In 1904 the Cape Government Railways placed its final batch of ten Class 8 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. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8F.

Evolution

The first Class 8 locomotive of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) was a 2-8-0 Consolidation type designed by H.M. Beatty, the CGR’s Chief Locomotive Superintendent from 1896 to 1910. It was later to become the Class 8X

South African Class 8X 2-8-0

Between 1901 and 1902 the Cape Government Railways placed sixteen Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8X...

 on the South African Railways (SAR). While these first Schenectady and ALCO built 2-8-0 locomotives were being subjected to exhaustive testing on all types of traffic and under varying conditions, some trouble was experienced with the leading two wheeled pony truck and, when designs were prepared at Salt River for a later order for more locomotives, it was replaced with a four wheeled bogie.

Builders

Orders were placed with the 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 1903. The ten locomotives were delivered in 1904, numbered 829 to 838 and allocated to the Cape Western System of the CGR.

These ten locomotives were the final batch of CGR Class 8 locomotives to be built with a 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 type wheel arrangement. In spite of the differences in wheel arrangement, the CGR’s Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidations and Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodons were all grouped together into one single Class.

Class 8 sub-classes

When these ten locomotives were assimilated into the newly established SAR in 1912, they were renumbered 1234 to 1243 and reclassified to Class 8F.

These locomotives, together with the rest of the CGR’s Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidations and Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodons, plus the Class 8-L1 to 8-L3 4-8-0 Mastodon locomotives from the 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), were grouped into ten different sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-8-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 8 and 8A to 8F and the 2-8-0 locomotives became Classes 8X to 8Z.

Modification

During A.G. Watson’s term as the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR from 1929 to 1936, many of the Class 8 to Class 8F locomotives were equipped with superheated boilers, larger bore cylinders and either inside or outside admission piston valves. The outside admission valve locomotives had their cylinder bore increased from 18.5 to 19 in (469.9 to 482.6 mm) and retained their existing SAR classifications, while the inside admission valve locomotives had their cylinder bore increased to 20 inches (508 mm) and were reclassified by having a "W" suffix added to their existing SAR classifications.

Of the Class 8F locomotives, numbers 1236, 1242 and 1243 were equipped with superheated boilers, 20 inches (508 mm) bore cylinders and inside admission piston valves, and were reclassified to Class 8FW.

Service

In SAR service, the 4-8-0 Class 8 family of locomotives worked on every system in the country and in the 1920s they became the mainstay of motive power on many branch lines. Their final days were spent in shunting service and by 1972 they were all withdrawn.

See also

• South African Class 8 4-8-0
  South African Class 8 4-8-0
  In 1902 and 1903 the Cape Government Railways placed twenty-three Class 8 steam locomotives with a 4-8-0 Mastodon wheel arrangement in service, three on the Cape Western System, eight on the Cape Midland System and twelve on the Cape Eastern System...
  
  
• South African Class 8A 4-8-0
  South African Class 8A 4-8-0
  In 1902 the Central South African Railways placed forty Class 8-L1 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8A.-Manufacturers:...
  
  
• South African Class 8B 4-8-0
  South African Class 8B 4-8-0
  In 1903, soon after its establishment, the Central South African Railways placed thirty Class 8-L2 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8B.-Manufacturers:Upon the...
  
  
• South African Class 8C 4-8-0
  South African Class 8C 4-8-0
  In 1903, soon after the establishment of the Central South African Railways, a second batch of thirty Cape Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives were ordered and placed in service as the Class 8-L3, immediately following a previous order in that same year for a variation on the same locomotive...
  
  
• South African Class 8D 4-8-0
  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...
  
  
• South African Class 8E 4-8-0
  South African Class 8E 4-8-0
  In 1903, at the same time that the Cape Government Railways ordered its second batch of thirty-eight Class 8 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives, four additional locomotives of the same class were ordered, but built to modified specifications in order to accommodate a larger grate area...
  
  
• South African Class 8X 2-8-0
  South African Class 8X 2-8-0
  Between 1901 and 1902 the Cape Government Railways placed sixteen Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8X...
  
  
• South African Class 8Y 2-8-0
  South African Class 8Y 2-8-0
  In 1903 the Cape Government Railways placed four more Cape Class 8 2-8-0 steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8Y.-Manufacturer:...
  
  
• South African Class 8Z 2-8-0
  South African Class 8Z 2-8-0
  In 1904 the Cape Government Railways placed its last eight Class 8 2-8-0 Consolidation type steam locomotives in service. All subsequent Cape Class 8 locomotives were built with a 4-8-0 Mastodon wheel arrangement...
  
  
• Tender locomotive numbering and classification
• The 4-8-0 "Mastodon"
• List of South African locomotive classes