Also visible are a switch-stand which appears to be connected by wires or rodding? The train has been turned for the return journey and the complete assembly with its water tanker and 6-wheeled CGR passenger carriage is on its way back to Victoria West. What the 4-wheeled wagon with the big box on top is is beyond me, it would be nice to hear your ideas.
That is not a stick man on top of the boiler, it is an attempt to show more detail of the Salter spring-loaded safety valve. Interestingly, this engine is shown with a handrail around the front running plate whereas the one in illustration 3 does not. What looks like smoke coming from the cab roof is steam escaping from the whistle valve. This looks more like one of the official opening trains, probably conveying Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, Governor of Cape Colony at the time. Although detailing is sparser the rolling stock seems fairly accurate as to detail.
But the old Cape 4th class were 's and this one clearly is a ! That's the whistle on the cab roof, drawn at the precise moment when the driver was blowing it, thus emitting steam! Those dots coming out of the tender seem to indicate that it had just been topped up for the return journey. The main carriage is a CGR bogie vehicle dating to the late s and the trailing one is an s 4-wheeler, both with crudely-drawn oil lamps in their roofs. Unless I'm crazy this seems to be a steam-operated railcar.
Does anyone know whether such a vehicle ever was used on the Calvinia branch? This is the crudest engraving, but it manages to show what looks like a Harbour Board or a purpose built construction T coupled to a mechanical shovel. Also a few attempts at a signature which seems to say that the artist's name could have been "Jan Jafe"? Judging by the inclusion of ordinary goods vehicles t his could have been a construction train or normal service mixed rather than the official opening train.
But it is certainly in that period. You might amuse yourselves by comparing this photograph with the locomotives in sketches 2, 3 and 4 above. An endorsement by Eric Conradie on the back of this priceless old print tells us this was the official train at the opening ceremony for Victoria West and Pampoenpoort on 1st May The locomotive, CGR 35 is a Cape 1st-class which unfortunately doesn't feature in the engravings. That this was an opening ceremony there is no doubt.
The only question is whether this is at Pampoenpoort or Victoria West. We are told that these official openings were performed by Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson himself and to commemorate the occasion "Victoria West Road" was changed to "Hutchinson". Looks as if the local artist could have been at the function! Unfortunately the Library scanner had packed up so you'll have to wait to see it but I promise to post it here when it becomes available. Meanwhile we'll have to be content with this photo of how it looks today, for which we are grateful to Peter but sad that such a functional building has fallen into disuse - not to mention the state of the railway itself.
Carnarvon station on the same day looking towards Victoria West. And looking the other way towards Williston, Kootjeskolk and Calvinia. Van Wyksvlei is 33 miles away and ft lower, adjacent to the first government-funded irrigation dam, built in but which spends too much of its time empty or containing only a few feet of brackish water. An MS sufferer, Boon died very prematurely in - an irreplaceable loss to rail-based tourism. He and Rohan Vos were practically the only men alive who could handle the intransigence of Transnet's "Management" and it needed a supreme effort to run this train several months after regular service had ceased.
In future episodes we'll tell you more about this wonderful man and his "Bushveld Train Safaris". Although the paint was starting to peel on Kootjieskolk's nice old station building, the place was still generally tidy in when Les visited on one of his official inspection tours.
This was the junction for the 28 mile branch to Sakrivier. The stop block at the very end of the line is just visible in the background, as is the take-off for the triangle, curving around to the right beyond the buildings and the pepper tree. It seems there was still a fair amount of traffic when Bruno visited here in The little square structure on the extreme right was the SM's personal long drop, otherwise known in the vernacular as the picanin khaya or PK.
The last time that steam visited here seems to be unrecorded, but evidence that it certainly did come here once upon a time was clear when Bruno came in The author of this fine photo of the last operational railcar on the SAR is unknown to us, nor do we have anyone's permission to publish it.
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Should the photographer or the person who owns the copyright come forward and object to its presence here we shall remove it immediately. Thank you Rollo Dickson for sending this splendid drawing. We don't know who the draughtsman is but his initials are C. Can anyone enlighten us? My only visit to the line was in December when it had already gone diesel. This was Calvinia shed still with a heap of coal on its coalstage, with the Hantam mountains in the background.
I was surprised to see how attractive the Karoo is around here and regretted never coming in steam days. The only working I ever saw was the one in photo 1 above, but I have seen references to the line being worked by 24 class locomotives, which is incorrect.
This may have been true for the Sakrivier branch but Les's allocation lists for the s show an average of six 19Cs stationed at Beaufort West and sub-shedded at Hutchinson which could only have been for use on the Calvinia branch. This lasted until December whereafter the first class 32s began to arrive.
Not much had changed when Bruno visited Calvinia in to find everything shipshape in line with most SAR stations in those days.
When Les passed through in signs of decay had already advanced with paint peeling off the station nameboard and main building and weeds along the tracks. But the building still had a look of dignity about it.
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Boon timed his Hantam excursions to coincide with the annual flower display, when Gousblom and Namaqua daisies naturally produced one of the wonders of the Cape Floral Kingdom. According to "Tracks Across the Veld" this photo and the next were taken by Boon himself on his last visit in Boon's Hantam Safari was the last train ever to visit Calvinia.
The line has now been severely washed away in several places and is unlikely ever to be repaired. On this sad note we will move on to the next branch - from Hermon to Porterville.
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The daily mixed to Porterville crossing the Berg River immediately after leaving Hermon in July In its 36 miles the line crosses the river twice. The locomotive is one of Dal Josaphat's class 24s. The daily mixed trudging uphill towards Riebeeck Kasteel in - only it's not the daily mixed and its not , it's a David Rodgers railtour with oil-fired 19D in June Dick's going-away photo of the same train, same location, approaching Riebeeck Kasteel on the brow of the hill. David's tours had a reputation for fine weather and this day was no exception.
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Only with photographic evidence could you believe what this once immaculate station looks like today. It's a safe bet it once looked as good or better than Porterville in Peter found this weed-killer train leaving Porterville in March Somewhat ambitiously, Transnet "Management" had decided that branchlines should be put back to work. There are places on this line where the Great Winterhoek range forms a fabulous backdrop.
They can be topped with snow for extended periods in winter but unfortunately not on this occasion. As you may have gathered, I can look at these just about forever - hope you can too! This was an earlier excursion with coal-fired 19D approaching Halfmanshof with yet another make-belief mixed.
And here's the week-killer train at Halfmanshof - the ballast looks as if the poison has done its job. Dave's tour again. Judging by the lack of snow and the early mesembryanthenums it must have been a warm winter. Blame it on global warming and especially all those trucks and cars.
A real train in the draught era.
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John has forgotten exactly when he took it. The same train, Hermon bound, a little further on. It looks like Spring in the Cape. This could be either Leliedam, Vleitjies or Soutbosvlei, neither Dave nor Dick could tell us, except that it is by a dam or a vlei!