The South African Railways Class 1 4-8-0 of 1904 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Colony of Natal.

In 1904, the Natal Government Railways placed fifty Class B Mastodon type steam locomotives in service. Six of them were modified to a 4-8-2 Mountain type wheel arrangement in 1906. In 1912, when the remaining 44 locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and designated .Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1944). The Locomotive in South Africa – A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter III – Natal Government Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, July 1944. pp. 504-505.

Design Because of the limited coal and water range of the existing fleet of Natal Government Railways (NGR) tank locomotives as well as the necessity to double- and even triple-head over the worst sections of the mainline, NGR Locomotive Superintendent D.A. Hendrie was tasked to produce a locomotive of greater power and capable of longer distances without refuelling or rewatering to work the mainline's steep 1 in 30 (3%) gradients.South African Railways & Harbours/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweë en Hawens (15 August 1941). Locomotive Diagram Book/Lokomotiefdiagramboek, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge/Spoorwydte, Steam Locomotives/Stoomlokomotiewe. SAR/SAS Mechanical Department/Werktuigkundige Dept. Drawing Office/Tekenkantoor, Pretoria.

His resulting Class B achieved this, being more powerful and with a longer range. When the designs were completed, Hendrie proposed that only five locomotives should be ordered so that they may first be thoroughly tested in service before ordering more. The designs, however, were so well received that the NGR placed an immediate order for fifty locomotives with the North British Locomotive Company (NBL).

Manufacturer

It does appear as though there was a fair degree of urgency to obtain these locomotives, evidenced on the one hand by the rush to place a large order for an untested locomotive and on the other hand by the fact that construction was accelerated by dividing it equally between NBL's Hyde Park and Queens Park works. The NGR's faith in Hendrie's ability turned out to be well justified, however, considering the fact that some of these locomotives remained in service for over seventy years.North British Locomotive Company works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser

Delivered in 1904, the Class B Mastodon type was the first tender locomotive to be placed in service by the NGR apart from the single home-built engine Havelock of 1888. Fifty were built, those numbered in the range from 275 to 299 at the NBL Hyde Park works and those numbered in the range from 300 to 324 at the NBL Queens Park works.

The type SH tender was introduced along with these locomotives. It rode on two-axle bogies and had a capacity of coal and water.

Characteristics Combustion chamber Even though the boiler was not pitched very high, Hendrie had still managed to extend the Belpaire firebox sideways over the trailing coupled wheels, with the result that the grate was almost on a level with the bottom of the boiler shell. To prevent the fire from entering the lower row of tubes, Hendrie arranged a vertical firewall towards the front of the grate, which also created a dry combustion chamber.

This combustion chamber pre-dated the Gaines type, which was practically identical, by four years. The Gaines type was introduced in the United States of America in 1908 and became widely used on American locomotives. The firebox, of which the external dimensions were long and wide, was arranged with finger bars and drop grates with a hopper-type ashpan.

Valve gear The cylinders were arranged outside the thick plate frames, with the flat D type balanced slide valves arranged above the cylinders and actuated by Walschaerts valve gear, the first time that this type of motion was used in Natal.

Electric headlight Shortly after engine no. 275 had run its trials on 25 October 1904, it was fitted with a Pyle National Electric headlight which consisted of a self-contained turbine and dynamo and an arc lamp, placed on top of the smokebox in front of the chimney and supported by two brackets. The headlight proved so successful that it gradually replaced the old huge oil-burning lamps, which had been in use for over fifty years, on all mainline locomotives.

Performance Compared to the Reid Tenwheeler, the Class B was able to haul 7.5% more load and, on average, ran more before requiring repairs.

Modifications Six of the locomotives, those numbered in the range from 319 to 324, were modified to 4-8-2 Mountain types in 1906, but retained their Class B designation on the NGR.

Another locomotive, no. 280, was equipped with steam reversing gear in 1907, also to Hendrie's design. The steam reverser proved to be an unqualified success and was soon adopted as standard equipment on the rest of the Class. It was fitted to all engines which were subsequently designed by Hendrie and remained the standard reverser on South African steam locomotives well into the 1940s.

South African Railways When the Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, the three Colonial government railways (Cape Government Railways, NGR and Central South African Railways) 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.Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 7, 12, 15, 43-44 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)The South African Railways – Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, p. 25.

In 1912, the remaining 44 Mastodon types were renumbered in the range from 1245 to 1288 and designated on the South African Railways (SAR). Upon their renumbering onto the SAR roster, the six modified Mountain types were classified separately from the rest as .

Service The locomotives were placed in service hauling all the fast passenger and goods trains between Durban and Pietermaritzburg and were the first locomotives to accomplish a return working of this service within a day, with the same crewmen. These locomotives opened up a new era on the NGR, where the tank locomotive was at last withdrawn from mainline working. Later, in SAR service, these locomotives were also used on mainline workings out of Port Elizabeth.

In their later years they were relegated to shunting, particularly working in Natal but also in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and in Transvaal. Although their gradual withdrawal from service already commenced in 1935, half of the Class were still in capital stock by March 1972, with the last one only being written off in 1975.

In industrial service, two of the locomotives survived even longer and were still in service in 1984. SAR no. 1252 as Randfontein Estates Gold Mine no. 4. SAR no. 1277 as Apex Mines no. 2 at Greenside.

Works numbers and renumbering Their works numbers, numbering, SAR reclassification and renumbering are listed in the table. +NGR Class B 4-8-0 of 1904SAR Class 1 4-8-0Works no.NGRno.SARClassSARno.16370 275 Class 11245 16371 276 Class 11246 16372 277 Class 11247 16373 278 Class 11248 16374 279 Class 11249 16375 280 Class 11250 16376 281 Class 11251 16377 282 Class 11252 16378 283 Class 11253 16379 284 Class 11254 16380 285 Class 11255 16381 286 Class 11256 16382 287 Class 11257 16383 288 Class 11258 16384 289 Class 11259 16385 290 Class 11260 16386 291 Class 11261 16387 292 Class 11262 16388 293 Class 11263 16389 294 Class 11264 16390 295 Class 11265 16391 296 Class 11266 16392 297 Class 11267 16393 298 Class 11268 16394 299 Class 11269 16395 300 Class 11270 16396 301 Class 11271 16397 302 Class 11272 16398 303 Class 11273 16399 304 Class 11274 16400 305 Class 11275 16401 306 Class 11276 16402 307 Class 11277 16403 308 Class 11278 16404 309 Class 11279 16405 310 Class 11280 16406 311 Class 11281 16407 312 Class 11282 16408 313 Class 11283 16409 314 Class 11284 16410 315 Class 11285 16411 316 Class 11286 16412 317 Class 11287 16413 318 Class 11288 16414 319 Class 1B1440 16415 320 Class 1B1441 16416 321 Class 1B1442 16417 322 Class 1B1443 16418 323 Class 1B1444 16419 324 Class 1B1445

Preservation Only two of these engines survive.

Number Works nmr THF / Private Leaselend / Owner Current Location Outside South Africa ? 1247 NBL / 16372 THF Museum Bloemfontein Locomotive Depot 1276 NBL / 16401 Private RSSA – Trust Hilton (Station)

Illustration The main picture shows NGR Class B no. 275, later SAR Class 1 no. 1245, as delivered. The Belpaire firebox is markedly longer than usual as a result of the combustion chamber.

References