For some time the Sandstone Heritage Trust has been in discussions with the Railway Safety Regulator regarding the fact that we ,as a small, private, closed loop 2ft Narrow Gauge steam railway, are having to comply with the same specification as large freight trains operating coast to coast on the National Railway network. In order to complete the very detailed questionnaires and to comply with the substantial amount of administration regarding the above, we are obliged to keep a number of people busy, almost all year round. Due to rising costs and the fact that, in our opinion, we should not be regulated by that particular set of specifications, we have been forced to postpone all events until further notice.
Our railway only operates intermittently for a few events per year. The workload required to comply with the regulations as laid down by the Railway Safety Regulator of South Africa are not sustainable from a practical standpoint. We have had meetings with the Railway Safety Regulator, and we have put our case forward on a number of occasions. We have, for example, been lobbying for the adoption of the British Heritage Rail Safety Regulations in South Africa since it is exactly what is required in order to make a railway like ours operate within the framework of a more sensible regulatory environment. Visitors who attended our recent Cosmos Easter Festival would have been aware that in order to operate trains, particularly double headed Garratts, throughout the length and breadth of the line, we were very reliant on very highly skilled, experienced and competent British drivers. The cost to the organisation of bringing in people from overseas to assist us is enormous. A further complication is that these drivers have to be re-certified by the South African authorities and unfortunately, we found it next to impossible to find someone who is prepared to come to the farm to do the evaluation of the drivers to issue the necessary approvals. This has to be done on the railway with the locos in steam. It seems ironic that the largest collection of 2-ft Narrow Gauge steam locomotives in the world is finding it increasingly difficult to operate due to the complicated bureaucratic environment in which we are being obliged to operate. We cannot defy the regulations, and it is financially nonviable to bring train crews from around the world to assist us.
For that reason, sadly, there will be no Cherry Festival event at Sandstone Estates in 2025.
We are not optimistic that the situation will change but, if it does, we will adjust our ambitions accordingly.