The South African Railways Class MJ1 2-6-6-0 of 1918 was a class of articulated steam locomotives. In 1918, the South African Railways placed eight Class MJ1 Mallet articulated compound steam locomotives with a

2-6-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with one pair of unpowered leading wheels, followed by two sets of three pairs of powered driving wheels and no trailing wheels. The whe ...

wheel arrangement in branch line 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, May 1945. p. 350.South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended

Manufacturer

Because of the difficulties experienced by the usual British and German suppliers to build new locomotives during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, orders for the Class MJ1 2-6-6-0 Mallet articulated compound steam locomotive were placed with

Montreal Locomotive Works Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive ...

(MLW) in Canada. The locomotive was designed by MLW, based on the specifications for the Class MJ Mallet which had been designed by D.A. Hendrie, the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR) from 1910 to 1922. Eight of these branch line locomotives were built and delivered by MLW in November 1918, numbered in the range from 1666 to 1673.

Characteristics

The locomotives were superheated, 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 ...

and, like the Class MJ Mallets, had

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 squa ...

es, but slightly larger boilers. When compared to the Class MJ, a distinguishing feature of the Class MJ1 was the sandbox which was mounted on top of the boiler to the rear of the steam dome in North American style. In general appearance, they bore a family resemblance to the Class 14C and Class 15B 4-8-2 locomotives which were also built by MLW in 1918. During 1922, the coupled wheels were retyred and their diameter was increased from to .

Reboilering

During 1939, while W.A.J. Day was the CME of the SAR, the Classes MJ and MJ1 were modified slightly to be reboilered with the same standard boiler.

Service

The Class MJ1 was the last Mallet locomotive class to be placed in service by the SAR. All the Railway’s subsequent new articulated locomotives were to be Garratts, Modified Fairlies and Union Garratts. The Class MJ1 was also intended for branch line working and joined the Class MJ Mallets in service in the Eastern Cape. All eight were still in service by March 1948, but they were all withdrawn from service by 1960.

Illustration

File:Class MJ1 no. 1668.jpg, No. 1668 at Butterworth, Eastern Cape, c. 1950

References

{{Steam locomotive tenders

2300 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...

2-6-6-0 locomotives (1C)C locomotives MLW locomotives Cape gauge railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1918 1918 in South Africa Scrapped locomotives