South African Class 8 4-8-0  The South African Railways Class 8 4-8-0 of 1902 was a steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope. In 1902 and 1903, the Cape Government Railways placed 23 8th Class steam locomotives with a Mastodon type wheel arrangement in service, three on the Cape Western System, eight on the Cape Midland System and twelve on the Cape Eastern System. In 1912, when they were assimilated into the South African Railways, they were renumbered, but retained their Class 8 classification. The first 8th Class locomotives of the Cape Government Railways (CGR) were Consolidation types, designed by H.M. Beatty, the Chief Locomotive Superintendent of the CGR from 1896 to 1910. They entered service in 1901 and were later to become the South African Railways (SAR) Class 8X. While these first Schenectady and ALCO-built locomotives were being subjected to exhaustive testing on all types of traffic and under varying conditions, some trouble was experienced with the leading two-wheeled pony truck. When designs were prepared at Salt River for a later order for more locomotives, the pony truck was replaced with a four-wheeled bogie and the coupled wheelbase was shortened from to . The 23 locomotives of 1902 and 1903 were the first 8th Class locomotives of the CGR to be built with a Mastodon type wheel arrangement. These locomotives were built by Neilson, Reid and Company in 1901 and 1902, and delivered in three batches in 1902 and 1903. In spite of the difference in wheel arrangement, these Mastodons and the earlier Consolidations of the CGR were all grouped together into the 8th Class. They were conceived as mixed traffic locomotives, equally suitable for goods and passenger work. They had larger coupled wheels than the CGR 7th Class, bar frames, used saturated steam and had Stephenson valve gear. In service, it was found that the four-wheeled bogies and the shorter fixed wheelbase made them steadier and easier riding than their Consolidation predecessors. The first batch of three locomotives, numbered in the range from 801 to 803, went to the CGR's Western System in 1902. They were delivered with Type XD tenders which had a coal capacity of and a water capacity of . Of the second batch of ten locomotives which arrived in 1902, eight were numbered in the range from 358 to 365 and allocated to the Midland System, while the other two became numbers 771 and 772, allocated to the Eastern System.