Hazlitt Michael Beatty was

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 ...

(Western System) Locomotive Superintendent (1885–1896) and Cape Government Railways Chief Locomotive Superintendent (1896–1910).

Locomotives

By 1901, it was becoming increasingly apparent that a larger and more powerful version of the successful Cape Government Railways 6th Class locomotives would require fireboxes with appreciably larger grate areas. This was not possible with the existing type of frame on a Cape gauge locomotive, where the firebox was arranged between the rearmost coupled wheels. To overcome this problem, Beatty prepared designs for a new Cape 6th Class locomotive with a wheel arrangement of which the frame terminated in front of the firebox, where it connected to a casting termed the "bridle casting". This casting extended out on either side and had wider spaced frames attached to its rear, which allowed a wider and deeper firebox. This was the first time that such a method of widening the frame had been used and it proved to be so successful that it was copied widely by both the

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 ...

(NGR) and the

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 ...

(CSAR) in their subsequent locomotive designs. The one disadvantage of the bridle casting was that it proved prone to serious damage in even minor collisions. The design was applied to South African locomotives for many years to come, until boiler centre lines were raised to a height which permitted the main frames to be reduced in depth and therefore to continue right through to the rear

buffer beam A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be ...

.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, February 1944. pp. 97-101. He died in 1916 at

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatty, Hazlitt Michael South African locomotive designers Year of birth missing 1916 deaths Locomotive superintendents

Locomotives

See also

References