In 1882, the Cape Government Railways placed orders with Neilson and Company for eighteen 3rd Class tender locomotives with a 4-4-0 American type wheel arrangement.

[1][2][3] Eighteen 4-4-0 American type tender passenger locomotives were delivered to the Cape Government Railways (CGR) from Neilson and Company in 1883.

They had been ordered in 1882 for passenger service out of Cape Town, East London and Port Elizabeth respectively and were equipped with six-wheeled tenders.

These had an outer annular orifice for steam and an inner circular opening for exhaust gases and formed the upper portion of a bell-mouth scoop.

One of the locomotives is known to have been named Sir Hercules, after Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead, who had succeeded Sir Henry Bartle Frere as High Commissioner for Southern Africa in 1880 and after whom two towns in South Africa were named.

[1] As was usual practice with passenger locomotives on the CGR, the engines were painted green and had polished brass domes.

[1][3] At the time the Four-coupled Joy locomotives entered service in 1883, the Eastern System mainline from East London was open as far as Queenstown with a branch to King William's Town, the two Midland System main­lines from Port Eliza­beth were respectively open to Graaff Reinet and approaching Rosmead via Cradock with a branch to Grahamstown, while the Western System mainline from Cape Town was approaching De Aar with a branch to Malmesbury.

The sale most probably involved the five locomotives whose numbers were absent from the CGR roster for the first time by year-end 1896, as listed in the table.