South African Class 8B 4-8-0

CSAR Class 8-L2 4-8-0
South African Classes 8B & 8BW 4-8-0

CSAR Class 8-L2, SAR Class 8B, at the Waterval Boven tunnel, c. 1912

Type and origin ♠ Original locomotive, as built ♥ Superheated, outside admission valves ♣ Superheated, inside admission valves, Class 8BW Power type Steam Designer Cape Government Railways (H.M. Beatty) Builder Neilson, Reid and Company North British Locomotive Company Serial number Neilson, Reid 6351-6360 NBL 15783-15802 Model CGR 8th Class (4-8-0) Build date 1903 Total produced 30

Specifications Configuration 4-8-0 (Mastodon) Driver 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia. 28 1⁄2 in (724 mm) Coupled dia. 48 in (1,219 mm) Tender wheels 33 1⁄2 in (851 mm) as built 34 in (864 mm) retyred Wheelbase 46 ft 10 1⁄2 in (14,288 mm)  • Engine 23 ft 3 in (7,087 mm)  • Leading 6 ft (1,829 mm)  • Coupled 13 ft 6 in (4,115 mm)  • Tender 14 ft 7 in (4,445 mm)  • Tender bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 54 ft 5 in (16,586 mm) Height ♠ 12 ft 10 in (3,912 mm) ♥♣ 12 ft 8 in (3,861 mm) Frame type Bar Axle load ♠ 12 LT 10 cwt (12,700 kg) ♥ 12 LT (12,190 kg) ♣ 12 LT 11 cwt (12,750 kg)  • Leading ♠ 11 LT 18 cwt (12,090 kg) ♥♣ 12 LT 15 cwt (12,950 kg)  • Coupled ♥ 12 LT (12,190 kg)  • 1st coupled ♠ 12 LT 9 cwt (12,650 kg) ♣ 11 LT 18 cwt (12,090 kg)  • 2nd coupled ♠ 12 LT 10 cwt (12,700 kg) ♣ 12 LT 11 cwt (12,750 kg)  • 3rd coupled ♠ 11 LT 19 cwt (12,140 kg) ♣ 11 LT 19 cwt (12,140 kg)  • 4th coupled ♠ 11 LT 16 cwt (11,990 kg) ♣ 11 LT 18 cwt (12,090 kg)  • Tender bogie Bogie 1: 18 LT 4 cwt (18,490 kg) Bogie 2: 19 LT 8 cwt (19,710 kg)  • Tender axle 9 LT 14 cwt (9,856 kg) Adhesive weight ♠ 48 LT 14 cwt (49,480 kg) ♥ 48 LT (48,770 kg) ♣ 48 LT 6 cwt (49,080 kg) Loco weight ♠ 60 LT 12 cwt (61,570 kg) ♥ 60 LT 15 cwt (61,720 kg) ♣ 61 LT 1 cwt (62,030 kg) Tender weight 37 LT 12 cwt (38,200 kg) Total weight ♠ 98 LT 4 cwt (99,780 kg) ♥ 98 LT 7 cwt (99,930 kg) ♣ 98 LT 13 cwt (100,200 kg) Tender type XF (2-axle bogies) XC, XC1, XD, XE, XE1, XF, XF1, XF2, XJ, XM, XM1, XM2, XM3 permitted Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 LT (6.1 t) Water cap 3,000 imp gal (13,600 l) Firebox type Round-top, Drummond  • Firegrate area 21 sq ft (2.0 m2) Boiler: ​  • Pitch ♠ 7 ft (2,134 mm) ♥♣ 7 ft 1 in (2,159 mm)  • Diameter ♠♥♣ 5 ft (1,524 mm)  • Tube plates ♠ 11 ft 1⁄2 in (3,366 mm) ♥♣ 11 ft 3⁄8 in (3,362 mm)  • Small tubes ♠ 197: 2 in (51 mm) ♥♣ 115: 2 in (51 mm)  • Large tubes ♠ 48 Drummond: 2 1⁄2 in (64 mm) ♥♣ 18: 5 1⁄2 in (140 mm) Boiler pressure 180 psi (1,241 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Heating surface ♠ 1,387.3 sq ft (128.88 m2) ♥♣ 1,081 sq ft (100.4 m2)  • Tubes ♠ 1,261.9 sq ft (117.23 m2) ♥♣ 950 sq ft (88 m2)  • Firebox ♠ 125.4 sq ft (11.65 m2) ♥♣ 131 sq ft (12.2 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area ♥♣ 214 sq ft (19.9 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size ♠ 18 1⁄2 in (470 mm) bore ♥ 19 in (483 mm) bore ♣ 20 in (508 mm) bore ♠♥♣ 24 in (610 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Valve type ♠ Slide - ♥♣ Piston Couplers Johnston link-and-pin AAR knuckle (1930s)

Performance figures Tractive effort ♠ 23,110 lbf (102.8 kN) @ 75% ♥ 24,370 lbf (108.4 kN) @ 75% ♣ 27,000 lbf (120 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Central South African Railways South African Railways Class CSAR Class 8-L2 SAR Class 8B, Class 8BW Number in class 30 Numbers CSAR 441-470, SAR 1132-1161 Delivered 1903 First run 1903 Withdrawn 1972

The leading coupled axle had flangeless wheels

The South African Railways Class 8B 4-8-0 of 1903 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in Transvaal Colony.

In 1903, soon after its establishment, the Central South African Railways placed thirty Class 8-L2 4-8-0 Mastodon type steam locomotives in service. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and designated Class 8B.

Upon the establishment of the Central South African Railways (CSAR) in July 1902, a month after the end of the Second Boer War, Chief Locomotive Superintendent P.A. Hyde became the custodian of a mixed bag of locomotives inherited from the Imperial Military Railways (IMR). Apart from those locomotives which had been acquired new by the IMR during the war, these included engines which originated with the Selati Railway, the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (NZASM), the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (PPR) and the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen (OVGS).

The comparatively small number of serviceable locomotives which were immediately available for service, compounded by the poor condition of many of the original NZASM, PPR, Selati and OVGS locomotives as well as an expected post-war increase in traffic, led to an order for thirty Cape 8th Class 4-8-0 steam locomotives from Neilson, Reid and Company.

They were built to the specifications of the 8th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type designed by H.M. Beatty, the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) from 1896 to 1910, and were the first locomotives to be ordered under the CSAR administration. Since they differed from the Class 8-L1 which had been inherited from the IMR by being equipped with Drummond tubes, these locomotives were designated CSAR Class 8-L2.

While they were being built, Neilson, Reid amalgamated with Dübs and Company and Sharp, Stewart and Company to form the North British Locomotive Company (NBL). As a result, the first ten of these locomotives, numbered in the range from 441 to 450, were delivered as built by Neilson, Reid, while the other twenty, numbered in the range from 451 to 470, were delivered as built by NBL, even though all the NBL locomotives were also built at the Hyde Park shops of the former Neilson, Reid.