South African Class 7E 4-8-0

This article is about one of two different New Cape Central Railway locomotive types to be designated "7th Class". For the other NCCR 7th Class locomotive, see South African Class 7F 4-8-0.

This article is about the South African steam locomotive. For the electric locomotive, see South African Class 7E.

NCCR 7th Class 4-8-0 1899
South African Class 7E 4-8-0

300px New Cape Central Railway no. 4 South African Railways no. 1347

Type and origin ♠ - Original locomotive, as built ♣ - Original locomotive with adjusted boiler pressure ♥ - Locomotive equipped with superheating Power type Steam Designer Cape Government Railways (H.M. Beatty) Builder Neilson, Reid and Company North British Locomotive Company Serial number Neilson, Reid 5653, 5702-5704 NBL 15903, 15904 & 16348 Model CGR 7th Class Build date 1899-1904 Total produced 7

Specifications Configuration 4-8-0 (Mastodon) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia Coupled dia Tender wheels as built 34 in (864 mm) retyred Wheelbase 46 ft 2 in (14,072 mm)  • Engine  • Leading 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)  • Coupled 12 ft (3,658 mm)  • Tender 16 ft 1 in (4,902 mm)  • Tender bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 53 ft 5 in (16,281 mm) Height 12 ft 10 in (3,912 mm) Frame type Plate Axle load ♠ ♥  • Leading ♠ ♥  • 1st coupled ♠ ♥  • 2nd coupled ♠ ♥  • 3rd coupled ♠ ♥  • 4th coupled ♠ ♥  • Tender bogie Bogie 1: Bogie 2:  • Tender axle Adhesive weight ♠ ♥ Loco weight ♠ ♥ Tender weight Loco & tender weight ♠ ♥ Tender type ZC (2-axle bogies) ZA, ZB, ZC, ZE permitted Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 LT 10 cwt (6.6 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch ♠ 6 ft 8 in (2,032 mm)} ♥ 6 ft 10 in (2,083 mm)  • Diameter ♠ 4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm)} ♥ 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm)  • Tube plates 10 ft 9 in (3,277 mm)}  • Small tubes ♠ 185: ♥ 100:  • large tubes ♥ 18:  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure ♠ 160 psi (1,103 kPa) ♣ 170 psi (1,172 kPa) ♥ 180 psi (1,241 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Firegrate area ♠ 17.5 sq ft (1.63 m2) ♥ 18 sq ft (1.7 m2) Heating surface ♠ 1,078 sq ft (100.1 m2) ♥ 919 sq ft (85.4 m2)  • Tubes ♠ 976 sq ft (90.7 m2) ♥ 806 sq ft (74.9 m2)  • Firebox ♠ 102 sq ft (9.5 m2) ♥ 113 sq ft (10.498 m2) Superheater:  • Heating area ♥ 206 sq ft (19.1 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 17 in (432 mm) bore 23 in (584 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Couplers Bell link-and-pin AAR knuckle (c. 1930s-1950s)

Performance figures Tractive effort ♠ 18,660 lbf (83.0 kN) @ 75% ♣ 19,810 lbf (88.1 kN) @ 75% ♥ 22,240 lbf (98.9 kN) @ 75% Factor of adh 4.3

Career Operators New Cape Central Railway South African Railways Class NCCR 7th Class, SAR Class 7E Number in class 7 Numbers NCCR 1-7, SAR 1344-1350 Delivered 1899-1904 First run 1899

The leading coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class 7E 4-8-0 of 1899 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1899, the New Cape Central Railway placed one Cape 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotive in service. Another three were commissioned in 1900, two more in 1903 and another one in 1904. In 1925, when the New Cape Central Railway was amalgamated into the South African Railways, these seven locomotives were renumbered and reclassified to Class 7E.

New Cape Central Railway

The New Cape Central Railway (NCCR) was formed in January 1893, when it purchased all the assets of the bankrupted Cape Central Railway (CCR), which had constructed a line from Worcester via Robertson to Roodewal, now Ashton. In 1894, the NCCR began work to extend the line to Swellendam. From there, it continued via Heidelberg to Riversdale, which was reached on 3 December 1903.

The line was originally laid with rail. When Voorbaai, near Mosselbaai, was reached in 1904, 211 miles (340 kilometres) from Worcester, it made the NCCR the longest private railway in South Africa.

Manufacturers

The NCCR acquired its first seven Cape 7th Class locomotives piecemeal over a period of five years. The first locomotive, NCCR no. 1, was ordered from Neilson, Reid and Company in 1899, followed by three more from the same manufacturer in 1900, numbered in the range from 2 to 4. The original Cape 7th Class had been designed in 1892 by H.M. Beatty, at the time the Cape Government Railways (Western System) Locomotive Superintendent.

File:H.M. Beatty.jpg

H.M. Beatty

Two more were ordered from Neilson, Reid in 1903, numbered 5 and 6, but since three Scottish locomotive builders, Dübs and Company, Neilson, Reid and Sharp, Stewart and Company, merged into the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) while the locomotives were being built, they were delivered as having been built by the newly established NBL at the Hyde Park works of the former Neilson, Reid.

The seventh 7th Class locomotive, no. 7, was acquired in 1904, also built by NBL. On the NBL works list, this locomotive is shown as actually having been built for Pauling and Company, the contractors who constructed the line.

Class 7 sub-classes

In 1925, the NCCR was amalgamated into the South African Railways (SAR) and these seven 7th Class locomotives were taken onto the SAR roster, reclassified to Class 7E and numbered in the range from 1344 to 1350.

Other 7th Class locomotives which had come onto the SAR roster from the Colonial railways in the Southern African region in 1912, namely the Cape Government Railways (CGR), Central South African Railways (CSAR), the Natal Government Railways (NGR) and the Rhodesia Railways (RR), as well as more 7th Class locomotives which were acquired by the NCCR in 1913, were grouped into six different sub-classes by the SAR, becoming SAR Classes 7, 7A to 7D and 7F.

The Class 7E builders, years built, works numbers and renumbering are listed in the table.

Class 7E 4-8-0
Works numbers and renumbering

Builder	Year	Works no.	NCCR no.	SAR no.
Neilson Reid	1899	5653	1	1344
Neilson Reid	1900	5702	2	1345
Neilson Reid	1900	5703	3	1346
Neilson Reid	1900	5704	4	1347
NBL	1903	15903	5	1348
NBL	1903	15904	6	1349
NBL	1904	16348	7	1350

Service

In SAR service, the Class 7 family served on every system in the country. They remained in branchline service, particularly at Tarkastad and Ladysmith and also on the Touws River-Ladismith branchline, until they were finally withdrawn in 1972.