Sandstone’s David Shepherd celebrity 15F, 3052, has been moved from the Friends of the Rail base at Hermanstad to Reefsteamers (RS) in Germiston. This follows its derailment on the Cullinan branch in March. The loco was towed dead with its rods off. The loco will be inspected for any damage at RS although an initial inspection seems to indicate minimal issues.

RS’s 15F 3046 was used for the movement with Driver Peter Odell and Fireman Clive Holliday on the outward journey. On the return trip Shaun Ackerman took over 3046 with Peter Odell as fireman. The train left RS at 09h35 on the 19th May arriving at Hermanstad at 12h57. Departure from Hermanstad was at 14h41 and arrival in Germiston at 17h39. The train was restricted to 30kph to Pretoria as 3046 ran tender first and to the same speed on its return due to a dead engine in the load as per the Transnet regulations.

Our pictures from Peter Odell show the train being marshalled at Hermanstad and ready for departure and the train approaching Pretoria Station on the return to Germiston with the inspection stop at Pinedene.

Ex SAR Dining Car Number 218, “Riet” has been moved from its storage area at Sandstone to be positioned next to the Waenhuis dining area for the upcoming Stars of Sandstone event. 218 was moved from the storage shed on rail and then lifted off its rail bogies and placed on road bogies for the one kilometre move to its new home where it will be reunited with its sister, Number 198, “Umgeni” to form a prestige dining area at Sandstone. Once in position it will be lifted off the road bogies and placed on rail bogies on a length of track.

“Riet” was built in 1928 as an A-22 type by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company in the UK. After shipment to South Africa it was placed in service in South Africa on February 3rd 1928. It was withdrawn in December 1980 and sold to the famous “Train Restaurant” in Halfway House now Midrand. This restaurant became a famous Johannesburg landmark with such delicacies as crocodile and snake on the menu. The restaurant closed in 2002 after the owner was severely injured in a shooting incident and 218 together with two other A-22 dining cars, 198 “Umgeni” and 215 Kowie”, and AA-23 type kitchen car 253 were put on auction. Sandstone acquired the vehicles and moved them by road to Boksburg East Station and then by rail to Sandstone.

Number 198 was restored some years ago and has given service as a dining area at many Sandstone events. 218 has been restored over the last two years and once in position will be given a final coat of exterior paint before it greets its first diners at Stars of Sandstone 2017.

Our pictures show 218 being moved out of the shed onto road bogies and then the short road trip to its new home.

The Sandstone Heritage Trust in South Africa are custodians of David Shepherd’s 15F loco, No. 3052, which was gifted to him by the South African Railways in 1991.

In recognition of the many happy times David spent in South Africa we have produced a YouTube documentary which features extensive use of archive material from his many visits.  Please click here to view: https://youtu.be/b-hA_LfZdNs.

We hope that you will enjoy it as much as David and his family have done in recent days.

David Shepherd’s 15F continues to pull capacity trains to Cullinan from Friends of the Rail in Pretoria. Our pictures from Friends of the Rail show the recent trip on 30th October.

Our 16CR locomotive Number 821 has been scheduled for a cosmetic restoration for some time. Gert Jubileus, our railway foreman, who drove this loco at St Helena Gold Mine (where it was Number 1 “Black Beauty”) has been keen on this project for some time and his team has begun cleaning and stripping the loco. The loco has no tender but we will use the tender from another loco to complete the restoration. Dennis Moore’s picture shows Number 1 at work at St Helena in 1993.

Coach 8041 which was built in 1902 for the Cape Government Railways has been obtained from Transnet Foundation (TF) by Sandstone Heritage Trust. Originally thought to be a “Missionary” coach or Medical Officer’s coach it is now believed that it was an Officials Coach. Originally built as a 4 wheel vehicle it was modified in 1929 by the addition of a steel underframe and a bogie at one end. It was removed from the railway’s asset register in 1978 and placed at De Aar in the company of 6th Class 462.
The  coach was moved to Millsite Depot as part of the National Collection but some 29 years in the elements has severely damaged the body and it was due to be scrapped. With the historical significance of the coach, Sandstone decided to lease lend it from TF. The extraction was difficult as the coach was parked between a flat wagon and 4E electric locomotive, E219, which could not be shunted to clear the coach. Nevertheless Des Clarke and the Sandstone team successfully lifted it clear and it is now on its way to Sandstone for restoration.
Our pictures show the lift and John Middleton’s picture shows 8041 at De Aar with 6th Class 462 in 1975.

Reefsteamers Deport Report 108

Click here to view the article - PDF

Over many years the Sandstone Heritage Trust has attempted to collect and preserve the wooden bodied SAR&H coaches from a previous era. Many of these date back to the 1920's, which mean they are fast approaching 100-years old.

They are however susceptible to the weather conditions in the Eastern Free State, particularly the big temperatures extremes. Although the dry climate which is almost without humidity is very good for steel it ironically isn't that good for wood unless the item is kept in an environment where the temperature extremes are reduced and damage from wind and rain is minimised. It is for that reason that we moved the large 150-metre long locomotive shed from Ficksburg onto the farm. For the last 2-weeks our staff have been manfully moving these big coaches under cover and the process is now nearly complete. From here we will find a way to bring them up to a much higher state of restoration than is the case now. Many of their interiors are as they were when they were in service but the external cosmetics have taken a hammering.

Unfortunately because we are a 2-ft Narrow Gauge railway line we have no clear idea of where these coaches might ultimately end up but we believe that it is a worthwhile exercise to save them.

Our pictures below show the move and the storage facility.

Venerable GMAM "Lyndie Lou" no 4079 has an outing during Reefsteamers sun rise photo shoot on 14th July 2012.

All photos by Aidan Mccarthy

Baggage Van No. 4574

Peter Stow, probably South Africa's foremost specialist in coaching stock on the South African Railway Network, provided the following information on Baggage Van No. 4574.

Click here to view the write-up - 52KB Word document (opens in new window)

We are very fortunate in having purchased some years ago from the Bethlehem Museum  a wonderful old 6 Class locomotive dating back to 1896.  It is the only surviving Free State Government Railway locomotive that we are aware of and therefore it makes it particularly relevant to the Sandstone Heritage Trust which of course is in the Free State.

Our team of highly enterprising engineering personnel recently manoeuvred the 6 Class loco into position just near the waenhuis where it now heads an interesting line-up of rolling stock including the newly restored postal van.  We will continue to maintain this locomotive to the highest possible level.  We have every hope that one day she will be able to steam along a section of the Eastern Free State railway line.

Well done to Des, Stephan and the team for moving this without difficulty.

Aidan McCarthy, Lee Gates and Philipp Maurer have sent us these excellent pictures of the successful passenger train that visited the Ficksburg area in November last year. One of the more interesting pictures is the agricultural tanker from Sandstone Estates supplying water to one of Reefsteamers locos.

The dysfunctional Ficksburg Municipality was unable to support the passenger train with water from the municipal supplier and so the locomotives had to relocate the 14-kms to Sandstone to receive water.

During the same trip all the locomotives and rolling stock previously housed in the large Sandstone locomotive shed at Ficksburg were relocated to Kommandonek Siding. The entire building was moved on site to the farm.

Our thanks go to Aidan, Lee and Philipp for the interesting and creative photographs.

Photos by Aidan McCarthy

Here are some photos from the Reefsteamers open day on Saturday. Pretty impressive line up with four locomotives in steam for the day.
Aidan McCarthy

Old Postal Van - Update 12 May 2011

Our postal van is nearing completion.