QUOTE (Doug @ 28 Sep 2008, 11:55)
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I found a South African Railways Class 15F Blueprint on eBay Something nice to frame. Quite big though at 1" to the foot.
SAR Class 15F 4-8-2
Introduced to Service :- 1938
Builders :- North British, Beyer Peacock, Henschel and Schwartzkopf.
Class Total :- 255 Locomotives
SAR Running Numbers :- 2902 to 3156
Weight Loco :- 113 tons
Weight Tender :- 69 tons (or 107 tons type EW)
Cylinders (2) :- 24 x 28 inches
Boiler Pressure :- 210 lbs per sq inch
Driving Wheels :- 5' 0" Diameter
Tractive Effort (85%) :- 47,980 lbs.
Valve Gear :- Walschaerts
So where can I get a model of one of these locos? DJH don't make one unfortunately. Anyone have an idea?
Hi Doug
I am new to this group and was just looking through the internet for South African Railway locos when I came across your letter regarding 15Fs. Believe it or not I have a whole layout in mainly HO gauge of many SAR steam locomotives. Unfortunatly the Ks kit of the 15F was made to OO gauge and is therefor slightly larger than the DJH SAR models. At present I have 4 X 15Fs (2x00 gauge Ks kits, 1x scratch and 1 3.5" gauge live steam)
The other DJH models are a class 23 that is very much like the 15F but had slightly larger wheels and a larger tender. Once the 23s were withdrawn many of the 15Fs were fitted with the longer tenders. At present I have 2x HO gauge DJH class 23s and a 5" gauge live steam loco. This beast is just over 12ft in length and is over half a ton in weight.
The next SAR locos that DJH produced is a 4-8-2 +2-8-4 class GMAM garratt (4X) Class 19D 4-8-2 tender loco (X2) Class 6J 4-6-0 tender loco and a 4-8-2+2-8-4 GCA garratt to which I have non.
I worked as a fireman on SAR and spent many hours in the cabs of 15Fs. They were fantastic machines and just about always done what the crew wanted them to do. However now and again they could make a firemans life hell on the footplate. With a massive firegrate of 63 sq ft to hand feed and cheap SA coal being burnt it really would make one work. I remember working an express of 19 coaches with a poor steaming 15F and a driver who could not care about the fireman or anything going on around him so long as the wheels were turning. In about 100miles I had shoveled every bit of coal (all 14 tons of it) from the tender and into the firebox and that was in under three hours with two stops. That was the hardest days work ever for me.
Anyway enough of that. I have put a number of my live steam SAR videos on Youtube under LifeofRail if you are interested or simply key in South African Railways.
Regards
Richard