South African type ZA tender

South African type ZA tender

Type ZA tender on CGR 7th Class of 1892

Type and origin Locomotive CGR 7th Class of 1892 Designer Cape Government Railways (H.M. Beatty) Builder Dübs and Company In service 1892

Specifications Configuration 2-axle bogies Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Length 21 ft 9 1⁄8 in (6,633 mm) Wheel dia. 33 1⁄2 in (851 mm) as built 34 in (864 mm) retyred Wheelbase 14 ft 7 in (4,445 mm)  • Bogie 4 ft 7 in (1,397 mm) Fuel type Coal Fuel cap. 3 LT 10 cwt (3.6 t) Water cap. 2,220 imp gal (10,100 l) Stoking Manual Couplers Drawbar & Johnston link-and-pin

Career Operators Cape Government Railways Imperial Military Railways South African Railways Numbers SAR 950-953, 968-969

The South African type ZA tender was a steam locomotive tender from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

The Type ZA tender entered service in 1892, as tenders to the first batch of 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type steam locomotives to be acquired by the Cape Government Railways. These locomotives were designated Class 7 on the South African Railways in 1912.

The Types ZA and ZB tenders were both introduced in 1892 as tenders to the original Cape Government Railways (CGR) 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type locomotive, which was built in two batches. Six engines were built by Dübs and Company in 1892, and 32 by Neilson and Company in 1892 and 1893. Since a Neilson works picture shows one of the Neilson-built batch of locomotives with the larger-capacity three-axle Type ZB tender, it is likely that the smaller-capacity Type ZA bogie tenders were delivered with the first batch of six 7th Class locomotives, built by Dübs.

The locomotive and tender were designed at the Salt River works in Cape Town under the supervision of Western System Locomotive Superintendent H.M. Beatty.

The Type ZA entered service as tenders to these locomotives, all of which were initially placed in service on the Midland System of the CGR, but were later distributed between the Midland and Eastern Systems. These engines would be designated Class 7 on the South African Railways (SAR) in 1912.

The tender had a coal capacity of 3 long tons 10 hundredweight (3.6 tonnes) and a water capacity of 2,220 imperial gallons (10,100 litres).

In the SAR years, tenders were numbered for the engines they were delivered with. In most cases, an oval number plate, bearing the tender number and tender type, would be attached to the rear end of the tender. During the classification and renumbering of locomotives onto the SAR roster in 1912, no separate classification and renumbering list was published for tenders, which should have been renumbered according to the locomotive renumbering list.