Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-2

The Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-2 of 1860 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1860, the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company took delivery of eight 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) broad gauge tender locomotives with a 0-4-2 wheel arrangement, the first tender locomotives to work in South Africa. They were acquired for service on the Cape Town-Wellington railway, which was still under construction.^[1][2]

In 1872, these locomotives came onto the roster of the Cape Government Railways, which took over the operation of all railways in the Cape of Good Hope. They remained in service on the Wellington line while it was being converted to dual broad-and-Cape gauges from 1872, and were only retired in 1881 when sufficient Cape gauge locomotives were in service.^[1][2]

The Cape Town-Wellington Railway

The first railway line in the Cape of Good Hope, the Cape Town-Wellington Railway, was built by the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company. After having made representations to the Cape Colonial Government in 1853 and 1855, the Company was granted approval, by Act no. 10 of 29 June 1857, to construct a 57 miles (92 kilometres) long railway between Cape Town and Wellington, via Stellenbosch. The company appointed Messrs. E. & J. Pickering as contractors for the construction of the line.^[2]

The Act specified, amongst others, that:

• The locomotives for the railway should have only four wheels, since this would require less room inside buildings and would only need an 11 feet (3,353 millimetres) turntable.
• A locomotive, complete with apparatus and appendages, should only weigh 6 long tons (6.1 tonnes).
• Each locomotive have to be shopped, cleaned and, if necessary, repaired after every three days of work.
• Double the number of locomotives as required by the volume of traffic should therefore be kept in use.
• At least twelve locomotives should be ordered, at a nominal figure of £800 each.^[2]

Since progress in locomotive design had already advanced beyond the Cape Government's specifications of 1857, the maximum weight and wheel arrangement specifications were, wisely, ignored by the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company. Even the contractor's small 0-4-0T construction engine was more than double the specified weight, exceeding the limit by 8 long tons (8.1 tonnes).^[2]

As in England, it was decided to use 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) broad gauge. The first sod was turned on 31 March 1859 by Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape Colony from 1854 to 1861, but the planned railhead at Wellington was only reached on 4 November 1863, after the contractors, Messrs. E. & J. Pickering, had been dismissed in October 1861 and construction was taken over by the Company itself.^[1][2][3][4]

Manufacturer

In 1859, an order was placed with R and W Hawthorn in Newcastle upon Tyne in England for eight 0-4-2 tender locomotives. These engines, which arrived in two shipments on 20 March and 28 April 1860, were given names and were numbered from 1 to 8. Since the full complement of engines arrived when the construction of the line to Wellington had barely begun, they were erected and placed on display for the public, while awaiting the completion of sufficient track to be useful. They eventually entered service on 20 October 1860.^[1]

Works drawing, without tender

The locomotives were the first tender locomotives to work in South Africa. They were painted in a green livery, very similar in shade to that of the Great Western Railway in England. It was to become the standard passenger livery of the Cape Government Railways, right up to the establishment of the South African Railways in 1910. The locomotives were delivered without cabs, but cab sides and a roof were soon installed in addition to the weatherboard to offer better protection to the crew.^[1][2]

Service

Cape Town Railway and Dock

The public was allowed to ride for the first time on 26 December 1860, on the line which was only to reach Salt River on 8 February 1861, a distance of only 1 ¹⁄₂ miles (2.4 kilometres) which took the contractor nearly two years to complete. This snail's pace led to a dispute between Cape Town Railway and Dock and the contractor, which eventually ended in sabotage in October 1861. Upon being dismissed, the disgruntled contractor employees ran one of the new locomotives, no. 4 Wellington, into a culvert, with the result that it had to be sent to the newly established workshops at Salt River to have some serious damage repaired. ^[1][5]

Since the locomotives were very free-steaming, they ran well and speeds of 30 miles per hour (48 kilometres per hour) were common. On one occasion a train, with the unpopular Cape Governor Sir Philip Wodehouse on board, reached 60 miles per hour (97 kilometres per hour) on the section between D'Urban Road (now Bellville) and Salt River.^[1]

Plaque mounted on Blackie's plinth

The line from Cape Town to Wellington took nearly five years to complete. The line to Eersterivier was officially opened on 13 February 1862. Stellenbosch was reached on 1 May 1862 and the railhead at Wellington on 4 November 1863. Work was completed about a year later. From Wellington, the only option for travellers who wished to go further inland was by road across the Bain's Kloof Pass, which had been completed in 1853.^[3]

Arrival of the inaugural train at Wellington Station, behind a tender locomotive

According to the plaque attached to the plinth base of the first locomotive in South Africa at Cape Town station, construction engine no. 9 Blackie had the honour, in 1865, to haul the official inaugural train of the company's Cape Town-Wellington Railway to Welling­ton. The inscription on the plaque is untrue, however, since an engraving which depicts the arrival of the inaugural train at Wellington Station shows the train behind one of these eight 0-4-2 tender locomotives and not behind Blackie, which was probably still a 0-4-0 side-tank locomotive at the time. One of these eight tender engines had hauled the first train from Cape Town to Eersterivier on 13 February 1862 and also the official train during the opening ceremony at Wellington on 4 November 1863.^[2][3]

Cape Government Railways

In 1872, the Cape Government purchased the Cape Town-Wellington and Salt River-Wynberg railways, took over the operation of all railways in the Colony except the Namaqualand Railway and established the Cape Government Railways. Shortly before, it had been decided to continue railway construction from Wellington into the interior, but to use the narrower 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge, since it would decrease the cost of construction through the difficult terrain beyond the coastal plain and up the Hex River mountains.^[1][3]

While this new line was being constructed, the original Cape Town-Wellington line was dual-gauged, working back from Wellington to Cape Town. The same was done on the Wynberg line. The Cape Town-Wellington and Salt River-Wynberg sections were eventually worked by locomotives of both gauges.^[1][3][4]

Disposal

The locomotives remained in service until 1881, when sufficient numbers of Cape gauge locomotives were in service and it was decided to remove all broad gauge track and rolling stock. The broad gauge track's 65 pounds per yard (32 kilograms per metre) iron rails were lifted and the track was relaid to Cape gauge as rapidly as possible, using 70 pounds per yard (35 kilograms per metre) steel rail sections on creosoted wooden sleepers.^[1][3][4][6]

All the broad gauge 0-4-2 locomotives were dismantled, with the exception of their boilers. These were thoroughly overhauled, converted into stationary boilers and used to drive workshop machinery.^[6]

Works numbers

The locomotive numbers, R and W Hawthorn works numbers and names are listed in the table.^[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-2.

Locomotives of the Cape of Good Hope
7' ¼" gauge	East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT
4' 8½" gauge	Cape 0-4-0T Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid
3' 6" gauge	CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 1890 CGR 5th Class 1891 CGR 6th Class 1893 CGR 6th Class 1896 CGR 6th Class 1897 CGR 6th Class 1898 CGR 6th Class 1900 CGR 6th Class 1901 Baldwin CGR 6th Class 1901 Schenectady CGR 6th Class 1901 Neilson's CGR 6th Class 1902 CGR 6th Class 1904 CGR 6th Class 2-6-2 CGR 6th Class 2-6-4 CGR 7th Class 1892 CGR 7th Class 1896 CGR 7th Class 1902 CGR 8th Class 1901 CGR 8th Class 1902 CGR 8th Class 2-8-0 1903 CGR 8th Class 4-8-0 1903 CGR 8th Class 4-8-0 1903 Exp CGR 8th Class 2-8-0 1904 CGR 8th Class 4-8-0 1904 CGR 9th Class 1903 CGR 9th Class 1906 CGR 10th Class CGR Fairlie CGR Karoo 1903 CGR Karoo 1904 CGR Karoo Compound CGR Kitson-Meyer CGR Mountain 4-8-2 CGR Railmotor CGR Tandem Compound 1902 CGR Tandem Compound 1903 Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NCCR 7th Class 1899 NCCR 7th Class 1913 Port Elizabeth 0-4-0ST
2' 6" gauge	Cape Copper 0-6-0T Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay Hope
2' gauge	CGR Baldwin 2-6-0 CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A CGR Type B CGR Type C
List of South African locomotive classes South African locomotive history

Locomotives of South Africa
Steam	7' ¼" gauge East London 0-4-0VB Table Bay 0-4-0ST Table Bay 0-4-0T Table Bay 0-4-0WT 4' 8½" gauge Cape 0-4-0T Blackie Cape 0-4-2 Cape 2-4-0T CGR 0-4-0ST Aid Natal 0-4-0ST Durban Natal 0-4-0WT Natal Natal 4-4-0T Perseverance 3' 6" gauge Tank engines CGR 0-4-0ST 1873 CGR 0-4-0ST 1874 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 CGR 0-4-0ST 1881 Coffee Pot CGR 0-6-0ST CGR 0-6-0T CGR 2-6-0ST 1900 CGR 2-6-0ST 1902 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1875 CGR 1st Class 0-4-0ST 1876 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST CGR 1st Class 4-4-0T CGR 2nd Class 4-4-0T CGR 3rd Class 2-6-0T CGR Railmotor CSAR Class C CSAR Class E CSAR Rack 4-6-4RT CSAR Railmotor Durban's Congella Durban's Edward Innes Durban's John Milne Durban's Sir Albert Port Elizabeth 0-4-0ST Kowie Railway 0-6-0T Kowie Railway 4-4-0T Metropolitan & Suburban 4-6-2T NGR 2-6-0T Durban & Pietermaritzburg NGR Class I 2-6-2T NGR Class K 0-4-0ST NGR Class K 0-6-0ST NGR Class K 2-6-0T NZASM 10 Tonner NZASM 13 Tonner NZASM 14 Tonner NZASM 18 Tonner NZASM 19 Tonner NZASM 32 Tonner NZASM 40 Tonner PPR 26 Tonner PPR 35 Tonner Portuguese SAR Class A SAR Class B SAR Class C SAR Class C1 SAR Class C2 SAR Class D SAR Class E SAR Class F SAR Class G SAR Class H SAR Class H1 SAR Class H2 SAR Class J SAR Class K SAR Railmotor SAR Dock 0-4-0ST SAR Dock 0-4-0T SWA 2-8-0T 3' 6" gauge Tender engines CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 BP CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Kitson CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1879 CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1891 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0 CGR 1st Class 4-4-0TT CGR 2nd Class 2-6-2TT CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1884 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1889 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1898 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1901 CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1903 CGR 4th Class 4-4-2 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1880 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1882 Joy CGR 4th Class 4-6-0TT 1884 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1890 CGR 5th Class 4-6-0 1891 NGR Havelock NGR Class I SAR Class Exp 1 SAR Class Exp 2 SAR Class Exp 3 SAR Class Exp 4 SAR Class Exp 5 SAR Class Exp 6 SAR Class S SAR Class S1 SAR Class S2 SAR Class 1 SAR Class 1A SAR Class 1B SAR Class 2 SAR Class 2C SAR Class 3 SAR Class 3A SAR Class 3B SAR Class 4 SAR Class 4A SAR Class 5 SAR Class 5A SAR Class 5B SAR Class 6 SAR Class 6A SAR Class 6B SAR Class 6C SAR Class 6D SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6F SAR Class 6G SAR Class 6H SAR Class 6J SAR Class 6K SAR Class 6L SAR Class 6Y SAR Class 6Z SAR Class 7 SAR Class 7A SAR Class 7B SAR Class 7C SAR Class 7D SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7F SAR Class 8 SAR Class 8A SAR Class 8B SAR Class 8C SAR Class 8D SAR Class 8E SAR Class 8F SAR Class 8R SAR Class 8X SAR Class 8Y SAR Class 8Z SAR Class 9 SAR Class 10 SAR Class 10A SAR Class 10B SAR Class 10C SAR Class 10D SAR Class 11 SAR Class 12 SAR Class 12A SAR Class 12B SAR Class 13 SAR Class 14 SAR Class 14A SAR Class 14B SAR Class 14C 1st SAR Class 14C 2nd SAR Class 14C 3rd SAR Class 14C 4th SAR Class 15 SAR Class 15A SAR Class 15B SAR Class 15C SAR Class 15CA SAR Class 15E SAR Class 15F SAR Class 16 SAR Class 16A SAR Class 16B SAR Class 16C SAR Class 16D SAR Class 16DA 1928 SAR Class 16DA 1930 SAR Class 16E SAR Class 17 SAR Class 18 SAR Class 19 SAR Class 19A SAR Class 19B SAR Class 19C SAR Class 19D SAR Class 20 SAR Class 21 SAR Class 23 SAR Class 24 SAR Class 25 SAR Class 25NC SAR Class 26 SAR Katanga SWA 2-8-0 3' 6" gauge Articulated engines CGR Fairlie CGR Kitson-Meyer SAR Class FC SAR Class FD SAR Class GA SAR Class GB SAR Class GC SAR Class GCA SAR Class GD SAR Class GDA SAR Class GE SAR Class GEA SAR Class GF SAR Class GG SAR Class GH SAR Class GK SAR Class GL SAR Class GM SAR Class GMA SAR Class GO SAR Class HF SAR Class KM SAR Class MA SAR Class MB SAR Class MC SAR Class MC1 SAR Class MD SAR Class ME SAR Class MF SAR Class MG SAR Class MH SAR Class MJ SAR Class MJ1 SAR Class U 2' 6" gauge Cape Copper John King & Miner Cape Copper Britannia Cape Copper Caledonia Cape Copper Clara Cape Copper Condenser Cape Copper Scotia Namaqua Copper Pioneer Walvis Bay 2-4-2T Hope 2' & 600mm gauges ACR Class NG-G16A CGR NG 0-4-0T CGR NG 0-6-0T CGR NG 4-6-2T CGR Type A 2-6-4T CGR Type C 0-4-0T NGR Class N 4-6-2T SAR Dutton SAR NG 0-4-0T SAR Class NG1 SAR Class NG2 SAR Class NG3 SAR Class NG4 SAR Class NG5 SAR Class NG6 SAR Class NG7 SAR Class NG8 SAR Class NG9 SAR Class NG10 SAR Class NG-G11 SAR Class NG-G12 SAR Class NG-G13 SAR Class NG-G14 SAR Class NG15 SAR Class NG-G16 SWA Class Ha SWA Class Hb SWA Class Hc SWA Class Hd SWA Jung SWA Zwillinge
Electric	Amcoal Class E38 SAR Class ES SAR Class ES1 SAR Class Exp-AC SAR Class 1E SAR Class 2E SAR Class 3E SAR Class 4E SAR Class 5E s1 SAR Class 5E s2 SAR Class 5E s3 SAR Class 5E1 s1 SAR Class 5E1 s2 SAR Class 5E1 s3 SAR Class 5E1 s4 SAR Class 5E1 s5 SAR Class 6E SAR Class 6E1 s1 SAR Class 6E1 s2 SAR Class 6E1 s3 SAR Class 6E1 s4 SAR Class 6E1 s5 SAR Class 6E1 s6 SAR Class 6E1 s7 SAR Class 6E1 s8 SAR Class 6E1 s9 SAR Class 6E1 s10 SAR Class 6E1 s11 SAR Class 7E SAR Class 7E1 SAR Class 7E2 s1 SAR Class 7E2 s2 SAR Class 7E3 s1 SAR Class 7E3 s2 Spoornet Class 7E4 SAR Class 8E SAR Class 9E s1 SAR Class 9E s2 SAR Class 10E SAR Class 10E1 s1 Spoornet Class 10E1 s2 SAR Class 10E2 SAR Class 11E SAR Class 12E Spoornet Class 14E Spoornet Class 14E1 TFR Class 15E Spoornet Class 16E Spoornet Class 17E Spoornet Class 18E s1 TFR Class 18E s2 TFR Class 19E TFR Class 20E TFR Class 21E TFR Class 22E
Gas-electric	SAR Gas-electric
Diesel	3' 6" gauge Diesel-electric PRASA Class Afro 4000 SAR Class DS SAR Class DS1 SAR Class 31-000 SAR Class 32-000 SAR Class 32-200 SAR Class 33-000 SAR Class 33-200 SAR Class 33-400 SAR Class 34-000 SAR Class 34-200 SAR Class 34-400 SAR Class 34-500 SAR Class 34-600 SAR Class 34-800 SAR Class 34-900 SAR Class 35-000 SAR Class 35-200 SAR Class 35-400 SAR Class 35-600 TFR Class 35-800 SAR Class 36-000 SAR Class 36-200 SAR Class 37-000 Spoornet Class 39-000 TFR Class 39-200 TFR Class 43-000 TFR Class 44-000 2' gauge Diesel-electric SAR Class 91-000 3' 6" gauge Diesel-hydraulic SAR Class 61-000 3' 6" gauge Electro-diesel Spoornet Class 38-000
List of South African locomotive classes South African locomotive numbering and classification