South African Railways NGG16 Garratt
The South African Railways NGG16 Garratt was a series of articulated 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt steam locomotives built by Beyer Peacock of Manchester between 1937 and 1967 for the South African Railways' extensive 2 ft gauge feeder network in Natal and the Cape, and subsequently many examples have found second lives on Welsh narrow-gauge heritage railways following the decline of South African narrow-gauge steam. The Garratt articulated configuration — in which two separate power units (each with its own cylinders, wheels, and valve gear) are joined by a central boiler unit that swivels on the power bogies — allowed a much larger and more powerful locomotive than the track curvature and weight restrictions of the 2 ft gauge network would permit in a conventional rigid-frame design.
The most prominent British home for the NGG16 Garratt is the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales, where several examples haul passenger trains through the spectacular mountain scenery of Snowdonia on the restored narrow-gauge line from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. One example, No. 77, is operated at the Brecon Mountain Railway in South Wales.
Identification features
Beyer-Garratt 2 ft gauge articulated 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 with twin power bogies and large central boiler.
Notable locomotives
- 87, 138, 140, 143 (WHR — operational and under restoration)
Livery history
Preservation status
No NGG16 is counted here. No. 77, often described as an NGG16, is in fact an NGG13. Built by Hanomag in 1928 for the South African Railways’ Natal narrow-gauge lines and withdrawn in 1983, it came to Brecon in about 1986, was sold in 2002 and is now static at the Exmoor Steam Railway under long-term restoration. Whether any NGG16 proper is preserved in Britain could not be established from the sources consulted, so no figure is asserted.
