South African Class NG9 4-6-0

44 ft 4+3⁄8 in (13,522 mm)Height10 ft 4+1⁄4 in (3,156 mm)Axle load5 LT 16 cwt (5,893 kg) ​ • Leading4 LT (4,064 kg) • 1st coupled5 LT 7 cwt (5,436 kg) • 2nd coupled5 LT 16 cwt (5,893 kg) • 3rd coupled5 LT 2 cwt (5,182 kg) • Tender bogie10 LT 6 cwt (10,470 kg) • Tender axle5 LT 3 cwt (5,233 kg) averageAdhesive weight16 LT 5 cwt (16,510 kg)Loco weight20 LT 5 cwt (20,570 kg)Tender weight20 LT 16 cwt 2 qtr (21,160 kg)Total weight41 LT 1 cwt 2 qtr (41,730 kg)Tender type2-axle bogiesFuel typeCoalFuel capacity5 LT (5.1 t)Water cap.1,250 imp gal (5,680 L)Firebox:​ • TypeRound-top • Grate area7.5 sq ft (0.70 m²)Boiler:
​ • Pitch4 ft 8+5⁄16 in (1,430 mm) • Diameter3 ft 2+1⁄8 in (968 mm) • Tube plates10 ft 8 in (3,251 mm) • Small tubes67: 2 in (51 mm)Boiler pressure180 psi (1,241 kPa)Heating surface:​ • Firebox43.4 sq ft (4.03 m²) • Tubes381 sq ft (35.4 m²) • Total surface424.4 sq ft (39.43 m²)CylindersTwoCylinder size11+3⁄4 in (298 mm) bore
16 in (406 mm) strokeValve gearWalschaertsValve typeSlideCouplersBell-and-hook

Performance figures
Tractive effort	9,036 lbf (40.19 kN) @ 75%

Career
Operators	South African Railways Moçâmedes Railway
Class	Class NG9
Number in class	6
Numbers	NG42-NG47
Delivered	1915-1916
First run	1915
Withdrawn	1951

The 2nd coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class NG9 4-6-0 of 1915 was a narrow-gauge steam locomotive.

During 1915 and 1916, the South African Railways placed six 4-6-0 steam locomotives in service on the Langkloof narrow-gauge railway. When a system of grouping narrow-gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were classified as Class NG9.^[1][2]

Manufacturer

Due to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the usual British locomotive suppliers were hard pressed to satisfy British requirements at the time, let alone those of other parts of the world. As a result, the South African Railways (SAR) placed an order with the Baldwin Locomotive Works in the United States of America in 1915 for six narrow-gauge 4-6-0 locomotives. They were all built by August 1915 and were delivered to the SAR in 1915 and 1916, numbered in the range from NG42 to NG47.^[1][2]

Characteristics

The locomotives were very similar to the Bagnall-built Type B locomotives which had been delivered to the Cape Government Railways (CGR) in 1903, except that they were equipped with Walschaerts valve gear.^[1]

Service

South African Railways

They were erected at the Uitenhage workshops and placed in service on the Walmer branchline of the Langkloof railway between Port Elizabeth and Avontuur. They all remained in service there until 1929, although some were at one time also employed to help out on the line from Kalbaskraal to Saldanha in the Western Cape.^[1][2][3]

The system of grouping narrow-gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted by the SAR somewhere between 1928 and 1930 and, at that point, these locomotives were designated Class NG9.^[1][4]

The Walmer branch succumbed to bus competition and was closed on 26 November 1928, after being in operation for over twenty years. Numbers NG42 and NG43 were withdrawn from service in 1929. In that same year, numbers NG44 and NG46 were transferred to Upington to work on the branchline to Kakamas. The last remaining one of these locomotives on the Avontuur railway, no. NG45, was relieved from line work and retained at Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth for yard duties until 1939, when it was also transferred to Upington and replaced by Class NG3 tank engine no. NG5 from Natal.^[1][2][3]

Moçâmedes Railway

The three locomotives at Upington, numbers NG44, NG45 and NG46, survived in SAR service until April 1951 when they were sold to the Caminhos de Ferro de Moçâmedes (CFM) of Angola.^[1][3][5]

They were numbered 111 to 113 on the CFM, apparently not in the same order as their old SAR engine numbers, and were placed in service on the Ramal da Chibía, a 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow-gauge branchline across 116 kilometres (72 miles) from Sá da Bandeira (now Lubango) to Chiange.^[5]

This branch was opened in two stages in 1949 and 1953. It is believed the three loco­motives also worked on the mainline from Moçâmedes to Sá da Bandeira (now Lubango), until that line was regauged to Cape gauge in the mid-1950s.^[5]

They were possibly retired at about this time, being replaced on the branchline by 60-Series 0-8-2T locomotives which were released by the regauging of the mainline. In later years, these 0-8-2T locomotives were equipped with the NG9 tenders to increase their wood and water carrying capacity.^[5]

The Class NG9 locomotives were observed dumped at the Sá da Bandeira shops by 1969, without their tenders. At the time it appeared as if they had been in that condition for some time. The branchline itself was closed in 1970.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 104, 110. ISBN 0869772112.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1945). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, October 1945. p. 782.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Soul of A Railway, System 3, Part 1: Cape Midland, based in Port Elizabeth, Part 1, The Port Elizabeth Narrow Gauge. Captions 11, 12 & 22 (Accessed on 10 December 2016)
4. ^ South African Railways and Harbours Narrow Gauge Locomotive Diagram Book, 2'0" Gauge, S.A.R. Mechanical Dept. Drawing Office, Pretoria, 28 November 1932
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Information supplied by Peter Bagshawe

Steam

7' ¼" gauge	East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT
Standard gauge	Cape 0-4-0T Blackie Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid Natal 0-4-0ST Durban Natal 0-4-0WT Natal Natal 4-4-0T Perseverance
Cape gauge Tank engines	CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack 4-6-4RT CSAR Railmotor Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth 0-4-0ST Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NGR 2-6-0T Durban & Pietermaritzburg NGR Class I 2-6-2T NGR Class K 0-4-0ST NGR Class K 0-6-0ST NGR Class K 2-6-0T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 13 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese SAR Class A SAR Class B SAR Class C SAR Class C1 SAR Class C2 SAR Class D SAR Class E SAR Class F SAR Class G SAR Class H SAR Class H1 SAR Class H2 SAR Class J SAR Class K SAR Railmotor SAR Dock 0-4-0ST SAR Dock 0-4-0T SWA 2-8-0T
Cape gauge Tender engines	CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 NGR Havelock NGR Class I SAR Class Exp 1 SAR Class Exp 2 SAR Class Exp 3 SAR Class Exp 4 SAR Class Exp 5 SAR Class Exp 6 SAR Class S SAR Class S1 SAR Class S2 SAR Class 1 SAR Class 1A SAR Class 1B SAR Class 2 SAR Class 2C SAR Class 3 SAR Class 3A SAR Class 3B SAR Class 4 SAR Class 4A SAR Class 5 SAR Class 5A SAR Class 5B SAR Class 6 SAR Class 6A SAR Class 6B SAR Class 6C SAR Class 6D SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6F SAR Class 6G SAR Class 6H SAR Class 6J SAR Class 6K SAR Class 6L SAR Class 6Y SAR Class 6Z SAR Class 7 SAR Class 7A SAR Class 7B SAR Class 7C SAR Class 7D SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7F SAR Class 8 SAR Class 8A SAR Class 8B SAR Class 8C SAR Class 8D SAR Class 8E SAR Class 8F SAR Class 8R SAR Class 8X SAR Class 8Y SAR Class 8Z SAR Class 9 SAR Class 10 SAR Class 10A SAR Class 10B SAR Class 10C SAR Class 10D SAR Class 11 SAR Class 12 SAR Class 12A SAR Class 12B SAR Class 13 SAR Class 14 SAR Class 14A SAR Class 14B SAR Class 14C 1st SAR Class 14C 2nd SAR Class 14C 3rd SAR Class 14C 4th SAR Class 15 SAR Class 15A SAR Class 15B SAR Class 15C SAR Class 15CA SAR Class 15E SAR Class 15F SAR Class 16 SAR Class 16A SAR Class 16B SAR Class 16C SAR Class 16D SAR Class 16DA 1928 SAR Class 16DA 1930 SAR Class 16E SAR Class 17 SAR Class 18 SAR Class 19 SAR Class 19A SAR Class 19B SAR Class 19C SAR Class 19D SAR Class 20 SAR Class 21 SAR Class 23 SAR Class 24 SAR Class 25 SAR Class 25NC SAR Class 26 SAR Katanga SWA 2-8-0
Cape gauge Articulated engines	CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR Class FC SAR Class FD SAR Class GA SAR Class GB SAR Class GC SAR Class GCA SAR Class GD SAR Class GDA SAR Class GE SAR Class GEA SAR Class GF SAR Class GG SAR Class GH SAR Class GK SAR Class GL SAR Class GM SAR Class GMA SAR Class GO SAR Class HF SAR Class KM SAR Class MA SAR Class MB SAR Class MC SAR Class MC1 SAR Class MD SAR Class ME SAR Class MF SAR Class MG SAR Class MH SAR Class MJ SAR Class MJ1 SAR Class U
2' 6" gauge	Cape Copper John King & Miner Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay 2-4-2T Hope
2' & 600mm gauges	ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR Dutton SAR NG 0-4-0T SAR Class NG1 SAR Class NG2 SAR Class NG3 SAR Class NG4 SAR Class NG5 SAR Class NG6 SAR Class NG7 SAR Class NG8 SAR Class NG9 SAR Class NG10 SAR Class NG-G11 SAR Class NG-G12 SAR Class NG-G13 SAR Class NG-G14 SAR Class NG15 SAR Class NG-G16 SWA Class Ha SWA Class Hb SWA Class Hc SWA Class Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge

ElectricGas-electricDiesel

Cape gauge Diesel-electric	PRASA Class Afro 4000 SAR Class DS SAR Class DS1 SAR Class 31-000 SAR Class 32-000 SAR Class 32-200 SAR Class 33-000 SAR Class 33-200 SAR Class 33-400 SAR Class 34-000 SAR Class 34-200 SAR Class 34-400 SAR Class 34-500 SAR Class 34-600 SAR Class 34-800 SAR Class 34-900 SAR Class 35-000 SAR Class 35-200 SAR Class 35-400 SAR Class 35-600 TFR Class 35-800 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000 TFR Class 45-000
2' gauge Diesel-electric	SAR Class 91-000
Cape gauge Diesel-hydraulic	SAR Class 61-000
Cape gauge Electro-diesel	Spoornet Class 38-000