We recently hosted the FarRail Group from Germany for a day and a half at Sandstone during a break in their 3’6’ gauge activities with 25NC 3437 and 15F 2976. The tour was co-hosted by the New Cape Central Railway in South Africa.
We have a number of photo galleries kindly sent to us by some of the very capable photographers on the Tour. Our final gallery is from Ralph Montagu. It was in 1987 that the mighty 25NC locomotives ceased operation on the Bloemfontein to Bethlehem line in favour of diesel traction. Many 25NCs passed Vailima every day long before it became part of Sandstone Estates in the mid-1990s and it was to be a long time before another one would pass but this happened with 25NC 3437 on the morning of the 27th July, the last day of the FarRail tour to South Africa. The shots from Ralph Montagu with the mighty Sekonyela mountain in the background are pure nostalgia for those enthusiasts who used to spend hours photographing steam on this famous line.
