I took a couple of photos of the two buses that were out for the Stars of Steam event and dig a bit of digging on their history. The Bristol from Welkom is very interesting as the last survivor of some 100  or so exported to South Africa just after World War 2. However, the other single decker far from its original home in the Welsh Valleys also intrigued me as its original owner - Bedwas & Machen Urban District Council was a very small operator and only ever had a handful of buses.

The reason I am writing is that in my earlier life before focusing on steam, I did have quite an interest in buses and I knew that somewhere in my collection I had a photo of a Bedwas & Machen vehicle. This is the only photo I have from this operator and when I dug it out over the weekend, I discovered that it was No. 7 - the very same bus that you now have at Sandstone - quite a coincidence.

I took this photo (age 13) in Caerphilly in March 1969 with my first slide camera - a Kodak Instamatic. The result is surprisingly acceptable, may be due in part to using Kodachrome film !! I also attach the photo of No. 7 taken on May 5 this year.

Rare and very special Bristol Bus transferred to the Sandstone Heritage Trust

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Old SAR Container trailer recovered..

To add interest to our NG Consists we have located and purchased an early Railway Container which would have transported goods from stations to freight clients.

It would have been hauled by a truck or tractor of suitable vintage.

Sandstone’s workshops have applied themselves to the refurbishment of the cosmetics on our Kenworth T900. This truck was purchased new in 1990 in Melbourne Australia and shipped from the Paccar factory where it has been ever since.

It is the pride and joy of our Heavy Truck fleet.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

Peerless 4t truck

Peerless set the standards for engineering in the Auto Industry and had many firsts in design, such as: an engine under the hood; a drive shaft with floating rear axle; a stamped steel frame; the first side entrance touneau; a tilting steering wheel; an accelerator pedal; the use of aluminum to save weight; and the first enclosed body. The first starters and electric lights, and the list goes on and on.
Barney Oldfield was hired in 1904 to race the Peerless Green Dragon. For two years Barney and the Green Dragon broke track speed records all over the USA and made Peerless a name to reconcile with. In August 1905, Peerless dropped out of racing and began competing in reliability runs called the Glidden Tours. With three cars competing, the Peerless's finished with perfect scores, again putting the Peerless name above all other marques in automobile reliability.

Leyland Octopus 1963 - Information

Sandstone Heritage Trust - News

Heavy trucks are a commonplace sight on the roads today. As most people know they are diesel powered and capable of carrying heavy loads. In fact South Africa has some of the largest payloads in the world, a fact testified by the damage to our road system. Of course it was not always so. In the days of South African Railways (SAR) most large consignments were moved by rail and hauled by steam powered locomotives.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - News

One of Sandstone's two Diamond T mechanical horses ready to leave the yard with a selection of vintage tractors to attend a local agricultural show. Living preservation means taking old tractors using a truck of similar vintage. Why not? The Sandstone people have as much fun getting there as they do enjoying the show itself. Coming back is also a great experience - grappling with a trash box on a 58 year old truck with more mechanical integrity than most of the machines bought today.