#1752

South African Class 16A 4-6-2

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by North British Locomotive Company· from 1915· class of 2 South African 4-6-2 locomotives

1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. SAR Class 16A 852 (4-6-2) a: 1930's Railway Circle, (members Frank Garrison, A. Butchard, Dr Eric Manken, Arthur Arnold, Frank Holland, A. Spence, S.H. Carter, Bill Schutz, Dave Parsons and others)· Public domain

what is it?

The South African Railways Class 16A 4-6-2 of 1915 was a steam locomotive. In 1915, the South African Railways placed two experimental four-cylinder simple expansion steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement in passenger train service.

who runs it

South African Railways and Harbours Administration

base stats

built 2made in total

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 111 years ago, in 1915.
Served for 29 years (1915–1944).

steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.

spec sheet

built: 1915
in service from: 1915
retired: 1944
status: retired
number built: 2
kind: Steam
traction: steam
origin: 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
builders: North British Locomotive Company
designer: South African Railways, (D.A. Hendrie)
operators: South African Railways and Harbours Administration
top speed: —
power: —
gauge: 1,067 mm Cape gauge
wheel arrangement: 4-6-2 (Pacific)

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q7565473, Wikipedia: South African Class 16A 4-6-2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.