South African Dock Shunter 0-4-0T

South African Dock Shunter 0-4-0T
Harbour shunter no. 69, Paardeneiland, 15 July 1951
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Orenstein & Koppel Builder Orenstein & Koppel Serial number 3019 Build date 1909
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-4-0T  • UIC Bn2t Gauge 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) as built 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge regauged Coupled dia. 29 in (737 mm) Wheelbase 6 ft (1,829 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 19 ft 6 in (5,944 mm) Width 8 ft (2,438 mm) Height 10 ft 6 in (3,200 mm) Frame type Plate Loco weight 16 LT 10 cwt (16,760 kg) empty Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​  • Type Round-top Boiler pressure 170 psi (1,172 kPa) Cylinders Two Valve gear Walschaerts Couplers Johnston link-and-pin
Performance figures Power output 140 hp (100 kW) Tractive effort 9,100 lbf (40 kN)
Career Operators Hollandse Anneming Maatschappij South African Railways Number in class 1 Numbers 69 Delivered 1939 (Contractors), 1941 (SAR) First run 1909 Withdrawn 1950s

The South African Railways Dock Shunter 0-4-0T of 1909 was a steam locomotive.

A single second-hand 0-4-0T locomotive was bought by the South African Railways in 1941 and employed as harbour shunting engine in Cape Town. The engine had, until then, been used as construction locomotive by the contractors who undertook the construction of the new Table Bay harbour.^[1][2]

Origin

When the old Table Bay harbour in Cape Town became inadequate to cope with the vast increase in shipping, a contract was awarded to the Hollandse Anneming Maatschappij Eiendoms Beperk to construct a new harbour. Work to reclaim ground on the Foreshore, dredge the New Basin and build new and deeper docks began in 1938. The contractors brought out a small 0-4-0T locomotive to use on site for general haulage work. The locomotive's arrival date is not known, but it was removed from Dutch boiler records in October 1939.^[1][3][4]

The locomotive had been built by Orenstein & Koppel in Berlin in 1909, originally as a 140 horsepower (100 kilowatts) 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) gauge locomotive for the Fix Söhne Bauunternehmung in Meiderich. It was later regauged to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge and transferred or sold to the Dutch contractors.^[1][5]

Service

In 1940, the South African Railways bought the locomotive from the contractors out of hand. It was not classified in Railway service, but was numbered 69 and bore cab-side plates lettered "SAR-H&NW". It remained in use as a dock shunter in Table Bay harbour into the 1950s.^[1][2][4]

References

1. Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 122. ISBN 0869772112.
3. Railway History Group of Southern Africa, Bulletin no. 114, January 2013: Notes on Cape Town Harbour Extension Contracts, by John Middleton
4. Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1944). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter II - The Cape Government Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, April 1944. pp. 253–257.
5. Bude, Roland; Fricke, K.; Murray, M. (1978). O&K-Dampflokomotiven. Lieferverzeichnis 1892 - 1945, (1st ed.). Buschhoven. ISBN 3-921894-00-X.