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#1878

South African Class 16C 4-6-2

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by North British Locomotive Company· from 1919· class of 30 South African 4-6-2 locomotives

South African Class 16C 4-6-2, photo 1 of 10
1/10 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 16C 4-6-2 of 1919 was a steam locomotive. During 1919, the South African Railways placed ten Class 16C steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 Pacific type wheel arrangement in mainline passenger service. Another twenty entered service in 1922.

who runs it

base stats

  • built 30made 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 107 years ago, in 1919.
  • Served for 57 years (1919–1976).

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

spec sheet

built
1919–1922
in service from
1919
retired
1976
status
retired
number built
30
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 Q7565475, Wikipedia: South African Class 16C 4-6-2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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