The South African Railways Class 16E 4-6-2 of 1935 was a steam locomotive. In 1935, the South African Railways placed six Class 16E steam locomotives with a Pacific type wheel arrangement in express passenger train service. Manufacturer Following the Great Depression in South Africa of 1930-1933, the South African Railways (SAR) set out to improve its Cape Town-Johannesburg express passenger service. To attain higher average speeds for its more important express trains, the Class 16E 4-6-2 Pacific type locomotive was designed by A.G. Watson, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SAR from 1929 to 1936, specifically for use with the Union Express and the Union Limited trains. Six locomotives were built by Henschel and Son in Kassel, Germany and delivered in 1935, numbered in the range from 854 to 859. Characteristics With its diameter coupled wheels, the Class 16E was considered the most remarkable Cape gauge express passenger locomotive ever built. It had the largest fire grate on any Pacific outside North America. The coupled wheels were the largest ever used on any less than standard gauge locomotive and it had an all-up weight and tractive effort equal to or exceeding that of most Pacifics outside North America. Watson experienced considerable difficulty to keep the axle loads within the permissible limits specified by the Chief Civil Engineer, with the result that the ashpan, cab, side running boards and several other parts were made of thinner material than usual. Even the original number plates were cast in aluminium. Still, the axle load of was the heaviest of any engine or vehicle on the SAR at the time. Along with the Class 15E Mountain type of 1935, the locomotive introduced the Type JT tender with a coal capacity of , a water capacity of and an axle load of . The main bar frames were machined from rolled steel slabs and each frame was in one piece from the front to the hind buffer beam. The wheels were fitted with hollow crank pins, while the leading bogie was fitted with an oil bath centre pivot. The connecting and coupling rods were fitted with floating bronze bushes and were made of special chrome-nickel alloy steel of fluted section. The centre driving set of coupled wheels were flangeless and had wider treads than the other two sets to prevent them from slipping off the rails in sharp curves. To obtain increased tractive effort with the