Friday the 7^th and Saturday the 8^th of August were busy times for the staff at Sandstone. With the visit of the RSG 4 x 4 club due on Saturday for a full train trip around the line with Garratt No. 88, the loco was in steam for a test on Friday the 7^th. This coincided with a visit from the local Kindi Primary School and their Grade R children who were offered a trip on the test train to Grootdraai and back, as well as a tour of the vintage collection.

Coinciding with this was a film crew from Homebrew Films, who were filming an insert on Sandstone for their Kwela programme on DSTV’s Kyknet channel. The steam train was an added bonus for them and they also interviewed Mike Myers, Lukas Nel, loco driver Les Labuschagne and Des Clarke for the programme as they were given a tour of the vintage collection and steam depot for their shoot. To the children’s delight and that of the film crew the full span of oxen were at work as part of their training with a voortrekker wagon.

The Kindi kids had a group photo at Grootdraai

Visitors to Sandstone's events will remember the AEC bus donated to us by John Allen and since returned to its home in Wales in the care of the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group (CTPG). The following articles were kindly sent to us by the editor of the CTPG Newsletter, Viv Corbin. The trip by sea was certainly not straightforward!

Click here to view the article - PDF

One of the most interesting wagons acquired by Sandstone Heritage Trust from the Port Elizabeth to Avontuur line is NG NZ 2104. The last survivor of a line of non-revenue earning units placed in to service in 1941. These wagons from the South African narrow gauge system were all conversions from existing wagons, mainly the DZ type. They weren’t especially glamorous but were essential at the time. No. 2104 was converted into a platelayers van and would have been seen all over the system where trackwork was required. For many years it has been stabled at Loerie next to the turntable whilst road transport took over track repairs.

NG NZ 2014 at Loerie. Picture by Dave Richardson.

The collection team have now picked up their second load – this time from Loerie. The wagon is a NZ type which is a general classification for DZ wagons converted for internal use. In this case No. 2104 was transformed in to a platelayers van. Because of its height it can only be a single load and certain fittings had to be removed from the roof to stay within the regulation height on the road. The photographs by Wouter Jubileus show the shunting by John Deere, the loading and ready to return to Sandstone.

After long negotiations Sandstone has acquired 37 more wagons from the now closed Port Elizabeth to Avontuur line. These are a mixture of DZ types and closed box vans plus 11 of the final wagons produced for the line, the C type or “Charlie”. The C wagons were used for the Loerie limestone traffic and were only ever hauled by the 91 class diesels. They add great value to the Sandstone collection as there are now examples of every existing type of 2ft narrow gauge wagons safe in preservation at Sandstone.

Click here to view some tips on rust removal - PDF

We recently hosted the American Show Racer Club of South Africa at Sandstone Estates.

Click here to view the letter of appreciation they sent us, which was well received.

Visitors to Stars of Sandstone 2015 will remember this impressive vehicle in our military parades. We had hoped to couple the Oshkosh to a low bed tank transporter made available to us by the SA Armour Museum in Bloemfontein. This trailer has been identified as period-correct for the Oshkosh by Pieter Du Toit who worked for Oshkosh at the time. Unfortunately the fifth wheel coupling was not compatible between the Oshkosh and the trailer so we were unable to transport Sandstone’s Sherman tank for the event.

A period publicity shot of the Oshkosh R

Despite the fact that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has used and continues to use a wide range of interesting and unusual military vehicles, there is very little in the way of reference material available on the subject. Thankfully this has been addressed in part with the release of this super new DVD produced in conjunction with the Sandstone Heritage Trust and the South African Armour Museum based in Bloemfontein.