Natal Railway “Perseverance”

In 1875 the Natal Railway Company ordered a heavier third engine from Kitson and Company in Leeds, where the “Durban” had been built ten years earlier. With a 4-4-0T wheel arrangement, the new locomotive was significantly heavier than the first locomotives and had a cab in addition to conventional lateral water tanks. It arrived in Durban on January 10, 1876 and was christened “Perseverance”. It had three almost identical sister locomotives which were built for the Trinidad Government Railway.

Before the “Perseverance” entered service, the Natal Government Railways had already been established and so on 1st January, 1877 the locomotive became government property for a payment of £40,000 along with the other two locomotives and all other properties of the Natal Railway Company. For a short time it was used together with its predecessors on the line and mainly transported stone from the quarry to the port. With the gauge change, the use of the “Perseverance” on the rails came to an end, but it remained in the possession of the railway company. They used it in their workshops in Durban until 1887 to drive a sawmill and then scrapped it.