South African type EW2 tender

South African type EW2 tender

Type EW2 tender no. 3480, 5 October 2009

Type and origin Locomotive Class 25NC Designer South African Railways Builder South African Railways In service 1973-1980 Rebuilt from Type CZ Rebuild date 1973-1980

Specifications Configuration 3-axle bogies Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Wheel dia. 34 in (864 mm) Wheelbase 45 ft 10 in (13,970 mm)  • Bogie 10 ft (3,048 mm) Fuel type Coal Fuel cap. 19 LT (19.3 t) Water cap. 11,200 imp gal (50,900 l) Stoking Mechanical Couplers Drawbar & AAR knuckle

Career Operators South African Railways Numbers SAR 3452-3479, 3481-3510, 3512-3539 Nicknames Worshond

The South African type EW2 tender was a steam locomotive tender.

Type EW2 tenders were rebuilt from Type CZ tenders which had entered service between 1953 and 1955 as steam condensing tenders to the Class 25 4-8-4 Northern type condensing steam locomotives. The tenders were stripped of their condensing equipment and fitted with huge water tanks when their engines were modified to Class 25NC non-condensing locomotives between 1973 and 1980.

Altogether 90 Type CZ steam condensing tenders were built in 1953 by Henschel and Son and North British Locomotive Company as tenders to the Class 25 condensing steam locomotives. In 1963 one more was built by the South African Railways (SAR). The design work on the locomotive's condensing apparatus and the Type CZ condensing tender was carried out by Henschel, who held the patent.

The Class 25 was a complex locomotive which required high maintenance, especially on the turbine blower fans in the smokebox, of which the blades needed to be replaced frequently due to damage by solid particles in the exhaust. The equally complex condensing tender also required frequent maintenance.

Between 1973 and 1980, after serving for twenty years and partially accelerated by the introduction of electric and diesel-electric traction over routes which were previously served exclusively by the Class 25, all but three of the Class 25 condensing locomotives, numbers 3451, 3511 and 3540, were converted to free-exhausting and non-condensing locomotives and reclassified to Class 25NC. Their Type CZ condensing tenders were rebuilt to regular coal and water tenders. Since these tenders often migrated between engines during overhauls, the fleet numbers as shown are those of the rebuilt engines and are not necessarily correct for the tenders.

The first conversion was done at Beaconsfield on no. 3452. The tender was stripped of its condensing equipment, but retained its original fresh water and condensate tanks and feed pumps, with the result that the boiler would now be fed with cold water, apparently with none of the ill effects which had been predicted earlier. The radiator framing and roof were panelled over. The locomotive's general appearance therefore changed little, but while the conversion of its tender was aesthetically superior when compared with subsequent conversions, it did not carry enough water.