South African Class 15F 4-8-2

South African Class 15F 4-8-2
South African Class 15F 4-8-2
2940 "Lynette" at speed on the Johannesburg-Magaliesburg line, 6 April 1992
Power type Steam
Designer South African Railways
Builder Berliner Maschinenbau
Henschel and Son
North British Locomotive Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Order number BP 1554, 1555[1]
Serial number Berliner 10820-10826[2]
Henschel 23932-23945[3]
NBL 24463-24506, 25536-25595, 25941-26040[4]
BP 7082-7111[1]
Model Class 15F
Build date 1938-1946
Total produced 255
Configuration 4-8-2 "Mountain"
Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge
Leading wheel
diameter		 30 in (762 mm)
Driver diameter 60 in (1,520 mm)
Trailing wheel
diameter		 34 in (864 mm)
Wheelbase Total: 65 ft 6.3125 in (19.972 m)
Engine:
6 ft 10 in (2.083 m) pilot
15 ft 9 in (4.801 m) coupled
35 ft 8 in (10.871 m) total
Tender:
6 ft 2 in (1.880 m) bogie
20 ft 5 in (6.223 m) total
Length 73 ft 5.9375 in (22.401 m)
Height 12 ft 11.5 in (3.950 m)
Frame Bar frame
Axle load 18.1 long tons (18.4 t) on 2nd & 3rd drivers (2902-3056)
18.75 long tons (19.1 t) on 2nd & 3rd drivers (3057-3156)
Weight on drivers 70.7 long tons (71.8 t) (2902-3056)
74.5 long tons (75.7 t) (3057-3156)
Locomotive weight 106.6 long tons (108.3 t) (2902-2915 & 2917-2922)
108.25 long tons (110.0 t) (2916)
113.05 long tons (114.9 t) (2923-3056)
113.3 long tons (115.1 t) (3057-3156)
Tender weight Type JT:
66,416 lb (30.1 t) empty
69.4 long tons (70.5 t) w/o
Type ET:
67,648 lb (30.7 t) empty
69.4 long tons (70.5 t) w/o
Tender type 2902-3056: JT - JT, JV permitted
* 2 axle bogies
* Wheels 34 in (864 mm) dia
* Length 30 ft 9.0625 in (9.374 m)
3057-3156: ET - ET, EW permitted
* 2 axle bogies
* Wheels 34 in (864 mm) dia
* Length 30 ft 9.4375 in (9.384 m)
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity 14 long tons (14.2 t)
Water capacity Type JT: 6,000 imp gal (27,000 l)
Type ET: 5,620 imp gal (25,500 l)
Boiler 6 ft 2.25 in (1.886 m) int dia
22 ft 6 in (6.858 m) int length
9 ft 2.5 in (2.807 m) pitch
Boiler pressure 210 psi (1,450 kPa)
Firegrate area 63 sq ft (5.853 m2)
Heating surface:
Tubes		 136 tubes 2.5 in (63.5 mm) ext dia
36 tubes 5.5 in (140 mm) ext dia
3,168 sq ft (294.317 m2)
Heating surface:
Flues		 26 sq ft (2.415 m2)
Heating surface:
Firebox		 206 sq ft (19.138 m2)
Heating surface:
Total		 3,400 sq ft (315.870 m2)
Superheater area 676 sq ft (62.802 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 24 in (610 mm) bore
28 in (711 mm) stroke
Valve gear Walschaerts
Tractive effort 42,340 lbf (188.3 kN) at 75% boiler pressure[5]
Locomotive brakes Pre-war models: Steam
Post-war models: Vacuum
Career South African Railways
Class Class 15F
Number in class 255
Number 2902–3156
Delivered 1938-1946
First run 1938
Disposition Retired

The Class 15F was the most numerous steam locomotive class in South African Railways service. Between 1938 and 1946 two hundred and fifty-five of these steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain wheel arrangement were placed in service.[5][6]

Contents

Manufacturers

The Class 15F 4-8-2 steam locomotive was designed by W.A.J Day, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR) from 1936 to 1939, and was built in four batches by four locomotive manufacturers in Germany and the United Kingdom over a period of eight years spanning World War II.[7]

  • The first twenty-one were built in Germany in 1938. Seven were delivered by Berliner Maschinenbau, numbered 2902 to 2908, and fourteen by Henschel and Son, numbered 2909 to 2922.[3]
  • Another forty-four were built by the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) of Glasgow in 1938. They were delivered in 1939, numbered 2923 to 2966.[4]
  • Locomotive building was interrupted by World War II, but because of a critical motive power shortage that developed in South Africa during the war, manufacturing of the Class 15F was resumed even before hostilities had ceased. In 1944 production started on thirty locomotives by Beyer, Peacock and Company (BP), delivered later that same year and numbered 2967 to 2996.[1]
  • In 1945 sixty were built and delivered by NBL, numbered 2997 to 3056.[4]
  • The final batch of one hundred Class 15Fs were built by NBL in 1946 and 1947 and delivered between 1946 and 1948, numbered 3057 to 3156.[4]

The table shows the Class 15F running numbers, builders, years built and works numbers.[1][3][4][6]

Lineage

The Class 15F represented the ultimate stage in a long history of development spanning thirty years. The first Class 15 4-8-2 tender locomotive entered SAR service in 1914, sporting a 40 square feet (3.716 square metres) grate, a boiler pressure of 185 pounds per square inch (1,280 kilopascals), a maximum axle load of 16.5 long tons (16.8 tonnes) and 57 inches (1,450 millimetres) driving wheels. Later orders incorporated major improvements in succession, until the Class 15CA was commissioned in 1926 with a 48 square feet (4.459 square metres) grate, a boiler pressure of 210 pounds per square inch (1,450 kilopascals), a maximum axle load of 17.75 long tons (18.0 tonnes) and 60 inches (1,520 millimetres) driving wheels.[8][9]

Attributes

Valve gear

The locomotive was similar to its predecessor Class 15E, but built with Walschaerts valve gear as specified by CME W.A.J. Day, who was not a protagonist of RC Poppet valve gear. This and some other differences led to it being classified 15F.[7]

Watson Standard boilers

The Class 15F was delivered with a Watson Standard no. 3B boiler and a Watson cab. During the 1930s Day’s predecessor as CME, A.G. Watson, designed a standard boiler type as part of his standardisation policy. Many serving locomotives were reboilered with these Watson Standard boilers and in the process they were also equipped with Watson cabs, with their distinctive slanted fronts compared to the conventional vertical fronts of their original cabs. New locomotives that were acquired in the Watson era and later, such as the Class 15F, were built with such boilers and cabs.[5][7]

Pre-war models

The pre-war Class 15Fs were hand stoked and delivered without smoke deflectors. The original twenty-one Berliner and Henschel builts remained hand-fired for their full working lives. On the pre-war NBL-builts, on the other hand, provision was made in the design to later convert them to mechanical stoking. A mechanical stoker was tested on number 2923 before the remaining locomotives of that group were all fitted with stokers by the late 1940s. Their brake systems consisted of steam brakes on the engines and vacuum brakes on the tenders.[2][8][9][10]

Post-war models

Number plate on 3040

The post-war locomotives were built to the design and specifications of Doctor M.M. Loubser, who succeeded W.A.J. Day as CME in 1939. The specifications included mechanical stokers, smoke deflectors, vacuum brakes on the driving wheels as well as the tenders, with two 24 inches (610 millimetres) brake cylinders on the engine and two 21 inches (533 millimetres) cylinders on the tender.[2][8][9][10]

The early post-war locomotives built by BP and NBL in 1944 and 1945, like the pre-war NBL-builts, were built without mechanical stokers, although provision was made for their subsequent conversion to mechanical stoking. They were all equipped with stokers post delivery. The locomotives in the final order from NBL, number 3057 and later, were delivered new complete with mechanical stokers.[10]

Apart from these differences, the post-war locomotives were identical to the earlier ones. Smoke deflectors were later installed on the pre-war locomotives as well.[7]

The use of vacuum braking instead of steam braking became standard practice on locomotives from 1944 onwards and was welcomed by SAR drivers, who were always reluctant to make use of steam brakes for fear of skidding the locomotive wheels. The trigger on the steam brake attachment, for isolating the proportional device that admitted steam to the brake cylinder automatically upon the application of the vacuum brake, was invariably wedged down with a wooden peg by drivers to eliminate the steam brake entirely.[2]

Service

While the Class 15F was used predominantly in the Orange Free State and Western Transvaal, it also saw service in every system country wide, including Garratt territory in Natal, where they were used on the line from Newcastle to Utrecht. It also briefly served on the Cape Eastern system when it worked out of East London in the early 1960s.[7]

Some briefly served outside South Africa’s borders. In 1978 six Class 15Fs were hired to Rhodesia Railways (RR), but they were returned nine months later and replaced by Class GMAM Garratts.[6] When the Class 23 was retired, many Class 15F locomotives inherited their huge twelve wheel Type EW tenders which, apart from increasing their range with its larger fuel and water capacity, also greatly enhanced their appearance.[6]

In later years, when the Class 15F was being relegated to heavy shunting and local work, many of the post-war locomotives had their mechanical stokers removed.[6]

Commemoration

A 40c postage stamp depicting a Class 15F locomotive was one of a set of four commemorative postage stamps that were issued by the South African Post Office on 27 April 1983, to commemorate the steam locomotives of South Africa that were rapidly being withdrawn from service at the time. The artwork and stamp design was by the noted stamp designer and artist Hein Botha.[11]

The particular locomotive depicted was NBL built Class 15F 2954. The outline of a traditional SAR locomotive number plate was used as a commemorative cancellation for De Aar on the date of release.[11]

Gallery

The main picture shows pre-war NBL built 2940 "Lynette", with an ex Class 23 Type EW tender, at speed near Princess station on the Johannesburg-Magaliesburg line on 6 April 1992.

Preserved Henschel built 2916 at Monument station, Cape Town, 10 April 2010, with a Type JT tender
Pre-war NBL built 2928, Bloemfontein, Free State, 14 October 2009, with an ex Class 23 Type EW tender
Preserved Beyer, Peacock built 2976 at Bloemfotein Loco, 14 October 2009. It has a Type ET tender
Post-war NBL built 3007 with Type ET tender, arriving at George Square in Glasgow, 21 November 2006
Post-war NBL built number 3040 with an ex Class 23 Type EW tender at Clocolan, Free State Province, 9 July 1999
Post-war NBL built 3046 with a Type EW tender at Magaliesburg, Gauteng, 30 October 2010

See also

  • South African Class 15 4-8-2
  • South African Class 15A 4-8-2
  • South African Class 15B 4-8-2
  • South African Class 15C 4-8-2
  • South African Class 15CA 4-8-2
  • South African Class 15E 4-8-2
  • South African Class 23 4-8-2
  • Tender locomotive numbering and classification
  • Watson Standard boilers
  • The 4-8-2 "Mountain"
  • List of South African locomotive classes

References

  1. ^ a b c d Beyer, Peacock and Company production list, excluding Garratts, Customer List V1 04.08.02
  2. ^ a b c d Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 97-98. ISBN 0715354272. 
  3. ^ a b c Henschel-Lieferliste (Henschel & Son works list), compiled by Dietmar Stresow
  4. ^ a b c d e North British Locomotive Company works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser
  5. ^ a b c South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, pp21 & 21A, as amended
  6. ^ a b c d e Durrant, A E (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. pp. 90-91. ISBN 0715386387. 
  7. ^ a b c d e Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 10-11, 63-64. ISBN 0869772112. 
  8. ^ a b c 4-8-2 Class "15F" Locomotives for the South African Railways, reprinted from "The Railway Gazette" of September 20, 1946
  9. ^ a b c Kleinplasie Farming Museum, Worcester
  10. ^ a b c Additional information received from Les Pivnic
  11. ^ a b Philatelic Bulletin 176, issued by Philatelic Services and INTERSAPA, 1983

External links

External videos
15F 2916 Malmesbury to Moravia 16 June 2002 Class 15F 2916 at work between Malmesbury and De Hoek in the Swartland on the Steam Loco Safari Tours trip in 2002. (13 minutes 20)
15F 2916 + 15F 3153 Malmesbury 17 June 2002 Steam Loco Safari Tours trip in 2002. Class 15F 2916 and Class 15F 3153 double heading from Malmesbury southwards on the following day. (13 minutes 49)
 
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