South African Class 15E 4-8-2 on 26 July 1992, while the following pictures illustrate some differences in appearance over the years. South African Class 15E 4-8-2 The South African Railways Class 15E 4-8-2 of 1935 was a steam locomotive. Between 1935 and 1937, the South African Railways placed forty-four Class 15E steam locomotives with a 4-8-2 Mountain type wheel arrangement in service. The Class 15E 4-8-2 Mountain type mixed traffic steam locomotive was a refinement of the Classes 15C and 15CA. It was designed by A.G. Watson, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the South African Railways (SAR) from 1929 to 1936, and incorporated many of
2-8-8-2 still used on steel mill lines and other railroads until 1983. Other equivalent classifications are: UIC classification: 1DD1 (also known as German classification and Italian classification) French classification: 140+041 Turkish classification: 45+45 Swiss classification: 4/5+4/5 The first 2-8-8-2 was built in 1909 by Baldwin, who sold two to the Southern Pacific Railroad (classified MC-1), and then three each to the Union Pacific Railroad and UP-owned Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Baldwin conceived the type as an expansion of the 2-6-6-2 permitting a greater tractive effort. The next order for the type was from the Southern Pacific; these differed in being