Complex sentence: Like their predecessor condensing locomotives, the locomotives were equipped with sheet-metal casing above and below the running boards to protect the motion and bearings as well as working parts of the J. Hawthorn-Kitson valve gear above the running boards from wind-blown sand.
Split into simpler sentences: Like their predecessor condensing locomotives, the locomotives were equipped with sheet-metal casing above and below the running boards. This was to protect the motion and bearings as well as working parts of the J. Hawthorn-Kitson valve gear above the running boards from wind-blown sand.