South African Class GE 2-8-2+2-8-2

The South African Railways Class GE 2-8-2+2-8-2 of 1925 was an articulated steam locomotive.

Between 1925 and 1931, the South African Railways placed the first six of eventually eighteen Class GE Garratt articulated locomotives with a 2-8-2+2-8-2 Double Mikado type wheel arrangement in service, built in three batches over six years.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Manufacturer

In 1924, specifications were prepared by Colonel F.R. Collins DSO, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the South African Railways (SAR), for the Class GE 2-8-2+2-8-2 Double Mikado type Garratt locomotive. An order was placed with Beyer, Peacock and Company (BP) for the design and construction of six locomotives. They were delivered during March 1925, erected in the Salvokop workshops in Pretoria and placed in service, numbered in the range from 2260 to 2265. The Class GE was the only purebred Garratt Double Mikado type to see service on the SAR.^[1][2][5][6]

The locomotives proved to be most successful and a second order for ten engines was placed with BP in 1926. These were placed in traffic during November of that year, numbered in the range from 2266 to 2275.^[1][2]

A third order for two locomotives, also from BP, followed in 1930, numbered 2276 and 2277 and placed in service in February 1931.^[1][2][5]

Characteristics

The Class GE Garratt was designed as a heavy goods locomotive for use on light 60 pounds per yard (30 kilograms per metre) rail. It was an enlarged version of the Class GD 2-6-2+2-6-2 Double Prairie type. They were the first eight-coupled Garratts to be built for the SAR and were, at the time of their introduction, the most powerful locomotives in respect of tractive effort operating on light track in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.^[2][5][7]

They had plate frames, steel Belpaire fireboxes and were superheated, with four safety valves set at 180 pounds per square inch (1,241 kilopascals). Their piston valves were actuated by Walschaerts valve gear, controlled by steam reversing gear. As delivered, they had 45 ¹⁄₂ inches (1,156 millimetres) diameter coupled wheels, which were later retyred to 46 inches (1,168 millimetres) diameter. The two water tanks had a combined capacity of 4,600 imperial gallons (20,900 litres), with a water-filling tube hole on the front tank only, since the front and rear tanks were connected by levelling pipes in accordance with the usual Garratt practice. The locomotives were delivered with mechanical lubricators, but these were later removed.^[2]

The locomotives of the three orders were visually distinguishable from one another. The first two orders were mechanically identical, but the second batch had redesigned water tanks with rounded top corners, and inset tops on their coal bunkers to improve rearward vision for the crew. They also had slightly smaller firebox and superheater heating areas than the engines of the first batch.^[3][4][5][7]

The two locomotives of the third batch were similar in general appearance to those of the second batch, but were 10 long hundredweight (508 kilograms) lighter than the engines of the first two batches, with arch tubes added in the firebox, wider cabs and 1 inch (25 millimetres) larger bore cylinders, which made them more powerful. Their engine units had a ¹⁄₂ inch (13 millimetres) longer wheelbase.^{[2][3][4][5][7]}

Service

They were placed in service working goods traffic on the light rail sections between Zeerust and Mafeking and between Pretoria and Pietersburg. Some were later allocated to the Natal North Coast, and a few were still later also used for a brief period to work across the Montagu Pass between George and Oudtshoorn.^[1][2][5][7]

Their final duties were on the Nkwalini branch in Natal, where the last survivors of the original eighteen locomotives were finally replaced by Class GEA and Class GO Garratts. The last ten Class GE locomotives were withdrawn from service in April 1975.^[5][7]

Knuckle couplers

From 1927, the SAR began to convert the couplers of its Cape Gauge rolling stock from the bell-shaped link-and-pin coupling system, which had been in use since the establishment of the Cape Government Railways in 1873, to AAR knuckle couplers. Conversion of all rolling stock was to take several years and both coupler types could still be seen on rolling stock into the late 1950s.^[1][3][4]

Of the locomotives depicted, no. 2269 has the older bell link-and-pin type couplers. The coupler on no. 2274 is one of the transition knuckle couplers, with a horizontal gap and a vertical hole in the knuckle itself to accommodate, respectively, a link and a pin, to enable the locomotive to couple to rolling stock which was still equipped with the older link-and-pin type couplers.^[1][3][4]

• 
  Second batch no. 2269 with bell link-and-pin couplers, c. 1930

• 
  Second batch no. 2274 with transition knuckle couplers at Stanger, c. September 1966
• 
  Third batch no. 2276 with standard knuckle couplers at Greyville, c. May 1971

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South African Class GE (2-8-2+2-8-2).

Locomotives of South Africa
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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