South African Class 12 4-8-2

The South African Railways Class 12 4-8-2 of 1912 was a steam locomotive. Between April 1912 and 1922 the South African Railways placed 46 Class 12 locomotives with a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement in goods train service. Design work began in 1910 for a heavy goods engine for the coal service between Witbank and Germiston, and the result was the first locomotive design to originate from the newly established railways, in effect an enlarged version of the Class 3B. The first batch of four was delivered from the North British Locomotive Company in April 1912, and more followed from it in 1913 and 1915. The article also describes locomotives from a second builder, whose cab differed from the Glasgow-built engines.