South African Class 6C 4-6-0 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Between 1896 and 1898 the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen placed twenty-four new Cape Class 6 steam locomotives with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement in service. When British forces invaded the Orange Free State

Orange Free State

The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...

during the Second Freedom War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

, these locomotives were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways and after the war they were renumbered into the Central South African Railways roster. In 1912, when the remaining twenty-three locomotives were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered and reclassified to Class 6C.

Manufacturers

The Class 6 was designed at the Salt River works of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) at the same time as the Class 7

South African Class 7 4-8-0

In 1892 the Cape Government Railways placed six Class 7 steam locomotives with a 4-8-0 Mastodon wheel arrangement in service and between 1892 and 1893 another thirty-two were acquired. They were initially placed in service on the Cape Midland System, but were later distributed between the Cape...

, both according to the specifications of Michael Stephens, then Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR’s Western System, and under the supervision of CGR Locomotive Superintendent H.M. Beatty. While the Class 7 was conceived primarily as a goods locomotive, the Class 6 was intended to be its fast passenger service counterpart.

The first ten Class 6 locomotives of the Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwermentspoorwegen (OVGS) were purchased from the CGR and were soon followed by orders for new Class 6 locomotives directly from the manufacturers. The twenty-four locomotives in the first group to be built new for the OVGS were built between 1895 and 1898 by Sharp, Stewart and Company, Dübs and Company

Dûbs and Company

Dübs & Co. was a locomotive works in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it became part of the North British Locomotive Company.-Preserved locomotives:...

and Neilson and Company

Neilson and Company

Neilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland.The company was started in 1836 at McAlpine Street by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell to manufacture marine and stationary engines...

, and delivered between 1896 and 1898. Six of these locomotives were built by Sharp Stewart, numbered 70 to 75, nine by Dübs, numbered 76 to 84, and nine by Neilson, numbered 85 to 93.

All these locomotives were delivered with Type YC six wheeled tenders. When British forces invaded the Orange Free State

Orange Free State

during the Second Freedom War, all these locomotives were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways (IMR), but not renumbered. They were only renumbered after the war when they were included in the Central South African Railways (CSAR) roster in 1902 and reclassified to CSAR Class 6-L2.

Class 6 sub-classes

When all but one of these twenty-four locomotives were assimilated into the newly established South African Railways (SAR) in 1912, they were reclassified to Class 6C and renumbered 541 to 559 and 561 to 564. The fate of the one locomotive that did not enter SAR service, OVGS 89, later CSAR 365, is not known, although number SAR 560 appears to have been reserved for it.

These locomotives, together with the CGR’s Class 6 locomotives and the Class 6-L1 and 6-L3 locomotives inherited by the CSAR from the OVGS via the IMR, were grouped into altogether fourteen sub-classes by the SAR. The 4-6-0 locomotives became SAR Classes 6, 6A, 6B, 6D to 6H and 6J to 6L, the 2-6-2 locomotives became Class 6Y and the 2-6-4 locomotives became Class 6Z.

Modifications

Several of the CSAR’s Class 6-L1 to 6-L3 locomotives, including ten of these ex OVGS locomotives, had been modified by P.A Hyde, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the CSAR, by having their round top fireboxes replaced with larger Belpaire firebox

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...

es and by having larger, more sheltered cabs installed. This conversion improved their performance tremendously. The ten locomotives that were renumbered SAR 554 to 559 and 561 to 564 had undergone this modification.

During the 1930s many of them were modified once again, when the CME of the SAR at the time, A.G. Watson, displayed his aversion to Belpaire fireboxes and reboilered them with round-topped fireboxes again, but retaining the larger cabs and without changing their classifications.

South Africa

The Class 6 series of locomotives were introduced primarily as passenger locomotives, but when the class became displaced by larger and more powerful locomotive classes, it literally became a “Jack-of-all-trades” that proved itself as one of the most useful and successful locomotive classes ever to be designed at the Salt River shops. It went on to see service in all parts of the country except Natal and was used on all types of traffic.

In Cape Town they held a monopoly over the suburban services until electrification arrived in 1928, and on the Reef they also worked these services between Randfontein and Springs until the loads became too heavy for them. They were employed on branch lines all over the country, Natal excluded, and practically every big station and many smaller ones had its quota of these handy locomotives to work the local passenger, goods and shunting services.

Like the Class 7, the Class 6 family gave good service for many years. By the time the last ones were retired in 1973, the Class 6 series had achieved a service life of eighty years, a performance that can be matched by few, if any, other locomotive classes world wide.

Sudan

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

sixteen of the Classes 6 to 6D were transferred to the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

to assist with the war effort during the North African Campaign

North African campaign

During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...

. The sole Class 6C locomotive in this group was number 548. It was sold to the Sudan Railways Corporation in 1942 and renumbered M713.

Renumberings

The Class 6C locomotives were renumbered twice, first from the OVGS to the CSAR roster and in 1912 into the SAR roster. The table reflects these renumberings as well as their builders and works numbers.