Otavi Mining and Railway Company - Overview

Overview

The first locomotives designed for regular service were fifteen 22-tonne 0-6-2T built by Arn. Jung. Henschel & Sohn built twelve locomotives similar to the Jung design and three 0-6-0T. Twenty 8-wheel auxiliary tenders carrying 8 kiloliters of water and 3.5 tonnes of coal were built to enable these tank locomotives to complete longer runs. Henschel & Sohn built three HD class 2-8-2 in 1911 with separate 8-wheel tenders for long-distance running. These locomotives weighed 59 tonnes (including the 26-tonne tender) and remained in service for 50 years as the 2-8-2 type became standard for the railway. By 1913, train service included 4 express trains, 14 mixed trains, and 29 freight trains each week. Express and mixed trains included a baggage car, a car for African passengers, and a coach for first and second class passengers. The passenger cars carried concrete ballast in a depressed center section to minimize the possibility of wind tipping a lightly loaded car off the rails. Express trains stopped only at designated stations, but other trains would stop at intermediate points when transport was required. Equipment included 96 low-side ore gondolas, 55 high-side gondolas, 20 limestone gondolas, 20 boxcars, 12 tank cars, 4 stock cars, 3 passenger coaches and an executive business car with a kitchen, a bathroom, and an office convertible to a bedroom at night. There were also some self-powered steam rail cars with a coal bunker, a mail compartment, 2 compartments for Europeans, and 4 for Africans.

A special 7-tonne rail motor coach was built for an anticipated visit of Kronprinz Wilhelm in 1914. A 6-cylinder Daimler-Benz gasoline engine gave the car a speed of 38 meters per second (137 km/h) and the title of the fastest 2-foot (0.61 m) gauge rail car. World War I intervened to prevent Wilhelm's visit, and the car was used as an inspection vehicle after the war. German troops had moved inland by the time South African troops reached Swakopmund in January, 1915. German forces destroyed the railroad as they retreated, and South African forces reconstructed a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge line over the route to Karabib in 1915.

German troops surrendered following defeat at Otavi in July, 1915; and service was re-established over the remaining 60-centimeter gauge line from the railway shops at Usakos with freight transfer facilities at Karabib. Two Henschel & Sohn 4-6-2 locomotives built in 1914 had disappeared during the war; but Baldwin Locomotive Works delivered a 4-6-2 in 1916. A coach converted for meal service from 1916 to 1931 is believed to be the only 2-foot (0.61 m) gauge dining car ever operated. Six more Henschel & Sohn 2-8-2 were delivered in 1922. These locomotives were designated South African Railways (SAR) NG5 class when the Otavi line was nationalized in 1923.