Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 15, 2021

The Cape Town Railway & Dock 0-4-0T of 1859 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope, and the first locomotive in South Africa. In September 1859, Messrs. E. & J. Pickering, contractors to the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company for the construction of the Cape Town-Wellington railway line, imported a small 0-4-0 side-tank steam locomotive from England, for use during the construction of the railway. This locomotive later became engine no. 9 of the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company and then of the Cape Government Railways. Possibly in early 1874, by then on the roster of the Cape Government Railways, this locomotive was rebuilt to a 0-4-2T configuration, before it was shipped to Port Alfred where it served as harbour construction locomotive on the banks of the Kowie River. While serving at Port Alfred, it was nicknamed Blackie. The locomotive has been declared a heritage object and was plinthed in the main concourse of Cape Town station.