The Cape Government Railways 3rd Class 4-4-0 of 1898 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre- Union era in the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

. In 1898, the Cape Government Railways placed six 3rd Class ''Wynberg Tender'' locomotives with a 4-4-0 American type wheel arrangement in service. They were intended for passenger service on the suburban lines in Cape Town.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1944). ''The Locomotive in South Africa – A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter II – The Cape Government Railways'' (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, January 1944. pp. 9–12.

Simon's Town line

The original 1864 suburban line from Salt River to Wynberg was extended to

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for 'mice mountain') is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spo ...

in 1882, to Kalkbaai in 1883 and all the way to

Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...

in 1890.''The South African Railways – Historical Survey''. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, pp. 13, 25.''Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway'', Statement No. 19, ref. no. 200954-13 The resulting increase in suburban traffic led to a requirement for more locomotives, while the additional distance to be covered necessitated the introduction of larger and more powerful locomotives with a larger fuel and water capacity than that of the existing 2nd Class ''Wynberg Tanks'' of 1882.

Manufacturer

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 ow ...

(CGR) Chief Locomotive Superintendent Michael Stephens retired in 1895. Shortly after being appointed as his successor in 1896, H.M. Beatty drew up detailed designs for a new passenger locomotive for suburban service in Cape Town. For his first locomotive design as Chief Locomotive Superintendent, Beatty decided on a larger version of the 3rd Class which had been introduced on the CGR in 1889. An order for six of these engines was placed with

Neilson and Company Neilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland. The company was started in 1836 at McAlpine Street by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell to manufacture marine and stationary engines. In 1837 the firm moved to Hyde Par ...

in Glasgow. The locomotives were delivered in 1898, numbered in the range from 12 to 17. The locomotives became known as the ''Wynberg Tenders''. They were designed with reverse running in mind, with a weatherboard mounted on the tender front to protect the crew from the elements when running tender first and with a cowcatcher and headlight mounted on the rear end of the tender.

Service

When the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

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 were only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912. In 1912, the locomotives were considered obsolete by the SAR, designated Class 03 and renumbered by having the numeral "0" prefixed to their existing numbers. In SAR service, they continued to work suburban trains. Two of them, numbers 015 and 016, were scrapped in 1916 but, despite being considered obsolete, the other four survived in service until after 1931.''Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists'', issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 25–26. (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000) They remained working on the Simon's Town line until the trains became too heavy for them. They were then used to work the

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

line until they were withdrawn from service.

Works numbers

The works numbers, original numbers and renumbering of the Cape 3rd Class of 1898 are listed in the table.

References

{{Locomotives of South Africa 0290 0290 4-4-0 locomotives 2′B n2 locomotives Neilson locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Passenger locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1898 1898 in South Africa Scrapped locomotives