Natal Government Railways class F

The ten locomotives of the NGR class F were built for the Natal South Coast where frequent reverse running required a tank locomotive with a symmetric wheel arrangement. G.W. Reid had already rebuilt a single class G 4-6-0T locomotive into the 4-6-4T class H. Since this was a success, Reid designed the class F that was most likely the first class of locomotives ever that was built as 4-6-4 from the start. With the founding of the SAR, they became class E and were mostly used for shunting service. In World War I, two came to German South West Africa that recently had been occupied by South Africa. In 1926, the boiler pressure of the locomotives was reduced from 175 to 160 psi. They spent their last years on the Cape Midland System and were withdrawn in 1937.