The South African Railways Class 6D of 1898 was a 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, a fourth batch of 33 6th Class

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s were placed in service by 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 ow ...

. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and designated Class 6D.Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 8, 12, 14, 31-32 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)

Manufacturer

The original 6th Class passenger steam locomotive was designed at the Salt River works of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) in 1893, at the same time as the 7th Class and both according to the specifications of Michael Stephens, at the time Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR, and under the supervision of H.M. Beatty, at the time Locomotive Superintendent of the Western System.

The 33 locomotives in this fourth group of the CGR 6th Class were built in 1898 by Neilson, Reid and Company. Of these engines, 26 went to the CGR's Western System, numbered in the range from 234 to 259, three to the Midland System, numbered 585, 586 and 594, and four to the Eastern System, numbered in the range from 665 to 668.Neilson, Reid works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser These locomotives represented a further advance on earlier 6th Class locomotives, with a greater heating surface and a larger firegrate area. They did, however, revert to the same Type YC six-wheeled tenders which were earlier used with the second group of 6th Class locomotives, later the Class 6A.

Class 6 sub-classes

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.''The South African Railways – Historical Survey''. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, p. 25. When these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, they were renumbered in the range from 565 to 597 and designated Class 6D. The rest of the CGR's 6th Class locomotives, together with the Class 6-L1 to 6L3 locomotives which had been inherited by the Central South African Railways from the ''Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen'' via the Imperial Military Railways, were grouped into thirteen more sub-classes by the SAR. The locomotives became SAR Classes 6, 6A to 6C, 6E to 6H and 6J to 6L, the locomotives became Class 6Y and the locomotives became Class 6Z.South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended

Service

South Africa

The Class 6 series of locomotives were introduced primarily as passenger locomotives, but when the class became displaced by larger and more powerful locomotive classes, it literally became a Jack-of-all-trades which proved itself as one of the most useful and successful locomotive classes ever to be designed at the Salt River shops. It went on to see service in all parts of the country, except Natal, and was used on all types of traffic. After the

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 ...

line in Cape Town was electrified in 1928, Class 6D engines that used to haul commuters on this line became dock shunting engines in Table Bay Harbour. This continued until they were gradually replaced by new Class S2 0-8-0 shunting engines from 1952.Soul of A Railway, System 1, Part 16: Table Bay Harbour © Les Pivnic. Caption 109.
(Accessed on 30 June 2017)

Sudan

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, sixteen locomotives of the Classes 6 to 6D were transferred to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

to assist with the war effort during the

North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

. The two Class 6D locomotives in this group were numbers 572 and 587. They did not return to South Africa after the war and were sold to the

Sudan Railways Corporation Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

in 1942. Sudan Railways renumbered them M714 and M715, in the same order as their former SAR engine numbers.Class 6 to 6D sold to Sudan Railways during the WWII North African Campaign, list compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Reimar Holzinger

Renumbering

The Class 6D works numbers, system allocation and renumbering are listed in the table.

Preservation

Only one of these locomotives survives. No. 579 is plinthed at King William's Town Station Forecourt.- No 579 at King Williams Town Station - 7 April 2012.
(Accessed on 6 December 2017)

References

{{Steam locomotive tenders

1350 Year 1350 ( MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 9 – Giovanni II Valente becomes Doge of Genoa. * May 23 (possible date) – Hook and Cod wars in the Cou ...

4-6-0 locomotives 2′C n2 locomotives

Steam locomotives of Sudan Neilson Reid locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1898 1898 in South Africa Passenger locomotives Scrapped locomotives