South West African Jung Explained

GSWA Jung 0-6-2T
South West African Jung 0-6-2T
Powertype:Steam
Designer:Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik
Builder:Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik
Serialnumber:707-716, 804-808
Builddate:1903
Totalproduction:15
Uicclass:C1n2t
Driver:3rd coupled axle
Gauge: narrow
Coupleddiameter:NaN0NaN0
Wheelbase:11feet
Coupled:5feet
Tender Total:16feet
Wheelspacing:1-2: 2feet
2-3: 2feet
Over Couplers:22feet (0-6-2T)
39feet (0-6-2)
Over Bufferbeams:19feet (0-6-2T)
Width:6feet
Height:10feet
Frametype:Plate
Locoweight:21lt
Tendertype:2-axle bogies
Fueltype:Coal
Fuelcap:151NaN1
Watercap:770sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3
Tendercap:2lt coal
1188sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 water
Fireboxtype:Round-top
Firearea:7.7square feet
Pitch:4feet
Boilerpressure:1710NaN0
Fireboxarea:38.5square feet
Cylindercount:Two
Cylindersize:NaN0NaN0 bore
NaN0NaN0 stroke
Valvegear:Heusinger
Valvetype:Murdoch's D slide
Coupling:Buffer-and-chains
Tractiveeffort:8928lbf @ 75%
Operator:Otavi Mining and Railway Co.
South African Railways
Numinclass:15
Fleetnumbers:1-15
Deliverydate:1904
Firstrundate:1904

The South West African Jung 0-6-2T of 1904 was a narrow gauge steam locomotive from the German South West Africa era.

In 1904, the Otavi Mining and Railway Company in German South West Africa acquired fifteen locomotives from Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik in Germany. Two of them survived the First World War to be taken onto the South African Railways roster in 1922.[1]

The Otavi Railway

Construction of the 6002NaN2 narrow gauge Otavi Railway in German South West Africa (GSWA), which heads northeastward from Swakopmund via Usakos and Otjiwarongo, commenced in November 1903. The 351miles line was completed through Otavi and on to Tsumeb in August 1906, with a 56miles branch line from Otavi to Grootfontein. From Swakopmund to Usakos, the line ran more or less parallel and to the north of the original Swakopmund-Windhuk Staatsbahn or Nordbahn, which had been constructed from 1897.[2]

In 1905, a short 140NaN0 branchline was constructed from Onguati near Usakos on the Otavi line to Karibib on the Nordbahn to create an alternative line from Windhoek to the Atlantic Ocean at times when the Nordbahn's section through the Khan River gorge suffered from the occasional flooding.[2]

The Otavi Railway, the longest narrow gauge railway in the world, was an industrial enterprise of the Otavi Mining and Railway Company. The railway was constructed by Messrs. Arthur Koppel and Company at a cost of about £2,400 per mile. It was well-built with a ruling gradient of about 1 in 66 and minimum curvature of 1500NaN0. The tracks were laid with 300NaN0 steel rails on 260NaN0 steel sleepers. From sea level at Swakopmund, the railway rose to an altitude of 35000NaN0 at Ebony, then dropped to an altitude of 26400NaN0 at Usakos and then rose to its highest elevation of 52000NaN0 at Kalkveld.[2]

On 1 April 1910, the Otavi Railway and its assets were purchased by the German Administration for £1,000,000 under a lease agreement in terms of which the mining company would continue to operate the line for a further ten years. As a result, the problematic Khan River section of the Nordbahn line could finally be abandoned.[2]

Manufacturer

The first mainline locomotives for the Otavi Railway were these fifteen steam locomotives, numbered in the range from 1 to 15, which were built by Arnold Jung Lokomotivfabrik in Germany in 1904.[1]

Characteristics

They used Heusinger valve gear to actuate Murdoch's D slide valves and were built on NaN0NaN0 thick plate frames which were arranged outside the coupled and trailing wheels. Their coal bunkers had a capacity of 151NaN1, while their side tanks carried 770sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 of water.[1]

Service

Until the railway was completed in 1906, these locomotives also served as construction engines. Since the Otavi railway traversed the Namib Desert, the engines were often seen with rectangular auxiliary water tenders in tow.[1]

During the First World War, the former German Colony came under South African administration and the railways in GSWA came under control of the Union Defence Forces. Control of all railway operations in South West Africa (SWA) was passed on from the Military to the Director of Railways in Windhoek on 1 August 1915. On 1 April 1922, all the railway lines and rolling stock in the territory became part of the South African Railways (SAR), but the SWA locomotives were never reclassified or renumbered and retained their former German identities until they were withdrawn from service.

Two of the Jung locomotives survived into the SAR era, no. 1 and no. 13, the rest by then having either been scrapped or, like no. 9 which is preserved at Tsumeb, sold to industry. Both SAR locomotives had been modified to tank-and-tender engines for use on the Otavi Railway's fast passenger service. Their coal bunkers were removed and they were equipped with tenders, supplied by Henschel and Son, which ran on four-wheeled bogies and had a capacity of 2lt coal and 1188sigfig=3NaNsigfig=3 water. Similar tenders had been fitted to modified Class Ha locomotives.[1]

Works numbers

The locomotive numbers and Jung works numbers are listed in the table.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1947). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, October 1947. pp. 859-860.
  2. Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1947). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued). South West Africa. South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, August 1947. p. 667.
  3. Jung works list, compiled by Austrian locomotive historian Bernhard Schmeiser