CGR Kitson-Meyer 0-6-0+0-6-0

CGR Kitson-Meyer 0-6-0+0-6-0

Builder’s picture of CGR Kitson-Meyer no. 800, with works number 4197 on the cab plate

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Kitson and Company Builder Kitson and Company Serial number 4197 Build date 1903 Total produced 4

Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0+0-6-0 (Kitson-Meyer)  • UIC C+Cn4 Driver 1st and 4th coupled axles Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Coupled dia. 48 in (1,219 mm) Tender wheels 33 1⁄2 in (851 mm) Wheelbase 58 ft 4 1⁄2 in (17,793 mm)  • Engine 34 ft (10,363 mm)  • Coupled 8 ft 6 in (2,591 mm)  • Tender 14 ft 7 in (4,445 mm)  • Tender bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) Pivot centres Approx. 25 ft 6 in (7,772 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 66 ft 5 1⁄4 in (20,250 mm) Height 12 ft 10 in (3,912 mm) Axle load 14 LT 18 cwt (15,140 kg)  • 1st coupled 13 LT 1 cwt (13,260 kg)  • 2nd coupled 13 LT 3 cwt (13,360 kg)  • 3rd coupled 12 LT 11 cwt (12,750 kg)  • 4th coupled 14 LT 16 cwt (15,040 kg)  • 5th coupled 14 LT 14 cwt (14,940 kg)  • 6th coupled 14 LT 18 cwt (15,140 kg)  • Tender bogie Bogie 1: 18 LT 9 cwt (18,750 kg) Bogie 2: 19 LT 10 cwt (19,810 kg) Adhesive weight 83 LT 3 cwt (84,480 kg) Loco weight 83 LT 3 cwt (84,480 kg) Tender weight 37 LT 19 cwt (38,560 kg) Total weight 121 LT 2 cwt (123,000 kg) Tender type 2-axle bogies Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 7 LT (7.1 t) engine 6 LT (6.1 t) tender Water cap 3,000 imp gal (14,000 l) Firebox type Belpaire  • Firegrate area 34 sq ft (3.2 m2) Boiler: ​  • Pitch 7 ft 2 in (2,184 mm)  • Diameter 5 ft (1,524 mm)  • Tube plates 13 ft 9 5⁄8 in (4,207 mm)  • Small tubes 239: 2 in (51 mm) Boiler pressure 180 psi (1,241 kPa) Heating surface 1,863 sq ft (173.1 m2)  • Tubes 1,727 sq ft (160.4 m2)  • Firebox 136 sq ft (12.6 m2) Cylinders Four Cylinder size 16 in (406 mm) bore 24 in (610 mm) stroke Valve gear Walschaerts Couplers Johnston link-and-pin

Performance figures Tractive effort 34,560 lbf (153.7 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Cape Government Railways Number in class 1 Numbers 800 Delivered 1903 First run 1903 Last run 1908 Scrapped 1912

The Cape Government Railways Kitson-Meyer 0-6-0+0-6-0 of 1903 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1903, the Cape Government Railways placed a single experimental 0-6-0+0-6-0 Kitson-Meyer articulated steam locomotive in service on its Eastern System, working out of East London. The Kitson-Meyer was found to be a poor steamer and it was staged out of service by 1908 and scrapped in 1912.

In 1903, English locomotive builders Kitson and Company proposed that the Cape Government Railways (CGR), the Beira and Mashonaland Railway (B&MR) and the Central South African Railways (CSAR) try their new 0-6-0+0-6-0 Kitson-Meyer articulated steam locomotive.

Since the severe gradients and curves on the mainline out of East London had been a major challenge to locomotive power ever since the line was constructed, Cape Government Railways (CGR) Locomotive Super­intendent H.M. Beatty made use of the opportunity to experiment with this locomotive, of which the full weight of the engine would be available for adhesion. One locomotive was delivered to the CGR in 1903 and numbered 800. Two more of these locomotives went to the B&MR in that same year, numbered 51 and 52, and one to the CSAR in 1904, numbered 1000.

The Kitson-Meyer locomotive consisted of two sets of coupled wheels under one frame, with both power units free to swivel in relation to the frame. Unlike the usual practice on articulated steam locomotives where the engine units would be mounted in opposing orientations, those of the Kitson-Meyer were both mounted back-to-front with the coupled wheels forward of the cylinders. The rear engine unit discharged its exhaust steam up a chimney which was mounted in the coal bunker to the rear of the cab, while the front engine unit discharged in the usual manner up the chimney mounted on the smokebox in front of the boiler.

The Kitson-Meyer was a development of the Meyer locomotive. On a Meyer locomotive, the two engine units were mounted close together, usually with the cylinder ends of the engine units facing each other at the centre of the locomotive. One disadvantage of this design was that the rear engine unit's cylinders were directly beneath the firebox, thereby limiting it in size.