#0278
East London Harbour 0-4-0VB
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Alexander Chaplin and Company· from 1873· class of 4 South African 0-4-0VBT locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. HB East London 0-4-0: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The East London Harbour 0-4-0VB of 1873 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope. In 1847, the government of the Cape of Good Hope established harbour boards at its three major ports, Table Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London. While railway lines were laid at all these harbours, trains were for the most part initially hauled by oxen or mules.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 153 years ago, in 1873.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1873–1879
- in service from
- 1873
- number built
- 4
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Alexander Chaplin and Company
- designer
- Alexander Chaplin & Co.
- operators
- East London Harbour Board
- top speed
- —
- power
- 11 kW
- gauge
- 2,140 mm Brunel broad gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 0-4-0
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q17054777, Wikipedia: East London Harbour 0-4-0VB (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.