South African Dock Shunter Hudswell Clarke & Co    Works No 686 & 687    0-4-0ST   Thebus & Stormberg     Public Works Department of the Cape of Good Hope & South African Railways  Gauge 3ft 6in

Weight15t 16cwt   
Driving Wheels2ft 9ins
Boiler Pressure150psi
CylindersOutside – 10in x 16in
Tractive Effort5,454lbf
Valve GearStephenson

Two 0-4-0ST built by Hudswell Clarke & Co in Leeds for the Irrigation Department of the Public Works Department of the Cape of Good Hope in 1903.

During the First World War, when the South African Railways (SAR) experienced an acute shortage of locomotive power, it acquired a number of locomotives from private concerns and other government departments.

The Public Works Department (PWD) of the Cape Province had two locomotives, used by the Irrigation Department as dam construction engines, which it could spare. These two were donated to the SAR by the Department of Water Affairs in 1916. Numbered l and 2 by Water Affairs.

They were acquired for use as harbour shunting engines. In railway service they were named instead of being classified and numbered.

The locomotives were not classified or numbered by the SAR and were named instead. The first was named Thebus after the town Teebus on the line between Stormberg and Rosmead on the Cape Midland System, while the second was named Stormberg after the town of that name on the Cape Eastern System mainline from Springfontein to East London.

The Thebus spent most of its SAR service life as dock shunter at the Port Elizabeth Harbour. At some time the locomotive was fitted with a balloon-type spark arrester on its chimney. This locomotive is believed tom have been scrapped.

The Stormberg spent most of its SAR service life as a dock shunter in East London Harbour until it was eventually semi-retired and used to test the steam-heating equipment on passenger coaches. During the Second World War, it was transferred to Cape Town for use as a construction locomotive during the expansion works at Table Bay Harbour. From there it went to Mosselbaai to once again serve as harbour shunting engine until it was transferred to Germiston in Transvaal, where it was retired and placed in storage for a number of years.

In 1964, the engine Stormberg was refurbished at Germiston before being taken back to East London, where it was plinthed at East London station. It finally ended up as an exhibit in the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George. At some stage between being in storage at Germiston and becoming a museum exhibit, the spark arrester, headlight and headlight mount were removed.

The locomotive is on static display in the Transnet Transport Museum at George.

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