Here are further photos of the repairs currently being carried out on Class 15F No. 3052.

The locomotive gauges have been recalibrated. The brake ejector, hydrostatic lubricator, Fireman’s side delivery pipes and Fireman side blow down drum have all been refitted and the Annual Boiler Inspection was done on Friday 28^th July. The locomotive passed its visual inspection and will be steam tested later this week. A test run, double headed with 15F 3046 is tentatively planed for Saturday 5^th August.

Further pictures show, renewed pipe work to replace that ripped off in the derailment, the tender frames being straightened and welded where cracked and the boiler number restamped into the dome and cover following recommendation by the Boiler Inspector.

The repairs to the front bogie and bissel bogie are now complete and work has progressed to assembling the front ends starting with the side rods, connecting rods, piston slide bars and cross heads. When the loco was originally stripped many parts were found to be missing and these are now being fabricated to complete the work. Our pictures show some general views of the loco’s front end.

Celebrity 15F number 3052, “Avril”, has been moved from Friends of the Rail in Pretoria after its derailment in March on the Cullinan branch. The locomotive is now undergoing repairs from some accident damage as well as the replacement of some fire grate sections.

The motion has been reassembled, a replacement cow catcher has been fitted and the damaged fire grate sections are in the process of being replaced. The cowcatcher once secured will be primed and painted. The cab gauges have been removed for recalibration and arrangements have been made for the annual boiler inspection to be completed next week.

Our pictures from Reefsteamers show the replacement cowcatcher being fitted, work on the replacement grate and the motion reassembled afte it was removed for the tow from Pretoria.
Following boiler certification the locomotive will be kept at Reefsteamers for the foreseeable future and will be used on their tourist excursions from Johannesburg.

After receiving the necessary machined fixing bolts the brake shaft and bissel bogie have now been fitted to the frames of NG10 number 61 as our photo gallery from Lukas Nel shows.

This annual event is one of the highlights of the vintage agricultural machinery community, particularly SAVTEK who were major participants at the recent Stars of Sandstone 2017 event. The show takes place on the 11^th & 12^th August at the Villiersdorp Showgrounds in the Western Cape. Click below to view the full details:

Poster

Vistors Program

Club Members and Participants

The Bollywood movie Jagga Jasoos (in English, Detective Jagga), scenes of which were filmed at Sandstone in April 2014 just before the Star of Sandstone 2014 event, was released worldwide by Disney on July 14th. Starring famous Indian actors, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, the movie has proved to be a hit in its first few days of release with 10 million views of the trailer on YouTube. Click here to read PDF

Gert Jubileus from our rail division has produced an excellent schematic map of Hoekfontein and its railway infrastructure. Click here to view the PDF.

Click here to Read more