South African Class NG10 4-6-2

South African Class NG10 4-6-2

Class NG10 no. NG62, c. 1930

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Baldwin Locomotive Works Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Serial number 42633-42638 Build date 1916 Total produced 6

Specifications Configuration 4-6-2 (Pacific) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 2 ft (610 mm) narrow Leading dia 22 in (559 mm) Coupled dia 36 in (914 mm) Trailing dia Tender wheels 22 in (559 mm) Wheelbase  • Engine  • Leading 4 ft (1,219 mm)  • Coupled 6 ft 6 in (1,981 mm)  • Tender 13 ft 9 in (4,191 mm)  • Tender bogie 4 ft 3 in (1,295 mm) Length:  • Over couplers Height 10 ft 6 in (3,200 mm) Frame type Bar Axle load  • Leading  • 1st coupled  • 2nd coupled  • 3rd coupled  • Trailing  • Tender bogie  • Tender axle Adhesive weight Loco weight Tender weight Loco & tender weight Tender type 2-axle bogies Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 4 LT (4.1 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch 5 ft (1,524 mm)  • Diameter 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)  • Tube plates  • Small tubes 119:  • Firebox type Belpaire Boiler pressure 180 psi (1,241 kPa) Firegrate area 14.2 sq ft (1.32 m2) Heating surface 783 sq ft (72.7 m2)  • Tubes 727 sq ft (67.5 m2)  • Firebox 56 sq ft (5.2 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size bore 18 in (457 mm) stroke Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type Slide Couplers Bell lift-hook

Performance figures Tractive effort 12,302 lbf (54.72 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators South African Railways Class Class NG10 Number in class 6 Numbers NG61-NG66 Nicknames Sixty Delivered 1916 First run 1916 Withdrawn 1962

The 2nd coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class NG10 4-6-2 of 1916 was a narrow gauge steam locomotive.

In 1916, the South African Railways placed six steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement in service on the Langkloof narrow gauge line. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG10.

Manufacturer

During the First World War, the usual British locomotive suppliers were hard pressed to satisfy British and foreign requirements. This led to several new locomotive types for the South African Railways (SAR) being ordered from North American builders.

In 1916, the SAR placed an order with the Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States of America for six narrow gauge locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement. The locomotives were delivered in 1916 and were numbered in the range from NG61 to NG66.

Characteristics

The locomotives were more powerful than previous types and, with their more commodious cabs, proved popular with the crews. Since a classification system for narrow gauge locomotives had not yet been adopted by the SAR, they became popularly known as the Sixties, based on their engine number range.

They were typically American in appearance, with an ornate chimney cap and steam dome, as well as a third engine number on a disk on the front of the smokebox door, in addition to the usual cabside number plates. They had outside bar frames, Belpaire fireboxes and Walschaerts valve gear.

Service

They were erected at the Uitenhage workshops and placed in service on the Avontuur Railway between Port Elizabeth and Avontuur in the Langkloof, where they spent most of their working lives. Much of that time, they worked out of Loerie, either assisting up the bank or on the Patensie branch.

In 1948, numbers NG63 and NG64 were transferred to South West Africa, where they performed yard work, while the rest remained on the Avontuur line, performing similar work around Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth.

Classification and withdrawal

The system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted by the SAR somewhere between 1928 and 1930. At that point, these locomotives were classified as Class NG10.

All six were withdrawn from service by 1962, as a direct result of the regauging of all the narrow gauge lines in South West Africa to Cape gauge. Some of the older narrow gauge locomotive stock in that territory were retired and scrapped, while the rest were all transferred to South Africa.

Illustration

• Class NG10 4-6-2 no. NG61.jpg

  No. NG61 in steam at Humewood Road Locomotive in January 1961