RN 239 - Weekly Steamshed Report - 26th August - 1st September 2006 - By Gert Jubileus


This week the Hunslet Diesel Locomotive was loaded and shipped down to Port Shepstone to assist with shunting operations needed. The wagons will be shunted out of the bushes to a central place where they can easily be loaded on the low-bed trucks. Two massive Freight Liner trucks are being used to transport the wagons from Port Shepstone to the Farm at Ficksburg . Early on Monday morning, we loaded the Hunslet at Vailima Station and we offloaded the first five wagons from Port Shepstone. Below: Photos of the loading of the Hunslet Diesel Locomotive


Below: Photos of the arrival of the first five wagons from Port Shepstone as well as the offloading of the wagons. We offloaded the wagons in Hoekfontein Station and as soon as there are enough wagons here, we shall organise a shunt to move all the wagons into the storage line as well as to the siding at Mooihoek Station.


Late on Friday afternoon another load of five wagons arrived from Port Elizabeth. A new home and new hope for these wagons that were left to the elements of nature. These wagons will be offloaded on Monday and the Freight Liners will again depart to collect the rest of the wagons at Port Shepstone. Below: The next five wagons from Port Elizabeth!



SANDSTONE STEAM RAILWAY WAGONS: This week we completed the restoration of the Cattle wagon number 3210. The last paint touch-ups were done and new vacuum pipes were fitted. Below: Photos of number 3210!

CATTLE WAGON 3292 This week Petrus made good progress with this wagon and he completely finished the wood work that was required for this wagon. We stripped of the braking gears, de-scaled and painted them. The vacuum cylinder was overhauled and the braking gears were fitted back. Next week Petrus will start to sand down the wood on this wagon. New bearings were fitted and the boxes were packed with axle wool. I am very proud of Petrus for this wagon was only a skeleton, and without any help he did all the woodwork by himself. Below: Photos of the restoration of 3292!

Below Right: Jacob fitted the bearings and packed the axle boxes with soaked axle wool. Next week a new vacuum chamber tank will be fitted and the brakes will be adjusted. This wagon will have the same looks as 3210.


THE BELLIS MORCO: This week Derrick mounted and aligned the generator to the stationary engine. The bearings were greased and were tested. The next step now is to set up the boiler for this stationary engine. The generator has a 220-volt supply. Below: The Bellis Morcom and the generator.

THE PEERLESS TRUCK This week we jumped into the restoration of the Peerless truck and tried to have it finished by the end of the week, but we still have another day to go before the restoration of the Peerless truck will be complete. Below: Derrick spray-painted the bonnet and fenders of the Peerless

Below: Photos of the restoration progress over a two day period.


A before and after photo of the Peerless Truck!



TRACK MAINTENANCE: This week Oupa went on with the track maintenance on the section between Hoekfontein and Mooihoek. He is almost at the Mooihoek Mainline points and will proceed to Vailima in next week. Part of the maintenance of the Railway line is the weed spraying and we sprayed the last two km of line this week with the improved weed spraying trolley. Not only is the spraying now moree effective, but also less time consuming. The two km took us only one and a half hours in comparison to the four hours previously. This saves time and lots of fuel too! Below: Oupa busy with Track maintenance on the line near Mooihoek Station.



The Red Devil standing in Bloemfontein Locomotive Depot (1989). The crew was on duty early in the morning and worked a double-header train from Kimberley to Bloemfontein. The crews normally booked off for a few hours while the Shed man refuelled the locomotive and cleaned the fire for the overnight train back to Kimberley. The locomotives usually departed 21H30 out of Bloemfontein South yard with a single locomotive load and the sound of the locomotives could be heard for about 20 minutes before it stormed into the dark to Sleepdam.

Planning for next week:

1.) To finish final touches to the Peerless Truck 2.) To do Track maintenance from Mooihoek to Vailima 3.) To offload wagons from Port Shepstone. 4.) To finish the two Semaphore signal and to erect them near Hoekfontein Station. 5.) To do repair work to the tri angle points in Hoekfontein Station. 6.) To sand of Cattle wagon 3292 and to varnish and paint it. 7.) To fit doors to B wagon 2968 and to complete its restoration. 8.) To go on with the restoration of the Ratanga Locomotive 9.) To go on with the restoration of the BSA Railcar 10.) The ballast for the new 3’6” storage line will be delivered this week and the lift and pack work needed to this line will be done.