The Cape Government Railways 1st Class of 1876 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

era in the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

. In 1876, the Cape Government Railways placed a pair of Stephenson's Patent back-to-back Mogul type side-tank locomotives, built by Kitson, in service on the Cape Midland system. They were later separated and rebuilt to saddle-tank locomotives for use as shunting engines. When a classification system was introduced by the Railways, they were designated .''C.G.R. Numbering Revised'', Article by Dave Littley, SA Rail May–June 1993, pp. 94-95.

Manufacturer

A pair of Stephenson's Patent back-to-back Mogul type side-tank locomotives were delivered to the

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately own ...

(CGR) from

Kitson and Company Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Early history The company was started in 1835 by James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet, with Charles Todd as a part ...

in 1876. They arrived in Port Elizabeth on the ship ''Queen of the West'' on 21 February and were numbered M15 and M16 in the Midland System's number range.

Characteristics

The locomotives were built as permanently coupled back-to-back tank locomotives, a configuration which allowed the two engines to be operated by a single crew. A similar pair of 0-6-0T back-to-back locomotives, built by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomoti ...

, was delivered to the Eastern System in East London in that same year. Back-to-back - The known factsWiener, Lionel. ''Articulated Locomotives''. pp. 508-509, 511. Their feedwater pumps, attached to the right hand side of their spectacle plates, were actuated from the piston crossheads. The locomotives were also each equipped with a small feedwater

injector An injector is a system of ducting and nozzles used to direct the flow of a high-pressure fluid in such a way that a lower pressure fluid is entrained in the jet and carried through a duct to a region of higher pressure. It is a fluid-dynamic ...

feed, attached to the left side of the smokebox, for use in cases of emergency or while the locomotives were stationary. The injector had been invented by the French engineer

Henri Giffard Baptiste Jules Henri Jacques Giffard (8 February 182514 April 1882) was a French engineer. In 1852 he invented the steam injector and the powered Giffard dirigible airship. Career Giffard was born in Paris in 1825. He invented the injector a ...

in 1852.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1943). ''The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter II - The Cape Government Railways'' (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, September 1943. pp. 657-659. Tyre wear was reduced by supplying jets of water, fed from diameter pipes, to the leading wheels while negotiating curves. This was found to diminish friction significantly. Their cylinders and

slide valve The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into and emission of exhaust from the cylinder of a steam engine. Use In the 19th century, most steam locomotives used slide valves to control the flow of steam into a ...

faces were lubricated by tallow cups, attached to the sides of the cylinder assemblies. When melted tallow was later found to be unsatisfactory, it was replaced by vegetable oils.

Service

Cape Government Railways

It is not known whether this back-to-back pair displayed the same instability in operation as the 0-6-0T back-to-back locomotive pair on the Eastern System, but by 1881 they had also been separated. In the process they were rebuilt to saddle-tank engines for use in shunting service in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

, where both spent the rest of their service lives. When a classification system was introduced on the CGR, they were designated . During the CGR era, both locomotives were renumbered more than once. By 1886, the system prefix "M" was replaced by the numeral "1". They were renumbered at least twice more, to 215 and 216 by 1890 and to 415 and 416 by 1896.

South African Railways

When the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

was established on 31 May 1910, the three Colonial government railways (CGR,

Natal Government Railways The Natal Government Railways (NGR) 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 ...

and

Central South African Railways The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of ...

) were united under a single administration to control and administer the railways, ports and harbours of the Union. Although the South African Railways and Harbours came into existence in 1910, the actual classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the three constituent railways was only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912.''The South African Railways - Historical Survey''. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, p. 25. By 1912, both locomotives still survived to be taken onto the South African Railways roster. Since they were considered obsolete, the locomotives were designated Class 01 and renumbered by having the numeral 0 prefixed to their existing numbers. Even though they were considered obsolete and no. 0415 was scrapped in 1916, no. 0416 was only scrapped in 1946, after seventy years in service.''Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists'', issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 2, 18. (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)

Illustration

File:Ex CGR 1st Class Kitson, SAR no. 0416 on Playing Card.jpg, SAR Class 01 no. 0416

References

{{Locomotives of South Africa 0190 2-6-0 locomotives 1C locomotives Kitson locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1876 1876 in South Africa Scrapped locomotives