12 July 2009

Lichtenburg, North West Agricultural Museum part 2, ex-SAR Class 11 no 946

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This locomotive is on display at the North West Agricultural Museum (formerly the Andries Beyers Agricultural Museum) located at Melville Street-South in Lichtenburg.


6 Sept 1997 photo: André Kritzinger

Note the Belpaire firebox design.

North West Agricultural Museum, ex-SAR Class 11 no. 946.
This locomotive was built by North British Locomotive Co as works no 16283 in 1904.

The SAR Class 11 became extinct operationally during April 1975. By that time 15 engines of the class had been sold and sometimes resold for industrial use. This locomotive displayed at the museum was sold to Blue Circle Cement Co, Lichtenburg. This company operated an extensive system serving the Springbok Pan cement works and quarries. In 1991 the line was connected to the SAR at the north end of Lichtenburg station and ran 3 km to the cement works, continuing 8 km to the quarry loco shed (alongside the Lichtenburg-Mareetsane minor road) where the steam loco was stored with an "out of use" status in 1991. The main line to the quarries continued a further 42 km.

The out-of-use locomotive was later donated to the NWest Agricultural Museum in Lichtenburg.


6 Sept 1997 photo: André Kritzinger

Despite its popularity elsewhere in the world, the 2-8-2 "Mikado" type never caught on in South Africa, and the SAR Class 11 is the only one in which this type was built in quantity. They were very advanced for their time. Their design resulted in a very free and modern sounding exhaust. So excellent were their features that 80 years after building, nearly half of the class were still hard at work in industrial use, surely a world record.

These 2-8-2 locomotives were designed by P.A. Hyde for goods workings on the Reef for the Central South African Railways (CSAR). Thirty-six engines, delivered by the North British Locomotive Co in 1904, had Belpaire fireboxes, were superheated with Walschaert's valve gear and plate frames. They, in fact, proved to be too heavy for the track and bridges, and the engines had to be held in store for almost a year while these were strengthened.

In the SAR Class 11 engines were numbered No's 912-947 correlating with no's 700-735 in the CSAR (Central South African Railways).

They were initially used on the Reef between Germiston and Witbank until the arrival of more powerful engines relegated them to local workings. During the 1940 they were transferred to Kimberley and Port Elizabeth where they performed similar tasks until withdrawn in 1975.

Another SAR Class 11 locomotive no 942 is plinthed at Witbank station.

Picture of sister engine No 947 from the past.


photo: Leith Paxton : Class 11 2-8-2 [ex CSAR 11th class] No. 947 [NBL 16284/1904 - ex CSAR 735] at Sydenham Loco Depot (Port Elizabeth) 3 July 1966

Goto North West Agricultural Museum part 1 (SAR Class 19D no. 2711)

Sources:
  • Twilight of South African Steam - AE Durrant - David & Charles 1989
  • Industrial Locomotives in South Africa 1991 - Middleton & Williams
  • Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide 2002 - John Middleton.

1 comment:

  1. My dad worked at blue circle cement 1976-1979 .He operate the steam enjin between the factory and the quary (Love dale) sometimes I went after school to the side of the rails and wait for him to pick me up for the remain of his shift and went home pitch black .

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