South African Class 14A 4-8-2

The South African Railways Class 14A 4-8-2 of 1914 was a lighter Mountain type version of the Class 14, of which the railways placed 41 in service in 1914 and 1915. D.A. Hendrie, the Chief Mechanical Engineer, based it on the Class 14 for coastal lines, particularly the Cape Eastern line from East London, and ordered it from the North British Locomotive Company in 1913 in two batches of 20 and 21. Although good engines, they were not very successful on the East London line and were soon shared between the Cape Western system and the Eastern Transvaal, where they worked the line to Delagoa Bay. Many were later reboilered with Watson Standard boilers and fitted with Watson cabs.