Welcome to the Sandstone Estates website! Click on “About Us” to learn more about Sandstone and the Heritage collection.
Please note  we do not accept cash payments at Sandstone, only Debit Cards, Credit Cards, EFT payments & mobile application payments.

Our Caterpillar collection has for too long been a quiet and fairly modest part of our overall Heritage programme.  

We do not like to prioritise any one category of machinery as being better than another.  Our Steam Heritage department is obviously well organised and well equipped.  The same applies to the Agricultural machinery side, and of course we have an excellent cross-section of Military vehicles.  

One of the unsung heroes though is our growing collection of Caterpillar machinery which comprises a very good cross-section of working Caterpillar tractors from the D2 right through to the D9 of various vintages.  We will be featuring an article on the complete collection quite soon.

As many of our readers know, NGG13 number 59 is at the Hempstead and Northern Rail Road in Texas where Robert Bucher set up the railway after visiting South Africa many times in the 1980s and documenting the narrow gauge, particularly Estcourt to Weenen.

Number 59 has been fitted with a most impressive USA style whistle, Garratt Bucher says it is a Chinese 6" 5 chime and is  99% sure it is a copy of an American whistle made by the Star Brass Company. 

It certainly makes a glorious sound as this short video of number 59 is steam shows. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/iICvZfk2FSI

NG10 number 61 has seen limited use since Stars of Sandstone 2019 but had developed a couple of teething problems, namely a leaking regulator gland in the cab and a sticking vacuum brake cylinder on the tender. As there was little urgency on this other projects were pursued, however, the locomotive was scheduled for a wedding train in December so both items were attended to. Our picture gallery shows number 61 on test and in the loco depot awaiting the call of duty. The loco had  to be stood down as the client doubled the size of the wedding party and the consequent weight of the train meant that NGG16 number 153 had to be substituted. Nevertheless the NG10 now waits her next call of duty.

The Covid 19 Pandemic has changed the way we work and we have extended our report from the pure Steam Report to include all heritage activities at Sandstone.
Enjoy the first edition for 2021 - Click here to read

The Sandstone Railway stock list has been a feature of the website for many years. For 2021 we are adding a photo gallery of all our locomotives in 5 parts.

Part 1 Narrow gauge steam (ex SAR)

Part 2 Cape Gauge Steam (ex SAR)

Part 3 Cape Gauge Industrial

Part 4 Narrow Gauge Industrial

Part 5 Diesel locomotives

We hope you enjoy them!

A recent post on this web site on November 4^th 2020 reflected on a 1997 document, “Where to private rail use in SA?”, that discussed the potential private rail use in South Africa and was effectively the launch template for Sandstone’s original rail industry plans for commercial and tourism operations which, as we know, were not realised. However this  ultimately led to the development of the2ft gauge Sandstone Steam Railway that is now world famous. Wilfred Mole, the driving force behind the railway, now reflects on the position of the 2ft gauge Sandstone Steam Railway in the larger picture of Railway Preservation in South Africa today. Click here to read more

As well as our Summer Steam Festival in February 2021 we shall be holding an Easter Steam Festival from the 2^ndto the 5^th April 2021. Come and join us for some steamy fun!
Full details are on the PDF