The South African Railways Class 8R of 1930 was a steam locomotive. In 1901 and 1902, 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 ...

placed sixteen 8th Class Consolidation type steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 8X. One of them was reboilered and converted to a Mastodon type wheel arrangement in 1930 and reclassified to Class 8R.Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 9, 12, 15, 35 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)

Manufacturers

The first 8th Class Consolidation type locomotive of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) was designed by H.M. Beatty, the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR from 1896 to 1910. Fourteen of these engines were built by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

(ALCO) in 1902.''Schenectady Consolidation for Cape Government Railways.'' Railway and Locomotive Engineering : A Practical Journal of Railway Motive Power and Rolling Stock. Volume XIV, No. 2, February 1901. 95 Liberty Street, New York. pp. 90-91.
(Accessed on 13 December 2015)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. They were conceived as mixed traffic locomotives, equally suitable for goods and passenger work, and had bar frames, narrow fireboxes, used

saturated steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is ...

and had cylinders with overhead slide valves which were actuated by inside

Stephenson valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

. The Type WG bogie tender entered service with these engines.

South African Railways

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, these Consolidation types were designated Class 8X on the South African Railways (SAR).''The South African Railways - Historical Survey''. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, p. 25.

Wheel arrangement modification

In 1930, one of the Class 8X locomotives, SAR no. 883, was reboilered with a purpose-built boiler by SAR Chief Mechanical Engineer A.G. Watson. At the same time, it was equipped with superheating and piston-valve cylinders. The locomotive was converted to a Mastodon type wheel arrangement by replacing the leading pony truck with a bogie in a belated attempt to rectify one of the shortcomings of the original Class 8 locomotive. To accommodate the four-wheeled bogie, the front of the bar frame was apparently modified to reposition the cylinders. The modified no. 883 was reclassified and became the sole Class 8R locomotive. No other such conversions were done, since the Class 8 family had already begun to be displaced by newer and more powerful locomotives and many would be withdrawn from service by the late 1930s.

Service

Class 8R no. 883 was put to work in the Eastern Transvaal. Even though some did not consider the rebuilding a success, the engine remained in service for nine years until it was withdrawn from service in 1939.

References

{{Steam locomotive tenders

1590 Events January–March * January 6 – García Hurtado de Mendoza becomes the new Viceroy of Peru (nominally including most of South America except for Brazil). He will serve until 1596. * January 10 – Construction of th ...

H.M. Beatty locomotives 4-8-0 locomotives 2′D h2 locomotives 2D locomotives ALCO locomotives SAR locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1930 1930 in South Africa Scrapped locomotives