Railway Heritage

NGG13 number 49. The boiler retube is complete.

SAR Class NGG13 Garratt locomotive number 49 has now been returned to Sandstone after a full retube at Reefsteamers in Germiston. Number 49 passed its hydraulic test last week and has returned to Sandstone for the final assembly of the boiler for an upcoming steam test and re uniting the boiler section with the engine units. Our pictures show the firebox tube plate after completion and the final expanding of the tubes and the loading of the accommodation bogies and the boiler at Germiston on to the Sandstone low bed for the 400km journey home.

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The NG10. A world class restoration.

After many years of service, with many replacement fittings being added, the remaining NG10’s at Humewood Road in Port Elizabeth were fitted with a less than inspiring stovepipe chimney for practical reasons as remanufacturing the original style would have been quite a process,. Number 61 also gained one of these chimneys during its life but with the mastery of Lukas Nel and his team in Bloemfontein, 61 has been fitted with a newly manufactured original style chimney. Our pictures show the chimney after manufacture and then fitted to the locomotive. For reference we have included a picture from Leith Paxton of number 61 with the stovepipe version. No contest really!

Class NG10 No.61

Steam Report Oct 2018

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NG10. The latest update 27 Sept

We have been a little quiet lately but some major progress has been made as our pictures from Lukas Nel show. The whistle has now been fitted at the front of the cab, this is a modified version of an SAR type to produce a more “American” style sound. The new chimney is also well under way to being finished in the original style of the NG10 as it was delivered from Baldwin. Our general pictures show the clack boxes that have  been fitted to the boiler and work continues with piping. The lubricator feed piping to the cylinders has also been installed.

A lot of detail work is still needed before the first steam test expected in December plus the final assembly of the tender with the fitment of the tank to the newly built tender frame.

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More news on the NG10.

Further work has been completed on the cab fittings as our pictures show. We have now obtained two injectors and now have all the fittings required to complete number 61.

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Class NG10 number 61: The cab moves forward.

Great progress has been made on the cab fittings as our pictures show. As mentioned in our last report the regulator assembly has been fabricated and fitted and now the boiler mounts on the backhead have been made up from various spares we had together with the vacuum ejector. The firebox door has been made from scratch and fitted. She’s looking good!

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August 2018 Steam Report

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The latest happenings from the Sandstone Steam Railway, the August 2018 Steam Report - Click here to read

Class 4AR 1555.

The first phase of the cosmetic restoration of 1555 is nearing conclusion with the locomotive now painted together with the tender tank. The painting of the tender frame is nearly complete. Our final picture shows some of the extremely rusted boiler cladding and other components that will need to be replaced when the Transnet tender for Phase 2 of the restoration to final assembly is awarded.

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NG10 number 61 update Aug2018

The restoration is now picking up pace with the fabrication of the regulator lever assembly and its fitment to the boiler backhead. The main steam pipes have now been assembled in the smokebox.

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NG10 Progress August 2018

A major milestone has been reached with the completion of the main steam pipe as in our picture whilst the smokebox acts as a scheduling board for work to be completed in August.

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4AR Number 1555 Cosmetic Restoration for Transnet

While the work on the NG10 continues, the team working on the 4AR, number 1555 for Transnet are making good progress with the locomotive and tender now stripped and cleaned and the application of the red ochre preservative paint starting to be applied.

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Further progress on the NG10.

As the myriad of smaller tasks continues the reverser handle has been completed and fitted together with the reversing mechanism. The vacuum ejector and piping has also been assembled and fitted but the train pipes are still to be attached.

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A visit from the Hanomag/ Henschel Museum of Kessel in Germany.

Andreas after the presentation of the Sandstone book
During July we were privileged to host a visit from Andreas Giller, the Locomotive Archivist from this German museum who has assisted us with a number of photographs and drawings of NGG13 number 49 recently. Andreas was visiting Southern Africa as part of a tour which took him to Zimbabwe on a rail tour and then, joined by his wife Carola, a visit to Namibia. He was keen to visit Sandstone as we have the only restored Hanomag built NGG13 Garratt in South Africa, number 49 from 1928, so prior to his return to Germany he requested a visit to Sandstone to which we gladly obliged.

Steam Report July 2018

Steam report july 2018

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NG10 progress.

The regulator assembly for the NG10 is now complete and ready to be fitted the locomotive. Our pictures from Lukas Nel show the components and in particular the dome assembly for the regulator valve. Work will continue on a number of other items as we approach the steam test of number 61.

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