Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST

The Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST of 1881 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST (7' ¼")
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Black, Hawthorn & Co. Builder Black, Hawthorn & Co. Serial number 642, 646, 1079 Build date 1881-1893 Total produced 3
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-4-0ST (Four-coupled)  • UIC Bn2t Driver 2nd coupled axle Gauge 7 ft ^1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel Coupled dia. 34 in (864 mm) Wheelbase 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 18 ft 4 ^1⁄2 in (5,601 mm)  • Over beams 16 ft 1 in (4,902 mm) Height 9 ft 7 in (2,921 mm) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 10 long hundredweight (0.5 t) Water cap 350 imp gal (1,590 l) Firebox type Round-top  • Firegrate area 5 sq ft (0.46 m^2) Boiler: ​  • Type Domeless  • Pitch 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm)  • Diameter 2 ft 11 ^1⁄4 in (895 mm) outside  • Tube plates 8 ft (2,438 mm)  • Small tubes 70: 1 ^3⁄4 in (44 mm) Boiler pressure 130 psi (896 kPa) Heating surface 303 sq ft (28.1 m^2)  • Tubes 274 sq ft (25.5 m^2)  • Firebox 29 sq ft (2.7 m^2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 11 in (279 mm) bore 17 in (432 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Couplers Buffers-and-chain
Performance figures Tractive effort 4,875 lbf (21.69 kN) @ 75%
Career Operators Table Bay Harbour Board Number in class 3 Numbers 4, 5, 8 Delivered 1881-1893 First run 1881 Last run c. 1904

Between 1881 and 1893, three 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives entered construction service at the Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town. They were built to Brunel gauge for breakwater construction and were virtually identical to thirteen Cape gauge locomotives which entered service as dock shunters in Table Bay Harbour between 1881 and 1904.[1][2][3]

Manufacturers

Three 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives were acquired by the Table Bay Harbour Board in Cape Town between 1881 and 1893. They were built to 7 ft ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge for service as breakwater construction engines on the Table Bay Harbour improvement project. The project had been started in 1860 and involved the excavation of two basins and the construction of breakwater piers. The locomotives were delivered in two batches from Black, Hawthorn & Co, numbers 4 and 5 in 1881 and no. 8 in 1893.[1][3][4]

Characteristics

The locomotives were virtually identical to thirteen Cape gauge 0-4-0ST locomotives which entered service as dock shunters in Table Bay Harbour between 1881 and 1904. Apart from the gauge difference, the Brunel gauge engines had larger bore cylinders of 11 inches (279 millimetres) diameter, compared to the 10 inches (254 millimetres) bore of the Cape gauge engines. Both engine types had domeless boilers with a sandbox mounted in the centre of the saddle tank.[1][3]

Service

By the time the broad gauge Table Bay Harbour construction railway was closed in 1904, engine no. 4 was no longer reflected in the Table Bay Harbour Board's locomotive register and had presumably already been scrapped. Engine no. 8 was sold as scrap to Vaggens & Company in May 1907. Engine no. 5 could possibly have been regauged to Cape gauge and put to work as dock shunter in Table Bay Harbour, but this has not been confirmed and it is more likely that it was staged at the Salt River workshops and used as a source of spare parts until it was scrapped there in May 1913.[3][4]

Works numbers and disposition

The numbers, works numbers, dates ordered and disposition of these locomotives are listed in the table.[1][3][4]

Table Bay Harbour 0-4-0ST of 1881

No.	Works no.	Order date	Sold or scrapped
4	642	1881-04	Scrapped c. 1904
5	646	1881-07	Scrapped 1913-05
8	1079	1892-12	Sold to Vaggens 1907-05

References

1. Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 116–117, 122–123. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. p. 25. ISBN 0869772112.
3. Contents of emails received from Dr John Middleton, Washington. Transcripts copied to Table Bay Harbour locomotives by Black, Hawthorn & Chapman and Furneaux for retention and easy reference.
4. Contents of emails received from Dr John Middleton, Washington. Transcripts copied to Table Bay Harbour construction locomotives for retention and easy reference.