South African Class A 4-8-2T - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

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...

placed the first five of its eventual one hundred Class Dübs A 4-8-2T tank 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. The last of the one hundred was delivered in 1899. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class A. In 1915 another two Class A locomotives were built from spare parts.

Manufacturers

The Natal Government Railways (NGR) Class Dübs A 4-8-2T tank locomotive was designed by W. Milne, the Locomotive Superintendent of the NGR from 1877 to 1896, and 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:...

. The first forty-two locomotives, numbered 49 to 90, were placed in service during Milne’s term and proved to be such good engines that, when G.W. Reid took over as Locomotive Superintendent in 1896, he continued to place further orders for another fifty-eight, numbered 91 to 148. These one hundred locomotives, known on the NGR as the Dübs A, were delivered in ten batches by Dübs between 1888 and 1899.

As far as is known, the Dübs A locomotives were the first in the world to have a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, later to become known as the “Mountain” type.

Modifications

The performance in service of the Class Dübs A was gradually improved by various modifications. New boilers were fitted as the originals wore out, with a working pressure of 160 pound per square inches (1,103,161.2 Pa) instead of the as delivered locomotive’s 140 pound per square inches (965,266 Pa). This increased their tractive effort at 75% boiler pressure from 16340 pound-forces (72.7 kN) to 18670 pound-forces (83 kN). The coal bunkers were also enlarged and the connecting rod big-ends were changed to the marine type to increase ground clearance.

Beginning in 1905, after D.A. Hendrie took over from Reid as Locomotive Superintendent, these locomotives were gradually fitted 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 with wider firegrates. In order to accomplish this, Hendrie raised the boiler’s centre line by 4.5 inches (114.3 mm) and cut away the frame under the firebox to accommodate the wider grates. The wider firebox required that the water tanks also had to be moved out and the opportunity was taken to enlarge the tanks. The cabs were also improved, affording the engine crew better protection. These modified locomotives were known as the Improved Dübs A while still in service with the NGR. In the table below they are listed as "Belpaire" under the "Model" heading.

Reclassification and renumbering

When the various colonial railroads were amalgamated into the South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, these engines were classified as Class A and were renumbered 97 to 196, the unmodified Dübs A locomotives receiving numbers 97 to 186 and the ten, at the time, already reboilered Improved Dübs A locomotives receiving numbers 187 to 196. In SAR service the Improved Dübs A locomotives became known as the Class A Belpaire. The SAR renumberings are also set out in the table below.

In 1915, to help counter wartime motive power shortages brought about by the diminished ability to order new locomotives from European builders because of the hostilities, another two Class A locomotives were built by the SAR from spare parts in their Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

shops. These two were numbered 332 and 333.

Service

The Class A was placed in service on the Natal

Natal, South Africa

Natal is a region in South Africa. It stretches between the Indian Ocean in the south and east, the Drakensberg in the west, and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The main cities are Pietermaritzburg and Durban...

main line, and when they were eventually displaced by more modern locomotives, continued to serve on the Dundee

Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal

The coal mining town of Dundee is situated in a valley of the Biggarsberg mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa . It is part of the Endumeni Local Municipality, Umzinyathi District. It is rich in coal deposits...

-Hlobane branch line, the Harrismith

Harrismith

Harrismith, named after Sir Harry Smith, is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa, situated on the N3 highway approximately midway between Johannesburg, about 300 km north-east, and Durban. The town is at the junction with the N5 highway, which continues west towards the...

-Ladysmith

Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal

Ladysmith is a city in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is north-west of Durban and south of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textile and tyre production...

section and on the north coast line to Empangeni. The last of the Class A was withdrawn from service in 1962.

Several continued to serve in industrial use for many years. A few survive in preservation.

One, ex NGR 82, SAR 130 named "Patrys", is plinthed at the Reefsteamers Depot in Germiston.
Another, ex NGR 88, SAR 136 named “Umbilo”, is in the care of the Umgeni Steam Railway.

Rebuilding to Class 17 4-8-0T+T

When a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives developed in 1926, the SAR modified twenty-one Class A and Class A Belpaire 4-8-2T locomotives by removing the trailing bissel bogie

Bissel bogie

A Bissel truck is a very simple and commonly used way of designing a carrying axle on a steam locomotive to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. The design uses a single-axled bogie, usually known as a pony truck, whose pivot is towards the centre of the locomotive...

and coal bunker, shortening the main frame and adding a tender to increase the coal and water capacity.

Tenders from various scrapped locomotive types were used, probable tender models being three axle Type YB, YC (as in the picture alongside), YE and YE1 tenders, as well as the Type XC1 four axle tender as depicted in the official SAR locomotive diagram.

These twenty-one rebuilt 4-8-2T locomotives became the SAR’s Class 17 4-8-0T+T

South African Class 17 4-8-0T+T

Between 1926 and 1929, to address a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives, the South African Railways rebuilt twenty-one ex Natal Government Railways "Improved Dübs A" 4-8-2T tank steam locomotives to Class 17 4-8-0T+T tank-and-tender locomotives....

tank-and-tender locomotives, numbered 1415 to 1435. They were used as shunting locomotives around Durban

Durban

and Port Elizabeth until they were withrawn from service by 1961. The locomotives that were rebuilt to Class 17 are also shown in the table.

Class A modification & renumbering
& Class 17 4-8-0T+T rebuilding
Builder	Works No.	Year	NGR No.	SAR No.	Model	Class 17 No.
Dübs	2446	1888	49	97	Dübs A
Dübs	2447	1888	50	98	Dübs A
Dübs	2448	1888	51	99	Dübs A
Dübs	2449	1888	52	100	Dübs A
Dübs	2450	1888	53	101	Dübs A
Dübs	2451	1888	54	102	Dübs A
Dübs	2499	1889	55	103	Dübs A
Dübs	2500	1889	56	104	Dübs A
Dübs	2501	1889	57	105	Dübs A
Dübs	2502	1889	58	106	Dübs A
Dübs	2503	1889	59	107	Dübs A
Dübs	2504	1889	60	108	Dübs A
Dübs	2604	1890	61	109	Dübs A	1421
Dübs	2605	1890	62	110	Dübs A
Dübs	2606	1890	63	111	Dübs A
Dübs	2607	1890	64	112	Dübs A
Dübs	2608	1890	65	113	Dübs A
Dübs	2609	1890	66	114	Dübs A
Dübs	2610	1890	67	115	Dübs A
Dübs	2611	1890	68	116	Dübs A	1417
Dübs	2612	1890	69	117	Dübs A	1427
Dübs	2613	1890	70	118	Dübs A	1428
Dübs	2614	1890	71	119	Dübs A	1425
Dübs	2615	1890	72	192	Belpaire
Dübs	2616	1890	73	120	Dübs A
Dübs	2617	1890	74	121	Dübs A
Dübs	2618	1890	75	122	Dübs A	1420
Dübs	2619	1890	76	123	Dübs A
Dübs	2620	1890	77	124	Dübs A
Dübs	2621	1890	78	125	Dübs A
Dübs	2622	1890	79	126	Dübs A
Dübs	2623	1890	80	193	Belpaire	1423
Dübs	2624	1890	81	127	Dübs A
Dübs	2625	1890	82	128	Dübs A	1419
Dübs	2626	1890	83	129	Dübs A	1433
Dübs	2627	1890	84	130	Dübs A
Dübs	2628	1890	85	131	Dübs A
Dübs	2965	1892	86	132	Dübs A
Dübs	2966	1892	87	133	Dübs A
Dübs	2967	1892	88	134	Dübs A
Dübs	3317	1895	89	135	Dübs A	1422
Dübs	3318	1895	90	136	Dübs A	1426
Dübs	3319	1895	91	137	Dübs A
Dübs	3320	1895	92	138	Dübs A
Dübs	3321	1895	93	139	Dübs A
Dübs	3322	1895	94	140	Dübs A
Dübs	3363	1896	95	141	Dübs A
Dübs	3364	1896	96	142	Dübs A
Dübs	3365	1896	97	143	Dübs A
Dübs	3366	1896	98	144	Dübs A
Dübs	3367	1896	99	145	Dübs A
Dübs	3368	1896	100	146	Dübs A
Dübs	3477	1897	101	147	Dübs A	1434
Dübs	3478	1897	102	148	Dübs A
Dübs	3479	1897	103	149	Dübs A
Dübs	3480	1897	104	150	Dübs A
Dübs	3481	1897	105	151	Dübs A	1431
Dübs	3482	1897	106	152	Dübs A
Dübs	3483	1897	107	153	Dübs A
Dübs	3484	1897	108	154	Dübs A	1416
Dübs	3485	1897	109	194	Belpaire
Dübs	3486	1897	110	155	Dübs A
Dübs	3604	1898	111	156	Dübs A
Dübs	3605	1898	112	157	Dübs A	1432
Dübs	3556	1898	113	158	Dübs A	1415
Dübs	3557	1898	114	187	Belpaire
Dübs	3558	1898	115	159	Dübs A
Dübs	3559	1898	116	160	Dübs A
Dübs	3560	1898	117	161	Dübs A
Dübs	3561	1898	118	165	Dübs A
Dübs	3562	1898	119	162	Dübs A
Dübs	3563	1898	120	166	Dübs A	1424
Dübs	3564	1898	121	163	Dübs A	1435
Dübs	3565	1898	122	164	Dübs A
Dübs	3566	1898	123	188	Belpaire
Dübs	3567	1898	124	195	Belpaire
Dübs	3811	1899	125	167	Dübs A
Dübs	3812	1899	126	168	Dübs A
Dübs	3813	1899	127	169	Dübs A
Dübs	3814	1899	128	170	Dübs A
Dübs	3815	1899	129	171	Dübs A
Dübs	3816	1899	130	172	Dübs A
Dübs	3817	1899	131	173	Dübs A
Dübs	3818	1899	132	189	Belpaire
Dübs	3819	1899	133	196	Belpaire
Dübs	3820	1899	134	190	Belpaire	1418
Dübs	3821	1899	135	174	Dübs A
Dübs	3822	1899	136	175	Dübs A
Dübs	3823	1899	137	176	Dübs A
Dübs	3824	1899	138	177	Dübs A
Dübs	3825	1899	139	178	Dübs A
Dübs	3826	1899	140	179	Dübs A
Dübs	3827	1899	141	191	Belpaire	1430
Dübs	3828	1899	142	180	Dübs A
Dübs	3829	1899	143	181	Dübs A	1429
Dübs	3830	1899	144	182	Dübs A
Dübs	3831	1899	145	183	Dübs A
Dübs	3832	1899	146	184	Dübs A
Dübs	3833	1899	147	185	Dübs A
Dübs	3834	1899	148	186	Dübs A
SAR		1915		332	Belpaire
SAR		1915		333	Belpaire

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