. All these locomotives were taken on to the... 949
Neilson, Reid	5678	1899	RR 2	MR 9	Sold to Shire
Neilson, Reid	5679	1899	RR 3	MR 10	MR 10
Neilson, Reid	5680	1899	RR 4	MR 11	MR 11
Neilson, Reid	5681	1899	RR 5	MR 12	MR 12
Neilson, Reid	5682	1899	RR 6	MR 13	RRM 64	1352
Neilson, Reid	5683	1899	MR 11	MR 18	RRM 67	1353
Neilson, Reid	5684	1899	RR 8			1354
Neilson, Reid	5685	1899	RR 9	MR 16	RRM 65	1351
Neilson, Reid	5686	1899	RR 10	MR 17	RRM 66
Neilson, Reid	5791	1900	RR 11	MR 20	RRM 69
Neilson, Reid	5792	1900	RR 12	MR 21	RRM 70
Neilson, Reid	5793	1900	RR 13
Neilson, Reid	5794	1900	RR 14
Neilson, Reid	5795	1900	RR 15
Neilson, Reid	5796	1900	RR 16
Neilson, Reid	5797	1900	RR 17	MR 22	RRM 71
Neilson, Reid	5798	1900	RR 18
Neilson, Reid	5799	1900	RR 19
Neilson, Reid	5800	1900	RR 20	MR 23	RRM 72
Neilson, Reid	5801	1900	RR 21
Neilson, Reid	5802	1900	RR 22
Neilson, Reid	5817	1900	IMR 110	MR 19	RRM 68	1355
Kitson		1901-03	RR 23
Kitson		1901-03	RR 24
Kitson		1901-03	RR 25
Kitson		1901-03	RR 26
Kitson		1901-03	RR 27
Kitson		1901-03	RR 28
Kitson		1901-03	RR 29
Kitson		1901-03	RR 30
NBL	16085	1903	RR 31
NBL	16086	1903	RR 32
NBL	16087	1903	RR 33
NBL	16088	1903	RR 34
NBL	16089	1903	RR 35
NBL	16090	1903	RR 36
NBL	16091	1903	RR 37
NBL	16092	1903	RR 38
NBL	16093	1903	RR 39
NBL	16094	1903	RR 40
NBL	16171	1903	RR 41
NBL	16172	1903	RR 42
NBL	16173	1903	RR 43
NBL	16174	1903	RR 44
NBL	16175	1903	RR 45
NBL	16176	1903	RR 46
NBL	16177	1903	RR 47
NBL	16178	1903	RR 48
NBL	16179	1903	RR 49
NBL	16180	1903	RR 50

South African Railways

In May 1915 six of the Neilson, Reid built Class 7 locomotives were purchased by the South African Railways (SAR) to augment its locomotive stock, which was being severely taxed due to war conditions at the time. These six locomotives included the damaged RR 8 that had still not been repaired and consequently never ran a mile in revenue service in Rhodesia, as well as the ex IMR locomotive that had been transferred to Rhodesia as compensation for the damaged RR 8. They were renumbered and five of them were classified to SAR Class 7D, numbered 1351 to 1355, and one as Class 7B, number 949.

Classification errors

During this SAR classification and renumbering process, two of these locomotives were incorrectly classified, possibly as a result of their records getting exchanged in an apparent administrative error.

Ex IMR 110, that replaced the damaged RR 8, would have become Central South African Railways
Central South African Railways
From 1902 to 1904, the area of power of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Girouard later also included the lines of The Netherlands-South African Railway Company; together this dominion covered all lines in the Transvaal that belonged to NZASM ....

(CSAR) 380 in 1902 and, with the rest of the ex IMR locomotives, SAR Class 7B
South African Class 7B 4-8-0
In 1900 the Imperial Military Railways placed twenty-five Cape Class 7 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service. In that same year, three Cape Class 7 locomotives that had been ordered by the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway were also placed in service. All these locomotives were taken on to the...

in 1912, but never did since it had already been transferred to the BMR at Umtali in March 1901. When it was taken onto the SAR roster from Rhodesia in 1915, it was incorrectly designated as Class 7D instead of Class 7B and renumbered 1355.

Ex RR1, later MR 8 and then RRM 63 was incorrectly designated as Class 7B instead of Class 7D and renumbered 949.

Class 7 sub-classes

Other Class 7 locomotives that came onto the SAR roster from the other Colonial railways in the region in 1912, namely the CGR, CSAR, the Natal Government Railways

Natal government railways

The Natal Government Railways was formed in January 1877 in the Colony of Natal.In 1877 the Natal Government Railways acquired the Natal Railway Company for the sum of £40,000, gaining the line from the Point to Durban and from Durban to Umgeni...

(NGR) and, in 1925, from the New Cape Central Railways (NCCR), were grouped into six different sub-classes by the SAR, becoming SAR Classes 7, 7A to 7C, 7E and 7F.

Modifications

During the 1930s many of the Class 7 family of locomotives were equipped with superheated boilers and piston valves. On the Class 7C

South African Class 7C 4-8-0

In 1902 the Cape Government Railways placed its last ten Class 7 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service on the Cape Eastern System. In 1912, when all these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 7C.-Manufacturer:The last of...

this conversion was sometimes indicated with an "S" suffix to the class number on the locomotive number plates, but on the rest of the Class 7 family this distinction was not applied consistently. The superheated versions could be identified by the position of the chimney on the smokebox, with the chimney displaced forward to provide space behind it in the smokebox for the superheater header.

Service

In SAR service, the Class 7 series did duty on every system in the country. During the South West African Campaign in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

twenty-nine Class 7 to Class 7C locomotives were sent to South West Africa

South West Africa

South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....

(SWA) to assist the expeditionary forces. They proved so successful in that territory that more were gradually transferred there in later years. By the time the Class 24

South African Class 24 2-8-4

In 1949 and 1950 the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 24 branch line steam locomotives with a 2-8-4 Berkshire wheel arrangement in service.-Design:...

arrived in SWA in 1949, there were still altogether fifty-three Class 7 series locomotives in use there. Most remained there and were only transferred back to South Africa when the Class 32-000

South African Class 32-000

Between November 1959 and November 1961 the South African Railways placed one hundred and fifteen Class 32-000 GE U18C1 diesel-electric locomotives in service in South West Africa.- Manufacturer :...