CGR 0-4-0ST 1878 Aid

CGR 0-4-0ST 1878 Aid

300px Harbour construction locomotive Aid at Port Alfred

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Fox, Walker and Company Builder Fox, Walker and Company Serial number 325 Build date 1877

Specifications Configuration 0-4-0ST (Four-coupled) Driver axle 2nd coupled axle Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) broad Coupled dia Wheelbase 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)  • Coupled 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) Length:  • Over couplers 18 ft (5,486 mm) over buffers  • Over Bufferbeams 16 ft (4,877 mm) Height 10 ft 6 in (3,200 mm) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 1 LT 10 cwt (1.5 t) Water cap Boiler:  • Pitch  • Diameter  • Tube plates  • Small tubes 69: 2 in (51 mm)  • Firebox type Round-top Boiler pressure 130 psi (896 kPa) Safety valve Salter Firegrate area 5.5 sq ft (0.51 m2) Heating surface 315.72 sq ft (29.331 m2)  • Tubes 281.56 sq ft (26.158 m2)  • Firebox 34.16 sq ft (3.174 m2) Cylinders Two Cylinder size 10 in (254 mm) bore 18 in (457 mm) stroke Valve gear Stephenson Couplers Buffers and chain

Performance figures Tractive effort 4,680 lbf (20.8 kN) @ 75%

Career Operators Cape Government Railways Number in class 1 Official name Aid Delivered 1878 First run 1878

The Cape Government Railways 0-4-0ST Aid of 1878 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.

In June 1874, while construction work by the Kowie Harbour Improvement Company was underway at Port Alfred, the Cape Government Railways shipped their 0-4-2 tank locomotive no. 9 Blackie from Cape Town to Port Alfred, for use as construction locomotive. In 1878, when it became necessary to regularly ferry the locomotive from one bank of the Kowie River to the other, as circumstances demanded, a second locomotive was obtained, a 0-4-0 saddle-tank engine named Aid.

Port Alfred harbour

In the middle of the 19th century, Port Alfred, situated at the Kowie River mouth, was considered as a possible third major port in the Eastern Cape, in addition to the ports of Port Elizabeth to the southwest and East London to the northeast. In 1857, the Kowie Harbour Improvement Company commenced work to construct embankments and increase the depth of the river mouth. The work was eventually taken over by the Cape Government, who spent more than £800,000 in the attempt to develop the harbour.

In 1874, when the need arose for a construction locomotive on site, the 0-4-2 tank locomotive no. 9 Blackie, the first locomotive in South Africa, was shipped to Port Alfred by the Cape Government Railways. The engine Blackie, officially named Frontier, was put to work on the west bank of the Kowie river, but as pressure of work demanded, it became necessary to regularly ferry the locomotive from one bank of the Kowie to the other.

Manufacturer

To do away with the time-consuming tedium of ferrying the locomotive to and fro across the river, an order for a second locomotive was placed in 1877 with Fox, Walker and Company of Bristol in England, through the Crown Agents for the Colonies. Fox, Walker supplied a 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotive, which was shipped in two sections and on two brigs, the Frieda and the Lena, which arrived at Port Alfred on 1 January 1878.

Service

The new locomotive, also built for 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) broad gauge, was assembled on the east bank of the Kowie and named Aid. It worked at Port Alfred until the harbour construction work was terminated around the turn of the twentieth century, as a result of the continuous silting up of the river mouth, which made the project unviable. The engine Aid was then abandoned and left standing in a shed.

Disposal

At some time shortly after the end of World War I, the engine Aid was stripped down and buried on site. Its remains were exhumed in January 1960 and presented to the museum at Port Elizabeth, where it was intended to rebuild the locomotive to a condition suitable for static exhibition, using dimensional drawings of the locomotive which had since been discovered.

However, nothing came of the restoration plans and the exhumed remains of the locomotive were eventually sold as scrap metal.