South African Class NG3 4-6-2T

This article is about one of several different Natal Government Railways locomotive types to be designated "Class N". For other NGR Class N locomotives, see Natal Government Railways Class N locomotives.

NGR Class N 4-6-2T 1907
South African Class NG3 4-6-2T

NGR Hawthorn Leslie no. 4 SAR Class NG3 no. NG4

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Natal Government Railways (D.A. Hendrie) Builder Hawthorn Leslie and Company Serial number 2687-2692 Build date 1907 Total produced 6

Specifications Configuration 4-6-2T (Pacific) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 2 ft (610 mm) narrow Leading dia 18 in (457 mm) Coupled dia 30 in (762 mm) Trailing dia 21 in (533 mm) Wheelbase 17 ft 9 in (5,410 mm)  • Leading 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)  • Coupled 5 ft 9 in (1,753 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 24 ft 11 in (7,595 mm) Height Frame type Plate Axle load  • Leading  • 1st coupled  • 2nd coupled  • 3rd coupled  • Trailing Adhesive weight Loco weight Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 21 long hundredweight (1.1 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm)  • Diameter  • Tube plates  • Small tubes 124:  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 165 psi (1,138 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Firegrate area 11 sq ft (1.0 m2) Heating surface 675.9 sq ft (62.79 m2)  • Tubes 634.9 sq ft (58.98 m2)  • Firebox 41 sq ft (3.8 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size bore 15 in (381 mm) stroke Valve gear Walschaerts Couplers Bell lift-hook

Performance figures Tractive effort 8,183 lbf (36.40 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Natal Government Railways South African Railways Class NGR Class N, SARClass NG3 Number in class 6 Numbers NGR 4-9, SAR NG4-NG9 Delivered 1907 First run 1907 Withdrawn 1946

The South African Railways Class NG3 4-6-2T of 1907 was a narrow gauge steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Natal Colony.

In 1907, the Natal Government Railways placed six 4-6-2T Pacific type narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they retained their engine numbers, but with an "NG" prefix added. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG3.

Natal's narrow gauge

By 1906, the Natal Government had realised that light railways were essential as feeders to open up fertile districts which were distant from the existing main- and branchlines, particularly when the intervening stretches of country were difficult from an engineering point of view. The second narrow gauge railway line in Natal was constructed from Esperanza, at Umzinto on the South Coast, via Ixopo to Donnybrook.

The residents of Alexandra County and the Ixopo Division had been pressing for a railway for years. These counties were only tapped by the Railways at their extreme edges. The eastern edge of Alexandra County was served by the South Coast line, which had reached Umzinto in 1900, while the extreme western border of the Ixopo Division was served by the Natal-Free State line, which had reached Donnybrook in 1905. Between these two lines, for a distance of 100 miles (160 kilometres), means of communication were very difficult, with the upper end of the district at 4,700 feet (1,400 metres) above sea level. Since the cost of a Cape gauge line across this terrain was considered prohibitive, the farmers accepted the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway which was offered.

File:Umzinto – Donnybrook narrow gauge railway.png

Umzinto-Donnybrook railway

The line was officially opened to traffic on 3 June 1908, by his excellency the Governor of Natal, Sir Matthew Nathan. It was 158 kilometres (98 miles) long from Esperanza, where it met the South Coast line at Umzinto, to Donnybrook, where it met the Underberg branch. A 28 kilometres (17 miles) long branchline from Ixopo to Madonela was completed on 2 February 1914.

Manufacturer

File:D.A. Hendrie.jpg

D.A. Hendrie

Commonly known as the Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks, the second batch of narrow gauge 4-6-2T tank locomotives of the Natal Government Railways (NGR) were built to the design of NGR Locomotive Superintendent D.A. Hendrie, based on his earlier design of the Hunslet Side Tank 4-6-2T locomotives of 1906. An order for six of these locomotives was placed with Hawthorn Leslie and Company.

The locomotives were similar in appearance to the earlier Hunslet Side Tank, but with larger water tanks and more ornate boiler-mounted sandboxes. They also had round-top fireboxes, outside plate frames and used Walschaerts valve gear.

Service

Natal Government Railways

The Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks were acquired specifically to operate the Donnybrook-Esperanza railway. When they were delivered in 1907, in anticipation of the opening of the Donnybrook line the following year, they became part of the Class N on the NGR and were numbered in the range from 4 to 9.

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 required careful planning and was only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912.

In 1912, the NGR narrow gauge locomotives were included in the SAR's narrow gauge numbering scheme, but were not classified or renumbered and merely had an "NG" prefix, for narrow gauge, added to their existing engine numbers. A system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes, was only adopted by the SAR in the late 1920s. At that point, the four remaining Hawthorn Leslie Side Tanks, numbers NG4, NG5, NG8 and NG9, were classified as Class NG3 on the SAR.

In SAR service, the Class NG3 remained mainly confined to the Natal narrow gauge branches. One exception was no. NG5, which was transferred to the Avontuur branch in the Eastern Cape in 1939. Here, it was employed on yard duties in and around Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth, where it eventually became the last survivor of the Class NG3. It remained in service until it was sold in 1946.