As per our last report we needed to mate the NG10 with its tender which were on different lines in the Bloemfontein Workshop. Lukas and his team built a temporary traverser to move the locomotive across the workshop and re unite it with its tender. Now work continues to the finish. There are still a large number of small parts due back from suppliers in the next few weeks to bring the restoration to its conclusion.

Our pictures show the temporary traverser and the locomotive complete with its tender.

The tender is now close to completion and will be moved behind the locomotive to finish the intermediate pipe work. A completely new blast pipe, blower nozzle and vacuum exhaust nozzle has been manufactured and fitted into the smokebox so not long to go! The number plates and Baldwin works plates will be completed soon and we will feature those when they arrive.

Some time ago we made an offer to purchase the redundant locomotive turntable at Assegaaibos on the Port Elizabeth to Avontuur 2ft gauge line which was accepted by Transnet. Over the last few days we have dismantled the turntable and loaded it on our low bed for transport to Sandstone where it will be re-erected close to our loco depot. The turntable was erected at Assegaaibos in the late 60’s when the whole depot was upgraded but since the demise of steam in the early 70’s has seen little use although it was used to turn 91 Class diesel locomotives occasionally.

Originally a 3’6” gauge unit, it is believed to have come from Greytown.

The turntable will be a useful addition to the railway infrastructure and give the railway added turning capabilities over and above the existing triangle which can become congested at times being part of the main running line.

Our pictures show the turntable in situ and being uplifted and loaded for transport by the Sandstone team.

Lukas Nel and his team have been very busy prior to the holiday break. The tender tank fitment to the frame has now been completed and a handbrake plus the required levers have been fabricated. We have also acquired a number of spares to complete the water valves for the tender. Those magnificent tool boxes we showed in our last report have also had a repaint. This detail work has taken a lot of time and the steam test will now only be in January.

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Our pictures this week shows the NG10 moving towards a finished state with most of the external piping in place, the chimney fitted together with the safety valves on the dome. Attention now moves to completing the tender with its new tank and rebuilt frame and completing the cab on the locomotive.

SAR Class NGG13 Garratt locomotive number 49 has now been returned to Sandstone after a full retube at Reefsteamers in Germiston. Number 49 passed its hydraulic test last week and has returned to Sandstone for the final assembly of the boiler for an upcoming steam test and re uniting the boiler section with the engine units. Our pictures show the firebox tube plate after completion and the final expanding of the tubes and the loading of the accommodation bogies and the boiler at Germiston on to the Sandstone low bed for the 400km journey home.

After many years of service, with many replacement fittings being added, the remaining NG10’s at Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth were fitted with a less than inspiring stovepipe chimney for practical reasons as remanufacturing the original style would have been quite a process,. Number 61 also gained one of these chimneys during its life but with the mastery of Lukas Nel and his team in Bloemfontein, 61 has been fitted with a newly manufactured original style chimney. Our pictures show the chimney after manufacture and then fitted to the locomotive. For reference we have included a picture from Leith Paxton of number 61 with the stovepipe version. No contest really!

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We have been a little quiet lately but some major progress has been made as our pictures from Lukas Nel show. The whistle has now been fitted at the front of the cab, this is a modified version of an SAR type to produce a more “American” style sound. The new chimney is also well under way to being finished in the original style of the NG10 as it was delivered from Baldwin. Our general pictures show the clack boxes that have  been fitted to the boiler and work continues with piping. The lubricator feed piping to the cylinders has also been installed.

A lot of detail work is still needed before the first steam test expected in December plus the final assembly of the tender with the fitment of the tank to the newly built tender frame.

Further work has been completed on the cab fittings as our pictures show. We have now obtained two injectors and now have all the fittings required to complete number 61.

Great progress has been made on the cab fittings as our pictures show. As mentioned in our last report the regulator assembly has been fabricated and fitted and now the boiler mounts on the backhead have been made up from various spares we had together with the vacuum ejector. The firebox door has been made from scratch and fitted. She’s looking good!

The latest happenings from the Sandstone Steam Railway, the August 2018 Steam Report - Click here to read

The restoration is now picking up pace with the fabrication of the regulator lever assembly and its fitment to the boiler backhead. The main steam pipes have now been assembled in the smokebox.

A major milestone has been reached with the completion of the main steam pipe as in our picture whilst the smokebox acts as a scheduling board for work to be completed in August.