South African Class 7E 4-8-0

The South African Railways Class 7E 4-8-0 of 1899 was a class of seven 4-8-0 Mastodon type steam locomotives from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope, a variant of the Cape 7th Class designed in 1892 by H.M. Beatty, then the Cape Government Railways Western System Locomotive Superintendent. The New Cape Central Railway placed the first in service in 1899, three more in 1900, two in 1903 and the last in 1904. The first four were built by Neilson, Reid and Company. While the next two were being built, three Scottish builders, Dübs and Company, Neilson, Reid and Sharp, Stewart and Company, merged into the North British Locomotive Company, so locomotives 5 and 6 were delivered as NBL builds at the Hyde Park works of the former Neilson, Reid. Locomotive 7 was also built by NBL, although the works list shows it as built for the contractors Pauling and Company, who constructed the railway. When the railway was amalgamated into the South African Railways in 1925 the seven became Class 7E and were renumbered 1344 to 1350. They were long lived and worked branch lines such as Touws River to Ladismith, and the last two were withdrawn in 1965.