CSAR Class E 4-10-2T

This article is about one of several different Central South African Railways locomotive types to be designated "Class E". For other CSAR Class E locomotives, see Central South African Railways Class E locomotives.

IMR Reid Tenwheeler 4-10-2T
CSAR Class E 4-10-2T

300px CSAR Class E, ex IMR Reid Tenwheeler, c. 1902

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Natal Government Railways (G.W. Reid) Builder Dübs and Company Neilson, Reid and Company Serial number Dübs 4086-4100 Neilson 6196-6215 Model NGR Reid Tenwheeler Build date 1901-1902 Total produced 35 Rebuilder Central South African Railways Rebuild date 1903-1905 Number rebuilt 6 to 4-8-2T (Mountain) 29 to 4-8-0TT (Mastodon)

Specifications Configuration 4-10-2 (Reid Tenwheeler) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia Coupled dia 45 in (1,143 mm) Trailing dia Minimum curve 300 ft (91 m) Wheelbase 30 ft 6 in (9,296 mm)  • Leading 5 ft 4 in (1,626 mm)  • Coupled 16 ft 8 in (5,080 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 37 ft 6 in (11,430 mm) Height 12 ft 6 in (3,810 mm) Frame type Plate Axle load  • Leading  • 1st coupled  • 2nd coupled  • 3rd coupled  • 4th coupled  • 5th coupled  • Trailing Adhesive weight Loco weight w/o Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 4 LT (4.1 t) Water cap 1,880 imp gal (8,500 L) Boiler:  • Pitch 6 ft 10 in (2,083 mm)  • Diameter  • Tube plates 10 ft 4 in (3,150 mm)  • Small tubes 287:  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 175 psi (1,207 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Firegrate area 21.15 sq ft (1.965 m2) Heating surface 1,493.5 sq ft (138.75 m2)  • Tubes 1,358.71 sq ft (126.228 m2)  • Firebox 134.79 sq ft (12.522 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 19 in (483 mm) bore 27 in (686 mm) stroke Valve gear Allan Couplers Bell link-and-pin

Performance figures Tractive effort 28,440 lbf (126.5 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Imperial Military Railways Central South African Railways Class IMR Reid Tenwheeler CSAR Class E Number in class 35 Numbers IMR & CSAR 220-254 Delivered 1901-1902 First run 1901

The leading & trailing coupled axles had flangeless wheels

The Central South African Railways Class E 4-10-2T of 1901 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.

In 1901 and 1902, during the Second Boer War, the Imperial Military Railways placed thirty-five tank locomotives with a 4-10-2T wheel arrangement in service, built to the design of the Reid Tenwheeler of the Natal Government Railways. In 1902, they came onto the roster of the Central South African Railways and were designated Class E.

Origin

When the Natal Government Railways (NGR) identified a requirement for a tank locomotive which could haul at least one and a half times as much as a Dübs A 4-8-2T locomotive, a 4-10-2T tank locomotive was designed by George W. Reid, Locomotive Superintendent of the NGR at the end of the nineteenth century. On the NGR, these locomotives became known as the Reid Tenwheelers, later designated the NGR Class C.

Manufacturers

File:G.W.Reid.jpg

G.W. Reid

In 1901, during the Second Boer War, the Imperial Military Railways (IMR) of the invading British forces experienced a shortage of locomotives, as a result of damage caused during hostilities and the demands which were placed on the Railways by the British Military. Lieutenant-Colonel E.P.C. Girouard KCMG DSO RE, the Commissioner of Railways for the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, therefore placed urgent orders for thirty-five locomotives of the NGR's Reid Tenwheeler type.

To ensure rapid delivery, the order was split between Dübs and Company, who built engine numbers 220 to 234, and Neilson, Reid and Company, who built numbers 235 to 254.

Characteristics

To be able to negotiate sharp curves, both the first and fifth pairs of coupled wheels of the Reid Tenwheeler locomotive were flangeless. The locomotive used saturated steam and was equipped with Allan straight link valve gear. The trailing Bissel truck was of the Cartazzi type, which allowed the axle some lateral movement.

The main shortcoming of the Reid Tenwheeler was a tendency to derail while reversing, particularly over points, since the trailing drivers were flangeless. On the NGR, this was overcome by increasing the tyre width of these wheels from to .

While the IMR locomotive was identical in construction to those built for the NGR, it had a weatherboard affixed to the coal bunker, to offer the crew better protection against the elements when travelling bunker forward. The locomotives were more ornate than those in Natal and, in true military style, their brass domes, chimney caps and boiler bands were polished. The practice of polished brasswork was a trade mark of the IMR and was done with all their new locomotives. It was even continued on the Central South African Railways (CSAR) after the IMR was disbanded.

Service

Imperial Military Railways

The Royal Engineer officers of the IMR considered the Reid Tenwheeler as an excellent and handy type of locomotive for the heavy gradients of 1 in 100 (1%) to 1 in 50 (2%). Most of the IMR's Reid Tenwheelers had been in service for less than a year, when peace was declared on 1 June 1902. On 1 July 1902, the control of the railways was handed back to civilian authority.

Central South African Railways

The IMR was transformed into the CSAR, which took control of all railways in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. One of the first steps taken by the CSAR, was to classify and renumber all the locomotive stock, with tank locomotives classified alphabetically and tender locomotives numerically. The Reid Tenwheeler engines were designated Class E, but retained their IMR engine numbers.

Rebuilding to 4-8-2T Mountain

From c. 1903, six locomotives, numbers 222, 233 to 235, 245 and 252, were converted to 4-8-2T Mountain type engines, by removing the fifth pair of coupled wheels and blanking off the resulting opening in the frame, similar to the modification which was being done by the NGR on its own Reid Tenwheelers, to make them better suited for the tight curves encountered on points during yard working.

Rebuilding to 4-8-0TT Mastodon

Since the small coal and water capacity of the Reid Tenwheelers limited their radius of action, one of them was converted to a tank-and-tender configuration in 1904. The coal bunker, trailing bissel truck and the fifth pair of coupled wheels were removed, the frame was shortened and the locomotive was equipped with a tender from an obsolete Cape 4th class locomotive. As a tank-and-tender type, the modified locomotive was able to haul the same load as before, used less oil, was less troublesome and was considered by crews to be much more comfortable. As a result, the remaining twenty-eight unmodified Reid Tenwheelers were similarly modified to the 4-8-0TT Mastodon type configuration, using three-axle tenders from CSAR Class 6-L2 locomotives. This increased the coal capacity from and the water capacity from 1,880 to 4,320 imperial gallons (8,500 to 19,600 litres), which resulted in a considerable increase in the operating range of the locomotive.

Both modified versions of the locomotive were not reclassified on the CSAR, but were referred to as the Class E Converted. By 1912, when the classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the Cape Government Railways, NGR and CSAR onto the South African Railways roster took place, none of these locomotives survived in their original 4-10-2T Reid Tenwheeler configuration.

Works numbers

The CSAR Class E builders, works numbers, rebuilding and disposition are listed in the table.

CSAR Class E 4-10-2T

IMR & CSAR no.	Builder	Works no.	Rebuilt to	SAR no.
220	Dübs	4086	4-8-0TT	1310
221	Dübs	4087	4-8-0TT	1311
222	Dübs	4088	4-8-2T	222
223	Dübs	4089	4-8-0TT	1312
224	Dübs	4090	4-8-0TT	1313
225	Dübs	4091	4-8-0TT	1314
226	Dübs	4092	4-8-0TT	1315
227	Dübs	4093	4-8-0TT	1316
228	Dübs	4094	4-8-0TT	1317
229	Dübs	4095	4-8-0TT	1318
230	Dübs	4096	4-8-0TT	1319
231	Dübs	4097	4-8-0TT	1320
232	Dübs	4098	4-8-0TT	1321
233	Dübs	4099	4-8-2T	223
234	Dübs	4100	4-8-2T	Scrapped
235	Neilson, Reid	6196	4-8-2T	224
236	Neilson, Reid	6197	4-8-0TT	1322
237	Neilson, Reid	6198	4-8-0TT	1323
238	Neilson, Reid	6199	4-8-0TT	1324
239	Neilson, Reid	6200	4-8-0TT	1325
240	Neilson, Reid	6201	4-8-0TT	1326
241	Neilson, Reid	6202	4-8-0TT	1327
242	Neilson, Reid	6203	4-8-0TT	1328
243	Neilson, Reid	6204	4-8-0TT	1329
244	Neilson, Reid	6205	4-8-0TT	1330
245	Neilson, Reid	6206	4-8-2T	225
246	Neilson, Reid	6207	4-8-0TT	1331
247	Neilson, Reid	6208	4-8-0TT	1332
248	Neilson, Reid	6209	4-8-0TT	1333
249	Neilson, Reid	6210	4-8-0TT	1334
250	Neilson, Reid	6211	4-8-0TT	1335
251	Neilson, Reid	6212	4-8-0TT	1336
252	Neilson, Reid	6213	4-8-2T	226
253	Neilson, Reid	6214	4-8-0TT	1337
254	Neilson, Reid	6215	4-8-0TT	1338