The South African Railways Class J 4-6-4T of 1915 was a steam locomotive. In 1915, the

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

placed six Class J tank steam locomotives with a 4-6-4 Baltic type wheel arrangement in service.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1945). ''The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued).'' South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, August 1945. pp. 595-596.South African Railways & Harbours/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweë en Hawens (15 Aug 1941). ''Locomotive Diagram Book/Lokomotiefdiagramboek, 3'6" Gauge/Spoorwydte''. SAR/SAS Mechanical Department/Werktuigkundige Dept. Drawing Office/Tekenkantoor, Pretoria. p. 43.South African Railways & Harbours/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweë en Hawens (15 Aug 1941). ''Locomotive Diagram Book/Lokomotiefdiagramboek, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge/Spoorwydte, Steam Locomotives/Stoomlokomotiewe''. SAR/SAS Mechanical Department/Werktuigkundige Dept. Drawing Office/Tekenkantoor, Pretoria. pp. 6a-7a, 41, 43.

Manufacturer

To cope with the increasing traffic on the Natal South Coast, D.A. Hendrie, the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR), reverted to the old

Natal Government Railways The Natal Government Railways (NGR) was formed in January 1877 in the Colony of Natal. In 1877, the Natal Government Railways acquired the Natal Railway Company for the sum of £40,000, gaining the line from the Point to Durban and from Durban ...

preference and designed a new Baltic type side-tank steam locomotive. Six of these locomotives were built by

Nasmyth, Wilson and Company Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company, originally called The Bridgewater Foundry, specialised in the production of Machine tool, heavy machine tools and locomotives. It was located in Patricroft, in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford England, close to ...

of Patricroft in Salford, England, and delivered in 1915, numbered in the range from 341 to 346. They were designated Class J and were the first side-tank engines to be acquired by the SAR since Union.

Characteristics

The engines used saturated steam and had

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...

, piston valves and

Belpaire firebox The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and sq ...

es. They were designed to work as double-enders on the Natal South Coast line where there was limited engine turning facilities.

Service

It was soon found, however, that due to their small proportions, they were of insufficient power to handle the rapidly increasing loads on the South Coast. They were therefore taken off the South Coast run and employed as shunting engines in the Durban harbour. Four of them were later allocated to Mossel Bay and the Cape Midland for similar duties. They remained there until they were withdrawn by 1957 after more than forty years in service. The remaining two locomotives, numbers 341 and 342, were sold to gold mines on the Reef. By the early 1970s, no. 341 was still at work on the East Daggafontein Mine as their no. 2. It was later acquired by the

South African National Railway And Steam Museum South African National Railway And Steam Museum (SANRASM) was meant to be the national railway museum authority of South Africa, by the original initiative of the RailRoad Association of South Africa (RRA) and then transport authority South Afric ...

(SANRASM) for preservation. It had to be scrapped in 2011, however, after being vandalised by scavenging scrap metal thieves at the SANRASM storage site in Chamdor.SA Rail (Official Journal of the Railway Society of Southern Africa. SAR Jclass tank rear bunker

Illustration

No. 341 was plinthed at SANRASM with a tender. The picture shows it as gate guard, prior to being vandalised into destruction c. 2010. File:Class J 4-6-4T no. 341.jpg, No. 341, East Daggafontein Mine no. 2 with a tender, 9 October 1989

References

{{Locomotives of South Africa 1160 1160 2C2 locomotives 4-6-4T locomotives Nasmyth, Wilson and Company locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1915 1915 in South Africa