"It's me, the Devil! I'm here to convince you to do sin. Steal candy from babies and small businesses! I'm not talking about Walmart" - The Devil, 2005

Never thought this day would come.

It makes you wonder what that guy could have done if he got hold of a Union Pacific Big Boy.

Currently she is in Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town, Ceres Rail Company are trying to get permission to restore and run her again. They say that perhaps for starting, it would have been better if she were a 2-10-2 for the little extra weight but once underway went like a Boeing.

There was a 3rd gas-producer in South Africa, currently at Sandstone Heritage Trust in Ficksburg, it is a red NGG16 2ft gauge Garrett - also referred to as the mini-Red Devil. The 19D was unfortunately scrapped, but her wheels still exist and will go to use.

I remembered seeing this engine in my local library talking about this beauty when i was a kid in the 90s. Its nice to see a video about it instead of a book

This is by far one of the coolest engines I've ever seen

25 percent less fuel....  that is a huge improvement.  makes me wonder if steam power (using coal) was still being researched were the technology would be.  I'm sure this techneque could be improved and who knows what other kind of systems could be created.

Red devil is probably the closest we will ever get to a modern-day steam locomotive in terms of technology. Honestly, I think I read somewhere that when compared to diesel engines it was even more efficient than first generation diesels, and I think it was almost as good as diesel locomotives of that time, although stuff like the wheelslip problem and politics, ended up stopping the class 26 from ever becoming standard

To me, the smoke deflectors give the impression of horns, which only adds to the Red Devil nickname.

someday you should talk about Livio Dante Porta
he's probably one of the most influential steam locomotive builder of his time and to this day

Flabbergasted by the power increase, that's completely ridiculous. Thanks for the interesting video.

There's actually a guy in South Africa who makes HO/OO scale models of the Red Devil (both the Porta and the latter version) as well as a number of other locos. I have one of his Class 25 Condensers and it's beautiful.

This engine is the "Cyber-Demon" analog of the Steam Engine Universe...

L D Porta was involved in the design of the gas producer steam locos on the 2ft 6 inch Rio Turbio coal railway in southern Argentina. These small 2-10-2 locos could haul 1700 ton trains, and were reputed to produce a continuos1200 hp.

There were coal-hauling railroads here in the US that clung to steam power and tried to make the locos as efficient as possible. But the real problem with steam locos is the insane amount of maintenance they require compared to diesel.

I remember this was the last steam locomotive available in Railroad Tycoon 3, very cool!

Thank you so much ToT for finally making a video on this epic train! Just thought I'd add some extra information:

After being withdrawn from service in 2004, it sat in storage for about 14 years before being restored by the Ceres Rail Company in 2018. It hauled exclusive passenger services for about a year, which is mainly what popularized the company. However this massive and powerful engine was not suited to running on the shorter, twistier branch lines used by the Ceres Rail Company, and was withdrawn one again, in 2019. It was put into a rail yard where it sits to this day, still under the ownership of the Ceres Rail Company.

Hello, South African here to tell you all our steam locos are practically gone now, they've all been scrapped ):<<

I first heard about the Red Devil back in the early 90's while reading about it on USENET (I can't remember if it was rec.railroads or uk.railways). The thread was about surviving steam locomotives around the world. Someone in the thread had compared the largest surviving UK steam locomotive to the Red Devil. Due to the large size of the Red Devil and the narrow gauge tracks it ran on some WAG replied -

"South Africa was the only country to run standard gauge trains on narrow gauge tracks whilst England was the only country to run narrow gauge trains on standard gauge tracks".

The few times I've been to the UK and rode trains there I always think about that quote.

Let me please introduce myself, I'm a train of speed and strength