South African Dock Shunter 0-4-0ST

The South African Railways Dock Shunter 0-4-0ST of 1903 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

South African Dock Shunter 0-4-0ST
The engine Stormberg, Outeniqua Transport Museum, 15 April 2013
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Hudswell, Clarke and Company Builder Hudswell, Clarke and Company Serial number 686-687 Build date 1903 Total produced 2
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-4-0ST  • UIC Bn2t Driver 2nd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Coupled dia. 33 in (838 mm) Wheelbase 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 20 ft 7 in (6,274 mm)  • Over beams 17 ft (5,182 mm) Height 10 ft 2 in (3,099 mm) Frame type Plate Axle load 7 LT 18 cwt (8,027 kg) average Adhesive weight 15 LT 16 cwt (16,050 kg) Loco weight 15 LT 16 cwt (16,050 kg) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 5 long hundredweight (0.3 t) Water cap. 400 imp gal (1,820 L) Firebox: ​  • Type Round-top  • Grate area 5.25 sq ft (0.488 m2) Boiler: ​  • Pitch 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm)  • Tube plates 8 ft 7 in (2,616 mm)  • Small tubes 58: 2 in (51 mm) Boiler pressure 150 psi (1,034 kPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 32.5 sq ft (3.02 m2)  • Tubes 201.5 sq ft (18.72 m2)  • Total surface 234 sq ft (21.7 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 10 in (254 mm) bore 16 in (406 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Couplers Johnston link-and-pin
Performance figures Tractive effort 5,454 lbf (24.26 kN) @ 75%
Career Operators Cape Colony Irrigation Department South African Railways Class Harbour shunter Number in class 2 Numbers PWD 1 & 2 Official name SAR Thebus & Stormberg Delivered 1903 First run 1903 (PWD), 1916 (SAR)

Two 0-4-0ST locomotives named Thebus and Stormberg, which were originally built for the Irrigation Department of the Public Works Department of the Cape of Good Hope in 1903, were acquired by the South African Railways in 1916 for use as harbour shunting engines. In railway service they were named instead of being classified and numbered.

Origin

During the First World War, when the South African Railways (SAR) experienced an acute shortage of locomotive power, it acquired a number of locomotives from private concerns and other government departments.

The Public Works Department (PWD) of the Cape Province had two locomotives, used by the Irrigation Department as dam construction engines, which it could spare. These two were donated to the SAR by the Department of Water Affairs in 1916. Numbered l and 2 by Water Affairs, they were 0-4-0ST locomotives which had been built by Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited in 1903.

Names

The locomotives were not classified or numbered by the SAR and were named instead. The first was named Thebus after the town Teebus on the line between Stormberg and Rosmead on the Cape Midland System, while the second was named Stormberg after the town of that name on the Cape Eastern System mainline from Springfontein to East London.

Service

The engine Thebus spent most of its SAR service life as dock shunter at the Port Elizabeth Harbour.

The engine Stormberg spent most of its SAR service life as a dock shunter in East London Harbour until it was eventually semi-retired and used to test the steam-heating equipment on passenger coaches. During the Second World War, it was transferred to Cape Town for use as a construction locomotive during the expansion works at Table Bay Harbour. From there it went to Mosselbaai to once again serve as harbour shunting engine until it was transferred to Germiston in Transvaal, where it was retired and placed in storage for a number of years.

By then, the engine Stormberg was sporting a balloon-type spark arrester on its chimney and a headlight mounted on a shelf attached to the front of the smokebox.

Preservation

In 1964, the engine Stormberg was refurbished at Germiston before being taken back to East London, where it was plinthed at East London station. It finally ended up as an exhibit in the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George. At some stage between being in storage at Germiston and becoming a museum exhibit, the spark arrester, headlight and headlight mount were removed.

The engine Thebus was presumably scrapped.

Illustration

• 
  The engine Thebus in service, c. 1920
• 
  The engine Stormberg testing steam-heating equipment, c. 1920