In 1903, soon after its establishment, the Central South African Railways placed thirty Class 8-L2 4-8-0 Mastodon steam locomotives in service. Ten were built by Neilson, Reid and Company and twenty by North British Locomotive Company, which was established through the amalgamation of Neilson, Reid with Dübs and Company and Sharp, Stewart and Company while the locomotives were being built. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered in the range from 1132 to 1161 and reclassified to Class 8B. In the 1930s six of these locomotives were equipped with superheated boilers, 20 inches (508 millimetres) bore cylinders and inside admission piston valves and reclassified to Class 8BW.
See also the Wikipedia article on the South African Class 8B 4-8-0. |