South West African 2-8-0T

GSWA Eight-Coupled Tank 2-8-0T South West African 2-8-0T
Eight-coupled tank no. LE 15, c. 1912
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Orenstein & Koppel Builder Orenstein & Koppel Serial number 1870-1875, 2069-70, 2356-2361, 2731-2734, 3182-3184, 4198-4199 Build date 1906-1910 Total produced 23
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-8-0T (Consolidation)  • UIC 1'Dnv2t (no. 1-6) 1'Dn2t (all others) Driver 3rd coupled axle Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge Leading dia. 27 9⁄16 in (700 mm) Coupled dia. 39 3⁄8 in (1,000 mm) Wheelbase 17 ft 8 5⁄8 in (5,401 mm)  • Coupled 11 ft 9 3⁄4 in (3,600 mm) Length: ​  • Over couplers 29 ft 10 1⁄2 in (9,106 mm)  • Over beams 26 ft 3 in (8,001 mm) Height 11 ft 1 7⁄8 in (3,400 mm) Axle load 7 LT 8 cwt (7,519 kg) Loco weight 34 LT 10 cwt (35,050 kg) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 6 LT 5 cwt (6.4 t) Water cap 1,045 imp gal (4,750 l) Firebox type Round-top  • Firegrate area 12.5 sq ft (1.16 m2) Boiler: ​  • Pitch 6 ft 3 3⁄16 in (1,910 mm)  • Small tubes 148: 1 3⁄4 in (44 mm) Boiler pressure 171 psi (1,179 kPa) Heating surface 697 sq ft (64.8 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 14 9⁄16 in (370 mm) bore 19 1⁄16 in (484 mm) stroke High-pressure cylinder 14 9⁄16 in (370 mm) Low-pressure cylinder 22 1⁄16 in (560 mm) Valve gear Heusinger Valve type D trick-ported slide Couplers Buffers-and-chain
Performance figures Tractive effort 13,580 lbf (60.4 kN) @ 75%
Career Operators Lüderitzbucht Eisenbahn South African Railways Number in class 14 Numbers LE 1-18, 20-22, 51-52 Delivered 1907-1910 First run 1907

The South West African 2-8-0T of 1907 was a steam locomotive from the German South West Africa era.

Between 1907 and 1910, the Lüderitzbucht Eisenbahn (Lüderitzbucht Railway) in German South West Africa placed 23 tank locomotives with a 2-8-0 Consolidation type wheel arrangement in service. After the First World War, when all railways in the territory came under the administration of the South African Railways in 1922, four of these locomotives still survived. They were not classified or renumbered but were simply referred to as the Eight-Coupled Tanks.

Construction of a Cape gauge railway line from Lüderitzbucht on the Atlantic coast to Keetmanshoop commenced in 1905. The Lüderitzbucht Eisenbahn, later the Southern State Railway or Südbahn, was completed at a cost of £2,100,000 and was worked on behalf of the government by the German contractors, Lenz and Company.

In 1909, a branch was constructed to Karasburg in the south from a junction at Seeheim, to the west of Keetmanshoop. Between 1910 and 1912, the North-South Railway or Nord-Südbahn, which connected with the Südbahn at Keetmanshoop, was constructed jointly by the German Imperial and the German South West Africa governments from Windhoek via Mariental, at a cost of £2,000,000.

The original narrow gauge Swakopmund-Windhuk Staatsbahn or Nordbahn was regauged to Cape gauge from Windhoek to Karibib in 1911. Upon the completion of these three lines, Windhoek had rail links to two of the territory's ports. The extension from Prieska via Upington in the Union of South Africa to Karasburg in South West Africa was constructed by the Union government in 1914 and 1915, during the First World War.

In 1907, eight Cape Gauge tank locomotives with a 2-8-0 Consolidation type wheel arrangement were delivered to the Lüderitzbucht Eisenbahn by Orenstein & Koppel. They were numbered in the range from 1 to 8 and were all built in 1906. The first six of these locomotives were two-cylinder compound engines which were built to the Von Borries principles, the only compound locomotives of this design to serve in Southern Africa. The other two, numbers 7 and 8, were two-cylinder simple-expansion (simplex) engines.