#3190
Rhodesia Railways 20th class
Zimbabwe ·built by Beyer, Peacock and Company· from 1954· locomotive class
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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. HGG-20A750SteamDepotBulawayo: H.G.Graser· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. Dete-20-747Bek: H.G.Graser· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. Class 20th Nbr 730 (7864230198): Bob Adams from George, South Africa· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Rhodesia Railways 20th class, later Zambia Railways and National Railways of Zimbabwe 20th classes, were among the largest and most powerful steam locomotives in the southern hemisphere. With 61 locomotives built, they were the fourth largest class of Garratt locomotive built – after the South African Railways class GMA, (120), the Rhodesia Railways 15th class, (74) and the South African Railways class GF (65).
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 72 years ago, in 1954.
- 31.4 m long: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1954–1958
- retired
- 1992
- status
- retired
- number built
- 61
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- Zimbabwe
- builders
- Beyer, Peacock and Company
- operators
- National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zambia Railways
- top speed
- 70 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-8-2+2-8-4
- length
- 31.4 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q999099, Wikipedia: Rhodesia Railways 20th class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.