Keith Stevens is moving ahead well with the boiler repairs for NG10 number 61.The photographs show the progress we are now making with the NGG10 Locomotive Boiler. Completion is estimated at around end of September or probably first half of October.
As you can see by all the dismantled parts there is still a mountain of work to be done.
Riveting the dome to the boiler barrel
Our updates lately have not been the usual “glamorous" ones as Lukas Nel and the Bloemfontein team tackle the real hard work on the loco.
While boiler repairs continue at Keith Stevens Mechanical in Howick, Lukas Nel and his team have been hard at work on the frames of 61 in Bloemfontein. This is a long process after the locomotive was subject to extreme corrosion since 1961. Our pictures show the repaired buffer beam, the new bissel frame and stretcher and the new frame support. Our undated B/W pic courtesy of the Transnet Library show number 61 at Humewood Road still with its original chimney.
An undated pic from the Transnet Library of number 61 at Humewood Road still with its original chimney.
A recently published booklet by the Railway History Society, an interest group of the RSSA Natal Branch and written by Bruno Martin, has revealed that three locos of the Sandstone collection worked on this branch. Click here to read PDF
With the restoration of NGG11 number 52 now complete and the loco in service at Sandstone, the restoration of NG10 number 61 continues. Boiler work is being undertaken at Keith Steven’s mechanical workshop in Howick with the refurbishment of the frames moving ahead with Lukas Nel in Bloemfontein.
The completed rebuilt boiler for the 1897 Lawley NG97 has been loaded at Keith Steven’s Mechanical Workshop in Howick and returned to Sandstone. The boiler will now be reunited with the locomotive and commissioned for the upcoming Stars of Sandstone event.
The boiler suffered a failure of the copper inner firebox and this has been replaced with a steel version which is less prone to damage.NG97 was originally launched into service in June 2008.
Construction at Sandstone is moving ahead of the new line designed primarily for our younger visitors (although our adult visitors will love it too!) that runs from the grain silos and along by the loco workshop to a large loop around the dam in the south east of the Sandstone complex. After last year’s drought, Sandstone has been experiencing exceptionally heavy rain which has slowed progress but the line is till on target for a grand opening at the Stars of Sandstone 2017 event at the end of March. The line is to be named Seb’s Railway after the grandson of one of Sandstone’s directors. The map below shows the layout of the new line and ongoing progress can be followed in the weekly steam reports via the regular links published on this page
Sandstone’s 91 Class diesel moved under its own power after many years of standing idle and did some test runs in the loco shed yard. After the fitment of 32 new batteries and some close attention by Pieter and Dean from Genrail she fired up in 2 seconds.
After an extensive overhaul by the Sandstone team at Bloemfontein under Lukas Nel, NGG11 Garratt No: 52 has completed its first run on the Sandstone system after being moved there in the last week. Apart from a short steam test in 2016 in Bloemfontein this is its first steaming since being retired from Rustenberg Platinum Mines around 1972 where she was their No: 7. The locomotive will undergo more loaded commissioning trials over the next few days.
Our picture gallery shows her in the Hoekfontein Station area.
Here is our latest steam report, a mega edition for December!
