South African Class NG1 0-4-0T

CSAR Pankop 0-4-0T
South African Class NG1 0-4-0T

Class NG1 no. NG40, with a sack of coal on the running board

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Kerr, Stuart and Company Builder Kerr, Stuart and Company Serial number 676-677 Model S1 Sirdar Build date 1899 Total produced 2

Specifications Configuration 0-4-0T (Four-coupled) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) narrow Coupled dia 24 in (610 mm) Wheelbase 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 13 ft 6 in (4,115 mm) Height 8 ft 9 in (2,667 mm) Frame type Plate Axle load av. Adhesive weight Loco weight w/o Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 5 long hundredweight (0.3 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch  • Diameter 2 ft (610 mm)  • Tube plates  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 140 psi (965 kPa) Safety valve Ramsbottom Firegrate area 3.3 sq ft (0.31 m2) Heating surface 100 sq ft (9.3 m2)  • Tubes 83.5 sq ft (7.76 m2)  • Firebox 16.5 sq ft (1.53 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 6 in (152 mm) bore 10 in (254 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson

Performance figures Tractive effort 1,575 lbf (7.01 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators British War Office Central South African Railways South African Railways Class SAR Class NG1 Number in class 2 Numbers CSAR 676-677, SAR NG40-NG41 Nicknames Pankop Delivered 1900 First run 1900 Withdrawn 1931

The South African Railways Class NG1 0-4-0T of 1900 was a narrow gauge steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Transvaal.

In 1900, the British War Office placed two Sirdar class 0-4-0T narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in service near Germiston. At the end of the Second Boer War, the locomotives were sold to a farmer, who used them on a firewood line out of Pienaarsrivier, until the line and locomotives were taken over by the Central South African Railways.

In 1912, when these locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered with an "NG" prefix to their numbers. When a system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was eventually introduced somewhere between 1928 and 1930, they were designated Class NG1.

Manufacturer

Three Sirdar class 0-4-0T narrow gauge tank steam locomotives were built for Allan Alderson and Company of Cairo, for use during the Nile Barrage construction in Egypt. In November 1899, the Director of Army Contracts of the British War Office ordered two narrow gauge steam locomotives from Kerr, Stuart and Company, for delivery within ten days, since the locomotives were urgently needed by the Royal Engineers for use in a siege park in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, where the Second Boer War was in progress. A siege park was a depot for holding engineer’s stores, which could be required during a siege.

By diverting two of the three locomotives which were ready to be shipped out to the Nile Barrage construction works in Egypt, the locomotive builders were actually able to supply the locomotives within four days.

600 and 610 millimetre gauges

The locomotives had plate frames and used Stephenson valve gear. Although they were eventually classified as 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge locomotives along with the rest of the South African narrow gauge locomotive fleet, they were actually constructed to the metric 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) gauge.

Historically, the actual two feet narrow gauge rail spacing depended on whether or not the track was laid by a metricised country. German-built narrow gauge lines in Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika (DSWA, now Namibia) were therefore 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) gauge, while those in South Africa, built to Imperial standards, were 2 ft (610 mm) gauge.

In practice, however, the two gauges are still treated as one and the same by, for example, the British Military. The same applied in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, which was being invaded by the British Army at the time. The 10 millimetres (0.39 inches) difference was considered as insignificant and, in subsequent years, narrow gauge locomotives regularly migrated between the narrow gauge lines laid to German standards in South West Africa (SWA) and those laid to Imperial standards in South Africa.

Service

Royal Engineers

During 1900, these two locomotives were used by the 47th Field Company Royal Engineers during the construction of the Bezuidenhout Light Railway, a light narrow gauge railway line from Simmer and Jack’s siding near Germiston to a siege camp, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) away along the Bezuidenhout Valley.

Pankop firewood line

At the end of the war in 1902, the two locomotives and rolling stock were sold to a farmer as army surplus stock. He used it to haul firewood on a 15 kilometres (9 miles) long line which he constructed from Pienaarsrivier, on the mainline between Pretoria and Pietersburg, to Pankop on the Springbokvlakte.

Central South African Railways

The Pankop line and rolling stock were taken over by the Central South African Railways (CSAR) in 1905. The CSAR extended the line to Settlers and opened the 26 miles 60 chains (43 kilometres) line to traffic on 21 June 1906. The intention was, on the one hand, to serve the immigrant farming community around Settlers and, on the other hand, to determine exactly how much a light railway of this nature could achieve in districts where the traffic would be light at the outset. In CSAR service, the locomotives became known as the Pankop engines and were referred to by their builder's works numbers 676 and 677. They were often coupled back-to-back to cope with heavier loads.

South African Railways

When the Union of South Africa was established on 31 May 1910, the three Colonial government railways (Cape Government Railways, Natal Government Railways and CSAR) were united under a single administration to control and administer the railways, ports and harbours of the Union. Although the South African Railways and Harbours came into existence in 1910, the actual classification and renumbering of all the rolling stock of the three constituent railways required careful planning and was only implemented with effect from 1 January 1912.

Narrow gauge locomotives were included in the SAR’s narrow gauge numbering scheme in 1912 and were allocated engine numbers with an "NG" prefix. A system of grouping narrow gauge locomotives into classes was only adopted at some time between 1928 and 1930 and, at that point, the two Sirdar locomotives were classified as Class NG1.

When the Settlers branchline was converted to Cape gauge in 1923, the locomotives were transferred to work on the line which was under construction between Elandshoek and Mount Carmel. When this line was closed in 1931, the Class NG1 locomotives were withdrawn from service.