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.

Sandstone starts to move its valuable 3’6” coaches under cover

The erection of a 150-metre long carriage and wagon shed has enabled us to start using our valuable 3’6” coaches under cover.

These wooden bodied coaches which comprise pillared dining cars, kitchen cars, lounge cars, and sleepers are very susceptible to the extreme temperature changes in the Eastern Free State. Although it is a very dry climate and it is very kind to metal it is less kind to wood. It is important therefore that these be put under cover to protect them from weather and from the UV that they are subjected to.

This is a major operation involving all our own manpower and resources.

The photographs tell the story.

Sandstone Estates is very proud to have been able to acquire the Class 11 locomotive, No. 929, from the North British Preservation Group in the UK. Fortunately the locomotive was already located adjacent to our Bloemfontein Works so being able to incorporate it into our work programme was simple.

Lukas Nel has sent us this photograph of the locomotive with the following comments:
“We still cleaning and paint our class 11. Still a long way to go.”

Loco Pit

Wouter and his team have been carrying out a massive cosmetic exercise on the running shed.

These pictures show the pristine state of the loco pit.

Restoration project continues for DZ's

We have always preferred the DZ's to all the other freight wagons due to their versatility. We have four unrestored units photographed below which will be restored during the next 12-months or so.

Lukas Nel has sent us these two pictures of the pump trolley and wagons that are being built so that we can operate the railway line without the assistance of coal mines.

Lukas still has to add some supports and paint the trolleys to complete the project but as always it has been done well, been done quickly, and been done with flair. Well done Lukas and team!

Coal sieve

Our engineering chaps have built and commissioned a Coal sieve which will come in useful trying
to keep our coal relatively dust free.

Running Shed

Wouter Jubileus and his team have been very creative recently in making the Running Shed at Hoekfontein a more pleasant place to work.

These initiatives were entirely self-motivated by the team in the workshops.

Wouter Jubileus with his creative idea of mounting a non-standard Coco pan as a display.

Two more passenger coaches are under construction which will be specifically designed to operate with Little Bess and our Decauville locomotive. Each of these carries about
10 people and it makes for a very relaxing trip through the African savannah.

Note the neatly painted floors in the background. Again, thanks to Wouter and his team.

An authentic dining experience

It is possible to dine in an original 1920’s South African Railway pillared dining car during our annual Sandstone event. Notwithstanding the fact that this wonderful old dining coach is stationary it still has enormous ambience.

Hand Operated Crane

On one of our farms is a very interesting hand operated crane, obviously designed for lifting sandstone blocks onto railway trucks at the siding nearby.

It is in almost perfect condition and probably hasn’t been used for 50-years or more.  It is currently being relocated to the main complex, together with its magnificent sandstone blocks.

The Bloemfontein workshops are becoming very creative and have now commenced construction of a Pump Trolley. These are ubiquitous in Railway history circles and came in  many shapes and sizes.

We have struggled long and hard to find an original which has been partly successful.  We know of one but we have not been able to acquire it at this point so rather than wait any longer we are building our own. The basic chassis and wheels for a new one have already been sourced and we will keep our readers updated regarding the progress.

At the heart of every locomotive of course is its boiler.

The photos below show the state of the boiler for No. 12691. 
Most of the outside repairs are now done and work can start on the firebox end
tube plate next week.

An enormous amount of work is still being done on the boiler.  The photo below is of a boiler patch fitted to secure the safety valves.  This still needs to be riveted to the boiler and holes drilled to the studs to secure the safety valve as well as the supply hole.

We tend to publish pictures on our web site of the work that Lukas Nel does very often showing work in progress which clearly indicates an advanced stage of repair of various components. In most cases we are actually rebuilding them completely.

Sandstone Heritage Trust's Bloemfontein workshop has received the tubes for the Avonside locomotive boiler  No. 1624, ex SANRASM. Lukas Nel has submitted some excellent photos of Izak expanding the tubes at the firebox tube-plate .

 In this photo we see  Isak swaging  the boiler tubes on the swage machine.