| Weight | 134t – 14cwt |
| Driving Wheels | 5ft 0ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 190psi Superheated |
| Cylinders | Outside – 22in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 29,890lbf |
| Valve Gear | Walschaert |
Details above are for class 16B as built.
The ten locomotives of the 16B class were built in Glasgow by the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) in 1917 for the South African Railways (SAR). They were designed by D A Hendrie who was the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR.
They were identical to the predecessor class 16 and successor class 16C in most respects, except that they had wider cabs than the class 16, while the class 16C was equipped with a combustion chamber in the firebox. Other minor alterations from the Class 16’s characteristics were the injector and some cab and footplate arrangements.
During 1936, the coupled wheels were enlarged from 60 to 63 inches diameter and the boiler pressure setting accordingly adjusted from 190 to 200 psi. This raised their tractive effort slightly from 29,890 to 29,960 lbf.
During the 1930s, many serving locomotives were reboilered with a standard boiler type designed by A.G. Watson, CME of the SAR at the time, as part of his standardisation policy. Such Watson Standard reboilered locomotives were reclassified by adding an R suffix to their classification.
Eventually all ten class 16B locomotives as well as all thirty class 16C locomotives were reboilered with Watson Standard no 2B boilers. In the process of reboilering, the main difference between the 16B and 16C classes, which was the combustion chamber behind the class 16C boiler, disappeared. The reboilered class 16B locomotives were also reclassified to class 16CR. Early conversions were equipped with copper and later conversions with steel fireboxes. In the process, they were also equipped with Watson cabs with their distinctive slanted fronts, compared to the conventional vertical fronts of their original cabs.
Some ex class 16B locomotives erroneously received new number plates after reboilering which identified them as class 16BR, even though such an SAR class never officially existed.
The class 16B locomotives were employed on express passenger service, working fast passenger services between Pretoria and Johannesburg and hauling all the important passenger trains of the time, such as the Natal mail train on the section between Johannesburg and Volksrust and the Cape mail train on the section between Johannesburg and Klerksdorp. When they were replaced by newer locomotives they were relegated to less glamorous passenger duties until, by the 1940s, they were hauling suburban and transfer service.
During the 1950s, some were relocated to Durban to assist on the South Coast line. When this line was electrified in 1967, they were again relocated, this time to Port Elizabeth, where they worked suburban trains to Uitenhage. Others remained on the Witwatersrand, working the suburban to Springs and Nigel, double-heading with class 15ARs on Pietersburg-bound trains out of Pretoria, as well as shunting and local pickup service. They were withdrawn from service between 1975 and 1976.
Preservation
North British Locomotive Company Works No 21495 – SAR 805
North British Locomotive Company Works No 21499 – SAR 809
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