South African type ZE tender

The original 7th Class locomotive and tender were designed in 1892 at the Salt River works in Cape Town, under the supervision of H.M. Beatty, the Cape Government Railways (CGR) Western System's Locomotive Superintendent at the time.^[1][2][3]

Type ZC tenders entered service as tenders to six 7th Class locomotive variants between 1896 and 1913, built by Dübs and Company, Kitson and Company, Neilson and Company, Neilson, Reid and Company, North British Locomotive Company and Sharp, Stewart and Company.^[1][2][3][4]

From c. 1925, several of the Type ZC tenders which had entered service with the Class 7A in 1896, the Class 7B in 1900 and the Class 7C in 1902, were completely rebuilt by the South African Railways (SAR), by mounting a new upper structure on the existing underframe, with larger water tanks and a larger coal capacity. These rebuilt tenders had a more modern appearance, with flush sides all the way to the top of the coal bunker. They were designated Type ZE.^[1][2]

The program to rebuild several older tender types with new upper structures was begun by Col F.R. Collins DSO, who approved several of the detailed drawings for the work during his term in office as Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR from 1922 to 1929. It was continued by his successor, A.G. Watson, CME from 1929 to 1936.^[5]

The rebuilt tender had a coal capacity which had been increased from 5 long tons 10 hundredweight (5.6 tonnes) to 8 long tons (8.1 tonnes) and a water capacity which had been increased from 2,600 to 2,850 imperial gallons (11,820 to 12,960 litres).^[1][2]