The South African Railways Class S1 0-8-0 of 1947 was a steam locomotive. In 1947, the South African Railways placed twelve Class S1 shunting steam locomotives with a 0-8-0 eight-coupled wheel arrangement in service, built in the Salt River workshops in Cape Town. A further 25, built in Scotland, were placed in service in 1954. The Class S1 was the fifth locomotive type to be designed and built in South Africa, after the Natal Government Railways 4-6-2TT Havelock of 1888, the Class 2C of 1910, the Class 20 of 1935 and the Class ES of 1936. Manufacturers A huge increase in traffic before and during the Second World War years led to the available dedicated shunting locomotives of the South African Railways (SAR) being very much over-taxed, to the extent that they had to be supplemented by mainline locomotives. By 1943, the options were to either relegate Class 14 and other mainline engines to shunting duties or to augment the number of existing Class S shunting locomotives. The requirement for a shunting locomotive type more powerful than the Class S was identified, but since the war was still in progress, it was not viable to obtain locomotives from the usual overseas suppliers. Dr. M.M. Loubser, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the SAR from 1939 to 1949, therefore prepared designs for a larger version of the Class S locomotive which could be built in the SAR's own workshops. The result was the Class S1 0-8-0 shunting locomotive, of which the first of twelve was delivered from the Salt River shops in Cape Town in October 1947. Twelve locomotives were built, numbered in the range from 374 to 385. The first locomotive to be released from the Salt River shops in 1947 was no. 375, which was formally handed over to the Operating Department by the senior member of the Railway Board, Mr F.T. Bates. In honour of the occasion and in view of the approaching inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument in 1949, it was named Voortrekker. A further 25 Class S1 locomotives were subsequently ordered from the North British Locomotive Company (NBL) in Glasgow. They were built in 1953 and delivered in 1953 and 1954, numbered in the range from 3801 to 3825. Local production Even though it was not wholly a South African product with its imported main bar frames, tyres, superheater elements and some proprietary fittings, the Class S1