South African Class 14 4-8-2

South African Class 14 & 14R 4-8-2

300px No. 1707, as built, at Greyville Sheds, c. 1930

Type and origin ♠ Class 14 as built with a Belpaire firebox ♥ Class 14R rebuilt with a Watson Standard boiler ♣ Steel firebox - ♦ Copper firebox Power type Steam Designer South African Railways (D.A. Hendrie) Builder Robert Stephenson and Company Serial number 3543-3562, 3605-3614, 3630-3644 Model Class 14 Build date 1913-1915 Total produced 45

Specifications Configuration 4-8-2 (Mountain) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia Coupled dia 48 in (1,219 mm) Trailing dia 33 in (838 mm) Tender wheels 34 in (864 mm) Minimum curve 300 ft (91 m) Wheelbase  • Engine 30 ft 7 in (9,322 mm)  • Leading 6 ft 2 in (1,880 mm)  • Coupled 12 ft 9 in (3,886 mm)  • Tender 16 ft 9 in (5,105 mm)  • Tender bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) Length:  • Over couplers Height ♠ ♥ Axle load ♠ ♥  • Leading ♠ ♥  • 1st coupled ♠ ♥  • 2nd coupled ♠ ♥  • 3rd coupled ♠ ♥  • 4th coupled ♠ ♥  • Trailing ♠ ♥  • Tender bogie Bogie 1: Bogie 2:  • Tender axle Adhesive weight ♠ ♥ Loco weight ♠ ♥ Tender weight w/o Loco & tender weight ♠ w/o ♥ w/o Tender type MP1 (2-axle bogies) MP, MP1, MR, MS, MT, MT1, MT2, MX, MY, MY1 permitted Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 10 LT (10.2 t) Water cap Generator Pyle National turbo Boiler Watson Standard no. 2  • Pitch ♠ 7 ft 7 in (2,311 mm) ♥  • Diameter ♠♥  • Tube plates ♠ 19 ft (5,791 mm) ♥♣ 19 ft 4 in (5,893 mm) ♥♦  • Small tubes ♠ 139: ♥ 87:  • large tubes ♠ 24: ♥ 30:  • Firebox type ♠ Belpaire - ♥ Round-top Boiler pressure ♠♥ 190 psi (1,310 kPa) Safety valve ♠ Ramsbottom - ♥ Pop Firegrate area ♠♥ 37 sq ft (3.4 m2) Heating surface ♠ 2,362 sq ft (219.4 m2) ♥ 2,075 sq ft (192.8 m2)  • Tubes ♠ 2,212 sq ft (205.5 m2) ♥ 1,933 sq ft (179.6 m2)  • Firebox ♠ 150 sq ft (14 m2) ♥ 142 sq ft (13.2 m2) Superheater:  • Heating area ♠ 540 sq ft (50 m2) ♥ 492 sq ft (45.7 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 22 in (559 mm) bore 26 in (660 mm) stroke Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type Piston Couplers Bell link-and-pin AAR knuckle (1950s)

Performance figures Tractive effort ♠♥ 37,360 lbf (166.2 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators South African Railways Class Classes 14 & 14R Number in class 45 Numbers 1701-1745 Delivered 1913-1915 First run 1913 Withdrawn 1982

The leading coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class 14 4-8-2 of 1913 was a steam locomotive.

Between 1913 and 1915, the South African Railways placed 45 Class 14 steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain type wheel arrangement in service in Natal.

Manufacturer

The Class 14 locomotive was a development of the Class 12 and was similar enough to it that many components were interchangeable. It was ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company in 1913 and was delivered in three batches between 1913 and 1915, numbered in the range from 1701 to 1745.

Characteristics

File:D.A. Hendrie.jpg

D.A. Hendrie

At the time the Class 14 was designed by D.A. Hendrie, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR), it was believed that small differences in wheel diameter had disproportionate effects on performance. The SAR already had the Class 3B Mountain type with 45 inches (1,143 millimetres) coupled wheels and the Class 12 Mountain type with 51 inches (1,295 millimetres) coupled wheels, but for the 300 feet (91 metres) radius curves and 1 in 30 (3⅓%) compensated gradients of the Natal mainline, the Class 14 with 48 inches (1,219 millimetres) coupled wheels was designed as an intermediate-sized locomotive.

Upon delivery, the locomotives could not be erected departmentally, owing to the congestion of work in the Durban workshops. The work was therefore contracted to Messrs. James Brown and Company of Congella.

The Class 14 had Walschaerts valve gear and a Belpaire firebox and was superheated. It was delivered with Type MP1 tenders, which had a coal capacity of 10 long tons (10.2 tonnes) and a water capacity of . Apart from the differences in their coupled wheel diameters, the Class 14 was a better locomotive with a more modern cylinder design, having straighter ports and a larger steam chest volume than the other two classes.

A feature in the design of the leading bogie was that the bogie frame was a single steel casting, to which the cast steel horns were bolted to take the axle boxes. An innovation was the arrangement of the laminated side control springs in combination with two point swing links, which would be part of all Hendrie's subsequent designs. To prevent trouble which had been experienced earlier, owing to the fracture of the smokebox saddle and frame stretcher castings which contained steam chest passages, and also leakage at exhaust joints, the blast pipe breeches were made separate castings and not integral with the centre stretcher casting.

The engines were fitted with Pyle National turbo-generators and headlamps, with the generator attached to the top of the smokebox, ahead of the chimney. It had the Hasler speed indicator, sight feed lubricators, Hendrie's steam reversing gear, steam operation for rocking the firegrate, Gresham and Craven injectors, steam brakes and combination vacuum ejectors.

Watson Standard boilers

During the 1930s, many serving locomotives were reboilered with a standard boiler type, designed by then CME A.G. Watson as part of his standardisation policy. Such Watson Standard reboilered locomotives were reclassified by adding an "R" suffix to their classification.

From 1935, all the Class 14 locomotives were reboilered with Watson Standard no. 2 boilers and reclassified to Class 14R. Only slight modifications were found necessary to take the new boilers. In the process, the engines were also equipped with Watson cabs, with their distinctive slanted fronts, compared to the conventional vertical fronts of the original cabs. The flangeless leading coupled wheels were flanged and Type MR tenders were attached to the reboilered engines.

Their original Belpaire boilers were fitted with Ramsbottom safety valves, while the Watson Standard boiler was fitted with Pop safety valves. An obvious difference between an original and a Watson Standard reboilered locomotive is usually a rectangular regulator cover, just to the rear of the chimney on the reboilered locomotive. In the case of the Class 14 locomotives, two even more obvious differences are the Watson cab and the absence of the Belpaire firebox hump between the cab and boiler on the reboilered locomotives.

Service

South African Railways

The locomotives were placed in service on the mainline between Durban and Ladysmith in Natal. With the gradual further electrification of the Natal mainline in the 1920s, they were eventually left to operate on the old mainline route via Botha's Hill, until that line was also electrified. Most of them were then allocated to Empangeni in the north and Port Shepstone in the south. In 1976, many were transferred to the Witwatersrand for shunting service. By 1983, they were all withdrawn from service.

International

As a result of the collapse of railways during the civil war in Mozambique in the late 1970s, Class 14R locomotives became the mainstay of locomotive power in Swaziland, until they were eventually replaced there by Class 15AR locomotives.

Similarly, while Zimbabwe was rebuilding its Garratt fleet, Class 14R locomotives were hired for shunting service, to release Garratt locomotives for mainline work.

Industry

Thirteen Class 14R locomotives were eventually sold into industrial service:

• No. 1701 became Apex Colliery no. 5 at Greenside.
• Numbers 1705 and 1737 respectively became Grootvlei Proprietary Mines no. 5 Joyce and no. 4. No. 4 was later renumbered to no. 6 Graham.
• Numbers 1711, 1714, 1719, 1732 and 1735 went to Rustenburg Platinum Mines, retaining their SAR numbers.
• Numbers 1723 and 1745 went to Natal Cambrian Colliery at Ballangeiech as no. 1 and 2 respectively.
• No. 1729 went to the Vaal Reefs Gold Mine.
• No. 1730 became Randfontein Estates Gold Mine no. 5.
• No. 1740 went to Newcastle Platberg Colliery and later to Ballangeiech Colliery.

Illustration

The main picture and the builder's picture show the Class 14 with its original Belpaire firebox, while the remainder are all of locomotives with Watson Standard boilers and round-topped fireboxes.

• Class 14 no. 1701.jpg

  Builder's picture of no. 1701, c. 1913

• SAR Class 14R 1701 Millsite 230479.jpg

  No. 1701 with a modified Type MP1 tender at Millsite, 1979

• SAR Class 14R 1730 Volksrust 120479.jpg

  Second batch no. 1730 at Volksrust, 1979

• SAR Class 14R 1745 Millsite 160481.jpg

  Last built no. 1745 at Millsite, Krugersdorp, 1981

• SAR 14R 1745-001.JPG

  No. 1745, still staged at Millsite, 33 years later in 2014

External links

External video
South African Steam: 14R Grootvlei Proprietary Mines June 1997 Ex Class 14R no. 1705 as Grootvlei Proprietary Mines no. 5 "Joyce", June 1997. (Time 6:30)