Namaqualand 0-4-2ST Pioneer
Namaqualand 0-4-2ST Pioneer | |
---|---|
ST | |
• UIC | B1n2t |
Driver | 2nd coupled axle |
Gauge | 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) Namaqualand |
Loco weight | 7 LT (7,112 kg) |
Fuel type | Oil |
Firebox: | |
• Type | Round-top |
Cylinders | Two |
Couplers | Buffers-and-chain |
Career | |
---|---|
Operators | Namaqua Copper Company |
Number in class | 1 |
Official name | Pioneer |
Delivered | 1901 |
First run | 1901 |
The Namaqua Copper Company
In 1901, the Namaqua Copper Company acquired its first locomotive, a
Namaqua Copper Company
The Namaqua United Copper Company was formed to take over the Namaqua Copper Company from 1 January 1888 and, on 14 May 1888, it was reconstructed as the Namaqua Copper Company. In 1889, the mine built a 7+1⁄2-mile long (12.1-kilometre) branch line from Braakpits Junction, near
A tramway line was also constructed from Flat Mine to the Company's most important mine at Tweefontein, as well as branch lines to the Company stores at
Copper ore from the Namaqua Copper Company's mines and other Company traffic made use of the Cape Copper Company line between Braakpits Junction and Porth Nolloth. Until the Namaqua Copper Company acquired its own 8 ton capacity mainline trucks, goods and ore had to be transshipped at Braakpits Junction. By 1906, the company had a fleet of thirty trucks.[1]
The Company survived the post-
The locomotive Pioneer
The Namaqua Copper Company acquired its first steam locomotive from
In service, photographs show the locomotive as a
In all, the Namaqua Copper Company had five locomotives by 1907, the 7-ton engine Pioneer being the first and the smallest. A 9-ton locomotive named Volunteer (or Engineer) followed in 1902. Three 12-ton locomotives named Muleteer, Buccaneer (Nuccaneer according to one source) and Reindeer were delivered in 1903, May 1905 and February 1907 respectively. These locomotives replaced the mules on the Namaqua Copper Company mainline to Braakpits Junction.[1]
Service
The locomotive Pioneer was too light for work on the Company's mainline to Braakpits Junction and was placed in service on the tramway to Tweefontein. It gained its place in history during the Second Boer War, when it was commandeered by Boer forces.[1]
Towards the end of the Second Boer War, the Cape of Good Hope was invaded by Boer commandos and, on 4 April 1902, the town Concordia surrendered to Boer forces.[1] From 8 April to 3 May, the neighbouring town O'okiep was besieged by the Boer forces under General J.C. Smuts,[2] whose strategy was to capture the rich copper fields and thus force the British to send troops from Cape Town to O'okiep, which would leave Cape Town vulnerable to attack.[3]
The garrison of O'okiep consisted of some 900 men, mostly employees of the Cape Copper Company, three-quarters of whom were coloured. A chain of blockhouses and other defensive positions had been prepared and early in the siege, the garrison succeeded in repulsing several determined attacks by the commando. However, when the departure of Smuts with a British safe-conduct to the deliberations at Vereeniging heralded the end of the war, the siege became little more than a good-humoured blockade.[2]
On 1 May 1902, the commandos launched an attack on O'okiep, using the commandeered locomotive Pioneer to propel a mobile bomb in the form of a truck-load of dynamite into the besieged town. The protective defences at O'okiep consisted of a barbed wire fence which was erected across the railway line at Braakpits Junction, just north of the town. The points at the junction were rigged to the fence, with the result that, when the dynamite-laden truck breached the fence, it derailed at the points and spilled its load of dynamite on the ground, where it burned out harmlessly without exploding.[1]
According to Smuts, the railway between the two towns was still intact, but since there were women and children in O'okiep town, all the commando was allowed to do was to give O'okiep a tremendous fright with a harmless explosion. Boer General Ben Bouwer had inspected the trainload before it was sent hurtling into the besieged town, to make sure that there were no caps in the dynamite.[2]
The Second Boer War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in Pretoria on 31 May 1902. When it later transpired that the coloured members of the O'okiep garrison were excluded from receiving the Queen's South Africa Medal, the Cape Copper Company struck a medal of its own and presented it to all the defenders, regardless of race. The obverse of the Cape Copper Company Medal for the Defence of O'okiep depicts a miner with a spade, standing next to an ore truck.[2]
The locomotive Pioneer was eventually retrieved from O'okiep on 29 July 1902, repaired and placed back in service. By 1906, the locomotive was described as being "past much work" and was only occasionally used for light work.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-91-7266-179-0.
- ^ a b c d "O'okiep". South African History Online. 1 April 2011.
- ^ Mostert, Altus (20 October 2010). "A history of Okiep". Namaqualand.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017.