The Uloliwe by Hennie Heymans, Nongqai Publications

THE ULOLIWE SOUTH AFRICA – SUID-AFRIKA A monthly railway historical and research publication ‘n Maandelikse spoorweg historiese en navorsing publikasie Vol 3 No 9 Un-official / Nie Amptelik - Gratis Everything to do with the former SA Railways: i.e. lighthouses, harbours, staff, photos, books, RMT, stations, tugs, SAR Police, SAA, catering, pipelines, stamps, models, rolling stock, armoured trains, diagrams, etc

Hennie Heymans, Pretoria, ZA heymanshb@gmail.com September 2012 \

Johan Brand with 14-104 & 14-110 in new blue livery with “The Blue Train” – now unilingual - near Cape Town

Contents Welcome .............................................................................................................................................................8 Front Cover – Voorblad:...................................................................................................................................8 Editorial – Redaksioneel...................................................................................................................................8 Fuel crisis (petrol & diesel) ....................................................................................................................10 Thank You ................................................................................................................................................10 Main Stories .....................................................................................................................................................10 A brief look at the early use of smoke deflectors on SAR locomotives - Les Pivnic .........................10 The Damage on the Line between George and Knysna – Anton van Schalkwyk .............................13 History Made: The Blue Train stopped at Klapmuts: July 24th – Peter Greef ...................................16 - Comments on Blue Train - Les Pivnic....................................................................................................20 Snow in the Natal Midlands – Rudi Venter ............................................................................................21 Snow in the Freez State: Between Welkom and Friedesheim – J & J Wepener ...................................26 Early Internal Combustion Locomotives in South Africa - John Middleton & Chris West .............28 Table Bay Harbour Works 1924-1938 ...................................................................................................28 George-Knysna Branch ..........................................................................................................................29 United Locomotive & Wagon of Johannesburg..................................................................................30 Photos from J Dulez ........................................................................................................................................31 Filler ..........................................................................................................................................................33 Wepener’s Perambulations and … Railway History .................................................................................34 Sightings .......................................................................................................................................................34 Friedesheim timber shunt ......................................................................................................................34 Geneva, car train heading towards Kroonstad ...................................................................................35 History John Wepener ................................................................................................................................36 2

SAR: Lamps..............................................................................................................................................36 SAR: Pens & Lumber Crayons ..............................................................................................................37 Railway History of South Africa –HBH .......................................................................................................39 CGR: 3rd Class: Dubs (1888) .......................................................................................................................39 NGR: 6-Wheeled Coupled Tank Engine [K & S] ...................................................................................39 NGR: Sundays River Bridge (nr Elandslaagte) .......................................................................................40 Van Reenen ......................................................................................................................................................41 NGR: Natal Colony 1909 Van Reenen......................................................................................................41 Natal Police: Van Reenen Notes – Sgt AA Wood ...............................................................................41 Cape Town Station - What has happened to Blackie? ...............................................................................42 OVS Staatspoorwegen (OVSS) ......................................................................................................................43 OVSS: President MT Steyn’s Carriage: Wally Greig & Leith Paxton...................................................43 NZASM.............................................................................................................................................................45 President Kruger’s Saloon: Wally Greig ..................................................................................................45 Fiction: A Colour photograph of Pres Kruger’s Saloon? - Bernard Heymans.....................................46 Comments ................................................................................................................................................47 Anglo Boer War ...............................................................................................................................................48 NGR: Elandslaagte occupied by the Boers ..............................................................................................48 Stations .............................................................................................................................................................48 Johannes Botha ........................................................................................................................................48 SAR: RMT .........................................................................................................................................................48 SAR: World War 1 ...........................................................................................................................................49 SAR in GSWA: Peter Greef ........................................................................................................................49 3

Class 7 .......................................................................................................................................................49 SAR: World War 2 ...........................................................................................................................................49 SAR Traction and Rolling Stock ....................................................................................................................50 Nostalgia: Coach 8560: Aliwal North: Police recruits on the way to Pretoria ................................50 Transnet ............................................................................................................................................................50 SA Metro Rail...................................................................................................................................................51 Cape Town – Simonstown .........................................................................................................................51 Kalk Bay on Cape Town to Simonstown Line: The Brass Bell - HBH .............................................51 The Angry Sea: Light House at Kalk Bay ............................................................................................52 Gautrain ....................................................................................................................................................54 Photograph: J Wilson ..................................................................................................................................54 Photo: Prof Gerhard Dekker ......................................................................................................................55 Photo reports ...................................................................................................................................................55 Robert Maidment-Wilson ..........................................................................................................................55 Natal Midlands - Jacobus Marais..............................................................................................................55 Natal Midlands: Lions River 19 Aug 2012 Rudi Venter ........................................................................56 A Mixed Bag – Lourens Sturgeon .............................................................................................................57 A guards van in the middle of a goods train ......................................................................................57 Transnet truck: CEK-11 63-661-497 .........................................................................................................57 Transnet truck: OXNLJ – 1 33-100-012 ...................................................................................................58 UK Report – Richard Niven.......................................................................................................................58 Namibia ............................................................................................................................................................58 SAR Coach 8327 at Windhoek - HBH ......................................................................................................58 4

Railway People – Spoorwegmense ...............................................................................................................59 Francois Mattheus .......................................................................................................................................59 Transnet Driver JN “Johan” (Lang Brand) Brand: by his Son-in-Law, Francois Mattheus ..............60 Blue Train .................................................................................................................................................61 Witblits......................................................................................................................................................61 Stories and Photographs ........................................................................................................................61 Contact ......................................................................................................................................................63 Salute.........................................................................................................................................................63 “Jack”of the Rhodesia Railways - Richard Clatworthy .........................................................................64 Kyk Spoorwegman, ek skryf en bid vir jou! – Koot Swanepoel ...........................................................71 Water Police .....................................................................................................................................................71 Previous issues of Uloliwe .............................................................................................................................71 Rail Humour ....................................................................................................................................................71 “Did you got a licence?!” – Boon Boonzaaier..........................................................................................71 Rangeer oor ‘n spooroorgang ................................................................................................................71 Book Shelf.........................................................................................................................................................72 Road Motor Transport Service [RMT]:.........................................................................................................72 South African Airways ...................................................................................................................................73 SAA History .....................................................................................................................................................73 Harbours...........................................................................................................................................................73 Catering Division ............................................................................................................................................73 Railway Police .................................................................................................................................................73 Railways: Tourism, Steam, Preservation, Societies & Clubs.....................................................................73 5

Rovos Rail.....................................................................................................................................................73 Blue Train Guards Van on Rovos - Lourens Sturgeon.......................................................................73 Rovos’ Electric traction - Lourens Sturgeon ........................................................................................75 Rovos / RRL – Lourens Sturgeon ..........................................................................................................76 Rovos & RRL: RRL Loco No CC1103 8-8-2012 – Dries van der Merwe ..........................................77 CC 1103: Comments by John Nicholas Middleton .................................................................................77 Rhodesia Railways, National Railways of Zimbabwe – J Batwell .......................................................77 RR Memorial: Bulawayo – John King ......................................................................................................78 Memories: Bosveld Train Safaris – HBH .................................................................................................79 Railway Society of Southern Africa Natal – A Peter ..............................................................................79 Reefsteamers: Situation Reports – Lee Gates ..........................................................................................79 Umgeni Steam Railway: GMAM 4074 .....................................................................................................80 Paton’s Country Railway ...........................................................................................................................80 PCR: Hansie Sturgeon ................................................................................................................................80 Patons Country Railway: Annual Aloe Train Trips ...........................................................................81 Umgeni Steam Railway - Ashley Peter ....................................................................................................81 Friends of the Rail .......................................................................................................................................82 FOTR - Lourens Sturgeon ......................................................................................................................82 150 Years (1860 – 2010) of Railways in SA: Lourens Sturgeon .............................................................82 Cullinan ....................................................................................................................................................83 Sandstone .....................................................................................................................................................84 JB Tours: Treintoere in Suider Afrika ...........................................................................................................84 Railwayana.......................................................................................................................................................84 6

South African Models .....................................................................................................................................84 Scalecraft: - Adrian Hill ..............................................................................................................................84 Contact Scalecraft ....................................................................................................................................84 Dream Trains – Wynand Vermeulen .......................................................................................................84 Railway Modellers’ Information Group: Contact Details .....................................................................84 From the Press .................................................................................................................................................85 Unfinished business: Top 10 issues for Transport Minister ..................................................................85 Metrofail – a vote of no confidence in the W Cape Metro / Die Burger: Metro(f)ail faal passasiers in bibberweer: Deon Wessels .........................................................................................................................87 SA RAILWAY RELATED INTERNET GROUPS........................................................................................87 •

Suid-Afrikaaanse Spoorweë / SA Railways / Ulolwe (sic) ........................................................87

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Yahoo: SAR-Miniatures – Adrian Hill .........................................................................................88

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Facebook: ‘RHODESIA RAILWAY’ Group - John Batwell ......................................................88

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Website for Reefsteamers: Lee Gates ............................................................................................88

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Well worth a look ............................................................................................................................88

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Andre Kritzinger .............................................................................................................................88

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Adrian Hill says:..............................................................................................................................89

Angola: Huambo -Anton van Schalkwyk ...................................................................................................89 Map: Bruno Martin .................................................................................................................................89 Huambo ....................................................................................................................................................89 CFM: Lourenco Marques or Maputo............................................................................................................94 Tanzam-line .....................................................................................................................................................94 Tanzam Map by Bruno Martin..................................................................................................................94 Rapport: Afrika uit ’n trein - Willemien Olivier.......................................................................................94 7

Pandora’s Box ..................................................................................................................................................98 Ghost Town ..............................................................................................................................................99 American Railway Express ....................................................................................................................99 US Army: B-2084 – Jeff Manning (UK)...............................................................................................100 Railway & Fashion ................................................................................................................................101 Mail Bag ..........................................................................................................................................................101 Wally Greig: Cape Town..........................................................................................................................101 Leith Paxton (Cape) ..................................................................................................................................102 Les Pivnic (Australia) ...............................................................................................................................103 Terry Rowe (UK) .......................................................................................................................................104 Stop Press .......................................................................................................................................................104 Disclaimer ......................................................................................................................................................104

Welcome Just relax, sit back and enjoy. Have a cup of coffee ready at your side! Railways and railway history is your and my hobby! We enjoy what we do here! [Police- and national security history is my passion! But the railways are my hobby!]

Front Cover – Voorblad: Transnet Driver JN “Johan” (Lang Brand) Brand at the controls – photo by his Son-inLaw, Francois Mattheus. Both locomotives look resplendent in their new blue livery.

Editorial – Redaksioneel While compiling this issue we had no communication: No e-mail and no landline. Without communication we all are lost. We were lucky our power did not go off. Pretoria North suffered 8

more than one power failure over this weekend – I know because I listen to Radio Pretoria on my PC. However I have a lot of information on the net that I did not off load. So some contributions will have to stand over until the next issue. Please forgive me. In our sister magazine, the eNONGQAI (Sept 2012), we have just published an article by the well known Dr Jan du Plessis. The article is entitled: An Analytical Management Briefing. This is one of the most interesting and stimulating articles that I have read since leaving the national security arena. If you have time: Go and read it! It’s a worthwhile read. The transport scene is changing: Farmers now transporting their goods direct from the farm to the harbour or airport for export. The farmer has his own expensive transport infrastructure and has found it cheaper to fix the road he uses, than to wait for the state, province or local authority to fix the road. (Reminds one of the days of the transport rider with his ox wagon.) Another new trend is the farmer does not send his vegetables to the market any more. Large chain stores, like Woolworths’, buy the farmers produce on the farm. The produce is harvested, packed and directly sent to their various stores from the farm.

(From the farm: fresh to the housewife

without a middle man or traditional market.) It reminds me of my maternal family in the 1880’s. My forbearers would load their wool and produce on their ox wagons and take it from their East Griqwaland farms to Durban. In Durban they would sell their produce to the Wool Brokers and return with other goods to their area. They were farmers and transport riders. When the railways came they lost their extra income as transport riders! During the late 1920’s my maternal grandfather and my mother took the train from Cedarville to Durban as Oupa had to buy a new car. My mother, a farm girl, said the first time she had ice cream was on the train in the Dining Car to Durban! So we see the transport scene is drastically changing. Today we would not be able to move 5 000 troops from Pretoria to Cape Town. We have serious problems today! I would say we could move them by road in trucks to Durban and from Durban to Cape Town by boat. Imagine taking 5 000 men (including women and thus more toilet paper) today from Pretoria to Durban and stopping at an Ultra City! We would need some petrol and diesel tankers, field kitchens and a lot of toilet paper from Pretoria to Durban! The logistics would be a nightmare! Think of all the refuse. In the old days the SA Railways took care of the SADF and SAP’s transport requirements, including the transport of fodder and the provision for toilet paper!

On the transport of women: My friend in the Belgian gendarmes showed me their horse transporters. On the next visit he showed them to me again and posed the question: “What do you see?” Well, I saw less space for horses because there has been made provision for a toilet! Now we have the same situation on our locomotives; provision is made for toilets. [Gone are the old days of getting up and taking you’re S3 before reporting for duty.] I have nothing against women (or ladies) I am just pointing to the logistics of transport. The scene on our mines is changing. Machines are going to become “miners” at great depths. Our “whole South African scene” is in a process of change. We have to re-new our thought process in order to survive! We must not stagnate; but think and adapt to new challenges.

Fuel crisis (petrol & diesel) Transport is moving to the roads. Commuters are using the Siyaya taxies; the road haulage is increasing by the day! A fuel crisis will have a great negative impact on our society in particular and on the sub-continent in general! Security, food production, general transport, transport of commuters, power, mining and water provision will be seriously affected. Should we have a fuel problem in future – read oil, petrol & diesel shortages – many people in Africa are going to be hungry! We must start planning for a fuel crisis now! Does Transnet have a stockpile of fuel? Private enterprise could take over our branch lines and develop them to the advantage of the community. We need fuel for ploughing and harvesting and for the transport of food and grain to the markets. Do we have a plan B? And a plan C and D? Do we have steam locomotives in our strategic reserve? Are our railways of the 21st century on this sub-continent geared to meet the new requirements? What is their vision and mission? They must be able to meet the new opportunities and threats.

Thank You Thank you for all the telephone calls and emails during my sickness! I am fighting fit!

Main Stories A brief look at the early use of smoke deflectors on SAR locomotives - Les Pivnic Up until 1935 and with the exception of the class GL Garratts fitted with smoke deflecting cowls for use in tunnels between Booth and Cato Ridge in Natal, steam locomotives in use on the SAR didn't require any smoke deflecting equipment. This changed with the 10

introduction of the class 16Es and 15Es in 1935. These Watson-designed locos had highpitched boilers resulting in very squat chimneys (especially the German-built 15Es) and a man-hole cover in place of a dome. The almost smooth boiler top resulted in smoke being sucked down over the boiler and hindering the driver's view ahead. Experiments were then started with various shapes of smoke-deflecting screens or plates in an effort to eliminate the problem.

In photo 1, the 16E no. 854 is shown carrying relatively small experimental smoke deflectors.

In the 2nd photo, we have a smoke-deflecting screen mounted on the smokebox of a class 15E. 11

Unfortunately, none of these experimental plates/screens proved successful - something else was needed! Now we get to the interesting part of this saga!

The 3rd photo obviously taken in Germany in 1935/6 shows 15E No. 2885 carrying typical German-style smoke deflector plates. These plates are identical to what would become the standard smoke deflector on all the larger classes of SAR steam locomotive. However, having said that, the mystery deepens ... all the 15Es and all the 1938 Germanbuilt 15Fs (2902 - 2922) were then delivered with handrails and NOT with smoke deflectors! Most of the 23s (1938) were also delivered with handrails - although I have photographs showing some 23s in maker's paint, already fitted with smoke deflectors. The question arises - was the 15E photographed at Henschel's Works delivered with those smoke deflectors? Bear in mind that all photographic evidence of 15Es at work in the 1930s, shows them with handrails. Another fascinating question arises - with engine 2885 already fitted with what WAS to become the standard SAR loco smoke deflector - why was it not adopted earlier? I would love to pose these questions to A G - he would have all the answers for me!!! Another point of interest is that the standard smoke deflector subsequently adopted by the SAR (as shown on engine 2885) was slightly modified for use on the 16Es. The class 16E already had the full-width angled sheet fitted new from the front buffer-beam to the side running-boards whereas the 15Es, 15Fs and 23s had to have the angled sheet retro-fitted as 12

part of the process of providing smoke deflector plates. This resulted in the 16Es having the leading edge of their side deflecting plates cut back to the angled front sheet. Class 15E no.2885 can be accepted as being the VERY FIRST large SAR steam loco to be fitted with what was to become the standard smoke deflector. The 16Es, 15Es and pre-War 15Fs all had their squat chimney castings replaced by a standard chimney design. The 23s retained their slightly taller chimney made possible by the slightly lower-pitched 3B boiler on that class. Food for thought! Les Pivnic

The Damage on the Line between George and Knysna â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Anton van Schalkwyk

History Made: The Blue Train stopped at Klapmuts: July 24th â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Peter Greef Hi Hennie, Allen, Pieter; The Blue Train JHB-CT was hauled into the station loop at Klapmuts and did not clear the trailing points. Apparently, there was a problem between Klapmuts and Belville? Where are the days that this train was never late and ran Wellington-CT non-stop. The attached photos tell the story. Groete Peter Greef

Looking down main line to Paarl â&#x20AC;&#x201C; last two coaches on points. Main station undergoing repairs and repaint.

Note: Commuters walking along the line in the 2nd and 3rd slides. This is a dangerous situation. It is also detrimental to the infra-structure. The area is prone to copper theft. Spoornet has no control here! However Spoornet remains liable for injuries etc.

Note the 14Eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one in orange and one in blue!

- Comments on Blue Train - Les Pivnic Hello Hennie, It may surprise you to hear that the photos don't surprise me at all! The old SAR is DEAD! All the old operating norms have been dumped! Having the tail end of ANY train left on the main line was totally out of the question in SAR days! It just would never have happened! As for the Blue Train pulling into a loop to wait - that is also TODAY's way of poor 20

operating! In the old days, the Blue Train didn't wait for anything! It was the pride of the old SAR and it was treated with due respect! Any signalman or station foreman found guilty of unnecessary delay to the Blue Train was fined a "Pound a Minute" - docked off his salary! Those days are long gone!! Regards Les

Snow in the Natal Midlands â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Rudi Venter

Driver Rudi Venter (right) and an unnamed colleague.

Snow in the Freez State: Between Welkom and Friedesheim â&#x20AC;&#x201C; J & J Wepener

Early Internal Combustion Locomotives in South Africa - John Middleton & Chris West Recent research has established that SAR & H obtained at least four narrow gauge petrol locomotives in the mid 1920s for use on various civil engineering works.

Table Bay Harbour Works 1924-1938 The Railways & Harbours Board Report to 31st December 1924 says, under the heading Table Bay Harbour – extension of breakwater, At the end of the year,……. the concrete gantry tracks had been erected and the 40-ton block trucks and petrol locomotives had arrived and were being assembled.

The photo below shows an 0-6-0PM locomotive on this work which is thought to be of 2’0” gauge. This has been identified as an O&K Montania (Nordhausen, Germany) type S30. This type of loco was of 30 HP and weighed 7 tons. The engine type is unknown but appears to be 4-cylinder in the attached photo. Montania AG had become part of Orenstein & Koppel in 1916 but their records before 1926 have been lost so we do not know for sure how many were supplied for the Table Bay work. The Report says “locomotives” in the plural so we know there was more than one and it seems a reasonable assumption that at least two of the same type would have been ordered. Another photo of one of these locos exists which shows it working from the concrete block yard connected with further Table Bay works which took place in 1938-39 when a deep water quay was constructed.

George-Knysna Branch For the construction of the George-Knysna in 1926-28, SAR & H ordered two small 0-4-0PM locomotives from Baguley of the UK. We have details of these, they were Baguley numbers 1503 and 1504 and they were ex-works on 21 December 1925. They had 35 HP Baguley engines and Baguley "Duplex " transmission (which was apparently a multiple plate clutch with separate gearbox, normally two-speed). They were of typical Baguley appearance of the era. There exists in Knysna museum a photo of a third smaller 4-wheeled petrol loco of unknown type in use on the branch construction which has yet to be identified. 29

United Locomotive & Wagon of Johannesburg This firm built a number of diesel locomotives in the early 1950’s re-using the frames of earlier locomotives. One of these appears to have been rebuilt from a Montania S30, quite possibly one of those that had been used on the Cape Town Harbour Works. A 1954 picture shows that it carried an SAR plant number (K10882), but as no further record exists we must assume the rebuild was unsuccessful. As with the OK Montania locos, the underframe of one of the Baguley locos appears to have been used for another United Locomotive rebuild in 1954, in this case for a 3’6” gauge loco painted with the name “Lourenco Marques Forwarding Co” which presumably meant it was intended for a customer somewhere in the port. The authors would be pleased to receive information or photos either of internal combustion locomotives in South Africa before World War II, or of the locomotives built by United Locomotive & Wagon of Johannesburg.

Photos from J Dulez Julian Dulez sent photos of a new loco for Congo-Ocean Rlwy (Brazzaville); and Richards Bay Coal terminal loco:

Above: An old ex CFM loco under overhaul. Below: New loco for Sierra Leone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; J Dulez

Congo-Ocean Rlwy (Brazzaville) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; J Dulez

Ex Queensland Railways for refurbishment – J Dulez

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Does anybody have simple diagrams of these locomotives? - HBH

Filler

A Photo by Lourens Sturgeon

Wepenerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Perambulations and â&#x20AC;Ś Railway History Sightings Friedesheim timber shunt

Geneva, car train heading towards Kroonstad

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History John Wepener SAR: Lamps

SAR: Pens & Lumber Crayons

All photos by J & J Wepener carry their copyright.

Railway History of South Africa â&#x20AC;&#x201C;HBH CGR: 3rd Class: Dubs (1888)

NGR: 6-Wheeled Coupled Tank Engine [K & S]

NGR: Sundays River Bridge (nr Elandslaagte)

This bridge cost ÂŁ100,000 to build and was blown up by the Boers during the Anglo Boer War. Note the 3-axle NGR coaches. Note the guards van has a view of the whole train from above. â&#x20AC;˘

Could this have been a fire prevention measure?

Van Reenen I am partial to Van Reenen. Oupa and Ouma Heymans lived at Van Reenen most of their lives. Oupa said Van Reenen was like a baby: “If it’s not wet, it has a wind!” I spent many holidays there. My Aunt, Mrs Miems West Thomas, introduced me to the fascinating history of Van Reenen. It is such a small hamlet; however it has a great history! I have focussed on the Voortrekker-, Anglo-Boer War-, railway-, and police history as well on the “famous” people of Van Reenen. Here is an abridged report written in September 1909 by Sgt AA Wood of the Natal Police. It gives us some insight into Van Reenen 103 yrs ago. Maj AA “Tick Bird” Wood is the author of a book: Natal Past and Present. Mr Gillis van Schalkwyk is presently writing a book about Van Reenen.

NGR: Natal Colony 1909 Van Reenen Natal Police: Van Reenen Notes – Sgt AA Wood “This has been such an uneventful spot of late that I am at a loss for news, so I warn the reader not to expect anything exciting. Snow commenced falling at 4.30 a.m. on 17th August (I can vouch for the time, as I received the shock when turning out to examine the night train from the O.R.C.,1 which Immigration Restriction and Pass work necessitates being done daily); by 8 o'clock the country was a beautiful white expanse, and the sight was such to throw one's mind back to wintry scenes in the Old Country; the fall continued until the early hours of the next day; then a rapid thaw set in, owing to which, and to there being; no wind, very few deaths took place amongst stock. We had good fun snowballing, and some energetic individuals erected a huge snow-man near the Railway Station. However, I think the general opinion was that as a novelty it was enjoyable, but "Sunny" South Africa preferred. We have all welcomed spring with joy, for the Drakensberg in winter is by no means the most desirable of situations. Tpr Whitaker is an energetic gardener, and a very short time will see a well-stocked kitchen garden; he has also planted a considerable number of young trees we received from the Government Experimental Farm, and I hope, in the years to come, he will have

ORC – Orange River Colony; later the Orange Free State and now the Free State.

the pleasure of seeing a fine show of trees as a result of his labours2; 'tis to be regretted some were not planted years ago, as all we have in the way of trees is a clump of wattles and about half-a-dozen rather poor peach trees. A gymkhana is arranged for the 16th October, and we hope to pull off an event or two; a day's sport will be welcome, for "deadly dull" describes Van Reenen at normal; but there are generally a few visitors here during the summer months, who relieve the monotony, so possibly we have not so much cause for complaint as many stations, and in fine weather the scenery and exhilarating air compensates for much. A.A.W. 14th September, 1909.”

NGR: Van Reenen’s Pass

Cape Town Station - What has happened to Blackie? Wally Greig from Cape Town reports:

There are old trees all around the “old” police station – HBH.

“Blackie goes in hiding 2009.” Photos via PRASA xchange webpage – Sent in by Wally Greig.

We wish a spokesperson for Transnet will inform our readers about Blackie’s future! We must keep “Blackie” on the agenda.

OVS Staatspoorwegen (OVSS) OVSS: President MT Steyn’s Carriage: Wally Greig & Leith Paxton Wlly Greig kindly sent the following from Leith Paxton’s collection. Leith was phoned and he kindly agreed to publication.

The Oorlogsmuseum in Bloemfontein has no information on Pres Steyn’s saloon. They only have information on Pres SJP Kruger’s saloon. •

Please keep youe eyes and ears open for more information on this historic coach!

NZASM President Kruger’s Saloon: Wally Greig

Fiction: A Colour photograph of Pres Kruger’s Saloon? - Bernard Heymans

We did not try to colour the ZAR’s emblem on the coach.

Comments Thanks to my son, Bernard, who has enlisted the aid of technology and friends to colour the photograph for our readers. [I have a feeling the Pres Kruger’s coach was painted in a deep blue while the “short” could have been painted in New Brunswick green or the same green as Rovos Rail’s coaches.] Having made a study on Pres Kruger’s coach I have never seen this photograph before, nor have I seen the photographs sent in by Ray Ellis from Australia. Lourens Sturgeon tells me that he has seen this photograph before on a Dutch webpage. It’s time to update the history of Pres Kruger’s Saloon (SAR 17) still staged at the Kruger House in Church Street??? (Name has changed) Pretoria.

Anglo Boer War NGR: Elandslaagte occupied by the Boers

Stations Johannes Botha -

SAR: RMT -

Patron Our patron is Les Pivnic. He is a renowned railway photographer and author. His book on SAR Dining Cars is a classic book and by now Africana. He was assistant- curator at the old SAR museum in Johannesburg. He is one of the experts on the SA Railways as he has a lifelong interest in railways.

SAR: World War 1 SAR in GSWA: Peter Greef

Class 7

SAR: World War 2 -

SAR Traction and Rolling Stock Nostalgia: Coach 8560: Aliwal North: Police recruits on the way to Pretoria

(Aliwal was the name of Sir Harry Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous horse. There was also an Aliwal South. I think it was Mossel Bay.)

Transnet -

SA Metro Rail

Cape Town – Simonstown Kalk Bay on Cape Town to Simonstown Line: The Brass Bell - HBH When in Cape Town I usually spend a night or two in the Train Lodge. I then walk between the Lodge and the nearby Cape Town railway station. The Train Lodge has a fine bar looking out on the various incoming and outgoing lines from the Cape Town station as well as a view of the old Castle built by the VOC. During rains and in the evenings this bar is a fine observation post. However the “Brass Bell” is my favourite watering hole on the Cape Town - Simonstown line. (My friend, Oom Gert, introduced me to this fine observation post!) I still miss the catering car called Bugsy on which I enjoyed my Die Burger (an Afrikaans newspaper – not a hamburger!), bacon, eggs and coffee on the way to Simonstown!) I usually take the train from Cape Town to Simonstown and now my first stop is Kalk Bay. At Kalk Bay I go through the under the railway line, towards the sea – and then enter the Brass Bell to enjoy a beer. With the railway line to my front and the sea (False Bay) at my back: I enjoy a Heineken and watch the trains go by while taking photographs. The ocean has its moods and sometimes the waves hit the sea wall in full force and then shower a spray of sea water over the Metro! Somebody sent the following shots doing the rounds on the internet of an angry sea at Kalk Bay:

The Angry Sea: Light House at Kalk Bay

The Brass Bell

The Brass Bell - interior

From Kalk Bay the next stop is Simonstown. Here I meander along the coastal road and visit all the museums and then back to Kalk Bay and Cape Town. (One has to be carefull of muggers near Cape Town station.)

Gautrain

Both sides of the Gautrain Card.

Photograph: J Wilson

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sunriseâ&#x20AC;?: Jade Wilson took this photograph from the cab

Photo: Prof Gerhard Dekker

Photo reports Robert Maidment-Wilson -

Natal Midlands - Jacobus Marais -

Natal Midlands: Lions River 19 Aug 2012 Rudi Venter

A Mixed Bag â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lourens Sturgeon A guards van in the middle of a goods train

Note Zimbabwe trucks

Transnet truck: CEK-11 63-661-497

Note position of bogies 57

Transnet truck: OXNLJ – 1 33-100-012

UK Report – Richard Niven

Namibia SAR Coach 8327 at Windhoek - HBH

Railway People – Spoorwegmense Francois Mattheus Dagsê Hennie, Vind aangeheg ‘n paar foto’s van waar my skoonpa dryf. Kyk maar wat jy wil gebruik. Hier volg 2 paragrafies oor my skoonpa se loopbaan by Transnet. Ek hoop dit is wat jy in gedagte gehad het. Groete Francois Mattheus.

Transnet Driver JN “Johan” (Lang Brand) Brand: by his Son-in-Law, Francois Mattheus Howard Thurman, author and philosopher once said: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” This is what inspires me about my father in law, Johan Brand, also known by nickname as “Langbrand”. Johan did just that when he decided to become a train operator. He became alive! Now, almost 44 years down the line of uninterrupted service with an accident free record for Transet, Langbrand is still as enthusiastic about his career as ever. With just over 3 years left to retirement, he still speaks with great joy about his job, or as he would like to call it, his hobby. When the topic of retirement comes up, he smiles and says: “Well, then I will go and wash those locomotives just so that I can still get my hands on them!” I am proud to write about this remarkable person who is stationed at the Bellville depot, near Cape Town. Qualified on 18 different classes/types of locomotives, with the exception of steam, he is truly a remarkable man, respected by his fellow colleagues and assistants, and one who does his job with passion and dedication. Johan’s pride and joy is the beloved Blue Train, on which he qualified in 1999 and still operates on the Cape Town – Worcester route on a weekly basis. 60

Blue Train

Witblits When one asks him about a distinctive time in his career, he quickly points out the times when he operated those high speed goods trains or “die Witblits” as it was known from 1995 up to 1999. This was a remarkable time in his career which he thoroughly enjoyed. A trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town would last about 16 hours as these trains operated around speeds of more than 120km/h.

Stories and Photographs Stories like these and many others have kept father and son in law in discussion for hours on a time. And the stories and discussions will surely continue for many years to come, even long after Langbrand’s operating keys have been stowed away!

Contact Johan would like to invite old friends and colleagues stationed at other depots to make contact with him should they want to say hello. Johan Brand can be contacted on 083 622 6393.

Salute We the readers of The Uloliwe salute a man like Johan “Lang Brand” Brand! Francois please send us more stories and photographs about this remarkable and loyal Transnet driver! •

Witblits – Does anybody out there have a photo of the Witblits to share with us?

“Jack”of the Rhodesia Railways - Richard Clatworthy Amongst the members of the Railway Circle in Bulawayo in the early ‘70s was a guard with Rhodesia Railways (as it was - all names and terminology are as applicable at the time) who, we learned, had had a previous career on the footplate before circumstances dictated a career break. From this he had a fund of stories with which he regaled us, and I maintained contact with him after we left Bulawayo. Sadly he is now deceased and I feel I owe it to posterity to put on record as many of his stories as I can remember. Jack was born and brought up in Bulawayo, I believe, or maybe Matabeleland or Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) - anyway he was a true Matabele. He left school early and after a brief spell in another job he applied to the Railways for a fireman’s post at Bulawayo. He was accepted and assigned his first duty on the shunt with a driver with a reputation for eccentricity.

This was reinforced when the driver appeared, very shortly before the

commencement of the shift, in formal dress. They took the loco (9A class) to the yard and the driver proceeded to wage war on the wagons they were marshalling, until the shunter walked off the job and they were ordered back to the shed. There a doctor was summoned who diagnosed alcohol intoxication in the driver. Apart from the dismissal of the driver, poor Jack found himself on the carpet for failing to recognise that his workmate was under the influence. However his perfectly valid defence that he had no normal standard to judge by was accepted. Jack was a diligent worker with an enquiring mind who attended the mutual improvement classes and bought technical literature with his own money, and at the age of 17 took and passed his driver’s exam. However the Railways would not promote him, even though vacancies came up, saying he was too young. Then came the night when, for whatever reason, the Mail train from the north stood at Wankie (now Hwange), where Jack was based, with no driver available to take it forward. Jack was asked to drive it but he pointed 64

out that he had been declared inadmissible. Local staff then phoned Bulawayo and, as Jack had it, the wires became red hot, but in the event the train had to wait until the first available driver completed his statutory rest period. However after this the Railways relented and promoted Jack to Driver - so he promptly demanded, and received, the standard time allowance for learning the road that he already knew very well. It was during Jackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time at Wankie that the 1947 Royal Tour took place and Jack was one of a group of railwaymen privileged to receive a royal wave when the Royal Train made a technical stop and His Majesty King George VI appeared at a doorway, imagining no doubt that he was about to be presented with another batch of loyal subjects. Soon after this Jack, with a simple-minded young fireman, shunted a few wagons loaded with limestone away from the quarry at a small deposit within the colliery complex.

The

fireman enquired what this white stuff was and Jack told him it was white coal, used for the Royal train so they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get black smoke. Shortly thereafter Jack went for his lunch, to return to find that the fireman had decided to try out some of this white coal and had completely killed the fire! At that time there were still a large number of link-and-pin couplers in use, and sometimes there might not be a pin available, in which case an unscrupulous shunter might lift one from a train on an adjacent track. The line south out of Wankie old station had a steep ascent and it was the practice to bank southbound trains out of the station, the banking engine not being coupled up and drifting to a stop as the train pulled away. On one such occasion Jack, driving the banking loco, closed the regulator and was attending to other tasks when he was thrown against the boiler backplate by a collision. The train had been robbed of a coupler pin; the push of the banking engine had held it together but without this force the train had divided and separation of the vacuum hose connection had brought

the brakes on, for the drifting banker to collide with the guards van. Thereafter Jack always braked positively when cutting off. Wankie no. 2 colliery was linked to the rail system by a line branching off at Thomson Junction. A yard was laid there, and it evolved into a station taking over from Wankie as the control point. No. 2 colliery is a fair bit higher (and even today the movement of loaded wagons from no. 3 colliery to the washing plant at no. 2 is a railroad spectacular). One day a loco crew, having propelled empties up the bank to no. 2 and now waiting just below the yard inlet, spotted some runaway wagons coming down the yard toward them. The driver (not Jack) decided to run before them to Thomson Junction where, he intended, they could be turned into a different road behind him. As it happened, his arrival at T.J. co-incided with that of a train from Livingstone, which the stationmaster was admitting to the yard (at the same end as the no. 2 spur). The stationmaster succeeded in keeping them all apart but strained his back in the process of throwing points. Jack later transferred to Bulawayo where he often worked on the West Nicholson branch, at the time when Colleen Bawn, with its limestone hill, was taking over from West Nic as the major traffic terminal. At that time the line from Koodoovale summit, south of Gwanda, dropped directly down the valley, the old formation actually carrying todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main road. This steep bank was a limiting factor to the load of limestone (for the cement factory at Cement) which the 9th or 9B class locos could bring back. The procedure was that a train would run out to WN or CB, shunt the quarry and then take half the load up the hill to Gwanda, returning for the other half. Arrival at Gwanda with this and coupling up the complete train marked the end of the working day; the fire would be banked and the crew would sleep there and take the load up to Cement and Bulawayo the next day. 66

With numerous wagons shuttling between Cement and Colleen Bawn, never receiving the attention of a Carriage and Wagon Examiner, brake blocks would wear away to nothing, and with sufficient such vehicles in a train there was the possibility of a runaway, though Jack never told me of one happening to him. Later a CWE was stationed at Colleen Bawn to prevent these occurrences. One detail of Jackâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s account of the route is borne out by visible structure: going out of Gwanda northwards, past the showground, the line does a dogleg curve and crosses a streambed by an impressive concrete double box culvert high enough to stand in. Set into the abutments and the centre pier are what appear to be decorative panels of granite blocks - and then one realises that these are the original stone masonry supports for a steel bridge. In fact from Stanmore the line is steadily downhill and this afforded drivers the opportunity of a snooze until awakened by the rattle of the steel bridge giving warning of the approach to Gwanda. South of Gwanda the line crosses the Manzinyama river and climbs to Koodoovale summit, then drops down the valley to Antenior siding and sets course eastwards to Colleen Bawn. As previously described this steep section imposed a restriction to up traffic and a relocation was planned. A deep cutting through a ridge provided fill for embankments across the adjacent valleys, allowing a gentler descent with a sweeping S-curve at the lower end. Jack had the honour of driving the first service train over this new section, in a 14th class Garratt. The working conditions on the branch - driving rough-riding 9Bs instead of sleek, smooth 15th class Garratts on the main line - made it an unpopular assignment for enginemen. Jack led the way with a group of like-minded souls to set up a link of drivers for the branch. They were rewarded by the introduction of Garratts and track improvements such 67

as the relocation described above. Then the 14As arrived and other drivers attempted to muscle in on this allocation of nice new locomotives but were firmly rebuffed. A fatal accident had occurred earlier when, following a heavy rainstorm near Colleen Bawn, a newly-constructed farm dam burst, and the torrent of water took out one approach to the railway bridge downstream. The first train the next morning was headed by a 9B class; the loco fell into the cavity and the tender over-rode the cab and boiler top, fracturing fittings which released steam causing certain but not immediate death for the loco crew. A consequence of this accident was the introduction of a requirement that the siting and construction of all new farm dams must be approved by the Department of Conservation and Extension. Around this time a cement factory was built at Colleen Bawn to utilise the limestone on site (the factory at Cement still taking a large quantity). The cement was packaged in paper sacks and in wet weather the wagons were sheeted with tarpaulins but in the dry season the sacks were unprotected, on the basis that they could be delivered without risk of getting wet. So one day Jack was driving up with such a load when he realised one wagon was on fire, a spark having ignited a paper sack. No problem, he was near a water column where he was due to take water anyway, so he stopped with the burning wagon under the column and turned on the tap. Then he repositioned, filled the locoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tank and continued to Bulawayo, where someone had the task of digging 40 tons of setting cement out of the wagon. Thereafter it was decreed that wagons of bagged cement would be sheeted in all weathers. On one occasion Jack was driving a 14th class when it developed a hot bearing on the leading pony axle of the rear unit. The procedure for dealing with this was standard: find an open culvert, of which there were quite a few, park the offending axle over it, get underneath and make the necessary adjustments to reduce the weight carried by that axle. 68

In this case the affected axle was directly underneath the cab, which had a wooden board floor. Jack’s fireman was one of the group of immigrants recruited from Greece, and he seized this opportunity to wash down the cab floor. Jack, taken unawares by the stream of scalding water, came out from underneath to remonstrate with the fireman just as the indigenous coal trimmer chose the moment to urinate blindly over the bunker side! Sad to relate, Jack climbed up into the bunker and carried out a physical assault. The victim fled into the bush, made his own way back to Bulawayo and laid a complaint. I understand that the proprieties were observed and a formal investigation instigated which came up with a pragmatic verdict. Following the completion of the new railway to the Mozambique border for Lourenco Marques, the five ex-SAR class 13 tank-tender locomotives acquired as construction locos were scrapped, but first two of them were sent up to the Zambezi Sawmills Railway for evaluation.

They were not towed up dead, or even running light engine; Rhodesia

Railways required them to work their passage double-heading a load. It fell to Jack and another driver to work them up. Problems with steaming quickly developed, even on the downhill run to Sawmills, so Jack devised a system whereby one loco would steam as hard as it could while the other crew worked desperately on cleaning their fire; then with an exchange of whistle signals they would swap roles. The locos were not accepted by ZSMR; I do not know under what conditions or under who’s coaxing they returned south for scrapping. Those are the stories I remember of Jack’s footplate career; after a break from the Railways he returned as a guard on the Mafeking line, doing the long runs of caboose working. One story I remember from this period is the black comedy, related separately, of the cement tanker runaway from Slurry, to the east of, and higher than, Mafeking - an accident that regrettably happened but thankfully was not as bad as it easily could have been. Another, 69

which I feel illustrates the spirit of Rhodesians, concerns a failed DE6 (General Electric U20C) diesel locomotive at Mafeking after the end of steam on the Botswana run. The driver phoned Bulawayo and obtained permission to investigate the problem.

discovered that the brushes of the electric motor powering the fuel pump were burned out. However there was a fan in the cab driven by the identical electric motor so it was a straightforward matter to transfer the brushes and he had a serviceable locomotive (albeit with some loss of crew comfort). While the driver was effecting this repair he had an enthralled audience of SAR enginemen, operators of the almost identical SAR class 33, eating their hearts out in the knowledge that never ever would they be allowed to do anything like that â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if they broke down they would have to wait for the fitter to come out. Then Jack suffered injury in a car accident and could not carry on as a guard but commenced a third, clerical, career with the Railways. This was now after Independence and there were some officers whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political zeal exceeded their worldly wisdom and sense of logic. This was exemplified by the case of the old-style refrigerator car full of fish from Cape Town which had its ice-bunkers recharged with ice at Kimberley. An accountant got hold of the invoice from South African Railways for this ice, and demanded to know why Zimbabwe was importing ice from Racist South Africa.

On being told the reason he

demanded that this ice be produced for his inspection. An appeal to a senior officer produced the recommendation that the requisite number of buckets be filled with water and taken across, but before this could be implemented the requirement was dropped. However the Accounting branch got the last word by raising an internal invoice for the storage of this ice! At this stage we left Zimbabwe for England, Jack emigrated to Durban, but many years later Jack paid a visit to England and I was able to meet him and brush up details of some of his reminiscences. 70

Sadly, shortly thereafter he died.

Kyk Spoorwegman, ek skryf en bid vir jou! – Koot Swanepoel

U kan Koot direk kontak by: J.C. Swanepoel koots@telkomsa.net of by 082 041 9123

Water Police -

Previous issues of Uloliwe Here is the link to the July issue of Uloliwe: http://issuu.com/hennieheymans/docs/3_no_7_uloliwe It had 345 “readers” last month. Here is the link to the Aug issue of Uloliwe: http://issuu.com/hennieheymans/docs/3_no_8_uloliwe For previous all previous issues of Uloliwe click on: http://issuu.com/hennieheymans/docs

Rail Humour “Did you got a licence?!” – Boon Boonzaaier A delightful anecdote by Boon of humour in uniform! A locomotive driver was shunting over a public road in Rustenburg. He was minding the bussines of the railway administration! A new generation lady traffic officer was keeping a watchful eye on this activity. She accosted him and enquired what he was doing. He explained he was shunting. She wanted to inspect his driver’s licence for the locomotive. He could not produce it. “No, if it has wheels you must have a license!” She summoned him for “failing to produce” his “railway” driver’s licence. He refused the summons and was detained. After intervention of the authorities he was released.

Rangeer oor ‘n spooroorgang Dieselfde drywer wat die bakkie by Pienaarsrivier getref het, vertel my watter drama hy op Rustenburg met die verkeerspolisie gehad het. Hy rangeer trokke heen-en-weer oor ‘n spooroorgang waar ‘n boetebessie lui-lui hom dophou. Op ‘n stadium gaan sy tot aksie oor en vra 71

hom wat hy doen. Hy antwoord dat hy besig is om ‘n trein saam te stel. Sy wil weet of hy ‘n lisensie het om die lokomotief te bestuur. Sy verduideliking dat hy by ‘n kollege gekwalifiseer het nadat hy lank assisent was val nie op gewillige ore nie. Sy eis om sy bestuurslisensie te sien en hy probeer verduidelik dat drywers nie daarmee uitgereik word nie. “No, if it has wheels you must have a license!” Sy pluk haar boekie uit en skryf die lokomotief se nommer af en vra sy persoonlike besonderhede. Teen hierdie tyd is hy al redelik moerig en weier om die dagvaarding te aanvaar. Sy roep hulp oor die radio en hy word summier in hegtenis geneem! Hy kry darem kans om, baie benoud, sy trajekbestuurder in Pyramid-Suid te bel en om hulp te vra. Wanneer sy baas opdaag word daar uiteindelik rede verstaan en word hy vrygelaat. Daarna is daar oorweeg om vir die drywers bestuurslisensies uit te reik, maar ek weet nie of dit gebeur het nie. Onlangs merk ek foto’s in BEELD op waarin gekla word oor Rustenburg se verkeerspolisie nie sitplekgordels dra nie terwyl daar ook ander wanpraktyke genoem word. Ek dink by myself, julle het nog nie die ergste beleef nie…..

Book Shelf -

Road Motor Transport Service [RMT]: Greytown: A 10-ton truck and a 5-ton trailer for the conveyance of citrus in bulk

South African Airways -

SAA History -

Harbours -

Catering Division -

Railway Police

Railways: Tourism, Steam, Preservation, Societies & Clubs Rovos Rail Blue Train Guards Van on Rovos - Lourens Sturgeon Lourens Sturgeon took these historic shots with his cell phone:

Rovosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Electric traction - Lourens Sturgeon

Rovos / RRL â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lourens Sturgeon

The tank behind the loco is filled with diesel for the trip

Rovos & RRL: RRL Loco No CC1103 8-8-2012 – Dries van der Merwe

CC 1103: Comments by John Nicholas Middleton Hi Hennie - thanks very interesting - the loco is CC1103 (the number is in the panel either side of the headlight) - it’s one of 4 built new by RRL in 2011 for the CFCO in CongoBrazzaville. CC1101 and CC1102 were delivered in July 2011. CC1103 and CC1104 have not been delivered. CC1104 was seen stored at the RRL works in July 2012 but I didn't know where CC1103 had gone - now we know, its being used by RRL! John Nicholas Middleton

Rhodesia Railways, National Railways of Zimbabwe – J Batwell -

RR Memorial: Bulawayo â&#x20AC;&#x201C; John King

Memories: Bosveld Train Safaris – HBH

BTS near Grabouw

Railway Society of Southern Africa Natal – A Peter RAILWAY SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA NATAL

Founded 1960

P. O. BOX/POSBUS 33202, MONTCLAIR, 4061

SPOORWEGVERENIGING VAN SUIDELIKE AFRIKA NATAL

Dear Ashley Peter – thanks for the Natal Newsletter - HBH

Reefsteamers: Situation Reports – Lee Gates 79

Umgeni Steam Railway: GMAM 4074 -

Patonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Country Railway PCR: Hansie Sturgeon

Patons Country Railway: Annual Aloe Train Trips -

Umgeni Steam Railway - Ashley Peter -

Friends of the Rail FOTR - Lourens Sturgeon “Hallo” from Driver Nathan Berelowitz!

150 Years (1860 – 2010) of Railways in SA: Lourens Sturgeon

Cullinan

Sandstone -

JB Tours: Treintoere in Suider Afrika -

Railwayana -

South African Models Scalecraft: - Adrian Hill

Contact Scalecraft www.scalecraft.co.za http://www.facebook.com/Scalecraft info@scalecraft.co.za 021 592 72 69 +2721 592 7269

Dream Trains – Wynand Vermeulen 16 Besembos Avenue, Pellissier, 9301 Bloemfontein, South Africa PO Box 32882, Fichardtpark, 9317

www.dreamtrains.co.za

Railway Modellers’ Information Group: Contact Details 84

From the Press Unfinished business: Top 10 issues for Transport Minister The top 10 issues facing transport - Ian Ollis: 08 August 2012: DA MP says low passenger numbers on Gautrain cost taxpayers R300m over past year.

As members of parliament return to the national assembly for the first sitting of the third term, there is a new Minister at the helm of the Transport Department. It has come to the DA's attention that many programs in the Department have come to a standstill awaiting instructions from the new Ministerial team around policy direction and a programme of action. The former Minister S'bu Ndebele left an avalanche of unfinished business which requires urgent attention from the newly appointed Ben Martins. The DA believes that the Minister should prioritise the following issues: 1. The unresolved Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) and two court cases involving the E-toll debacle which are causing financial stress to the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL). 2. The low passenger numbers on the Gautrain (38 000 per day) and Gautrain busses resulting in losses of over R300 million, over the past financial year, which the taxpayer has to fund.

3. The 2700 kilometres of Eastern Cape provincial roads needing urgent repair or replacement were transferred to the SANRAL without funding - this amounts to an unfunded mandate for SANRAL which has no money to do the work. 4. The bankruptcy of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) after R200 million was misspent. 5. Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) is slowly becoming bankrupt as the costs for collection of traffic fines are higher than the income received from the actual fines. 6. The Road Accident Fund (RAF) is in need of an urgent review. It's debt has grown by R1.6 Billion to R42 Billion in the past year and now has an extra R1.3 Billion debt to deal with arising from urgent amendments before parliament 7. The increasing Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) fees causing air traffic to divert to airports elsewhere such as Maputo. 8. The unbudgeted costs related to rescuing ships in trouble or ships stranded on our shoreline. 9. The collapsing service of Metrorail due to a decade of poor maintenance on their rolling stock. 10. The high number of un-roadworthy busses and taxis leading to large number of recent road crashes, deaths and serious injuries. We want to start seeing strong action from Minister Martins on these issues and will ask for a briefing from his department to the Portfolio Committee on Transport on its strategic direction. Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, August 7 2012 http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=317832&sn= Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389 Note: If you think transport is in a bad way, look at this: We had the two Anglo Boer Wars, the 1914-Rebellion, two World Wars, the 1922-Revolt on the Rand, the 1933-Depression, the Boycott Years and Pretoria remained solvent. Guess what? We now had the â&#x20AC;&#x153;struggleâ&#x20AC;? and after about 18 yrs of independence Pretoria (City of Tshwane) is also insolvent. All the financial fat of the city has been lost. A lot of money has been wasted here on useless expenditure. 86

We have some of the most widely travelled politicians and aldermen in the world. Our City CEO earns more than the President. We are not complaining if they produce results. However we need a fast commuter railway line from Pretoria to the Groblersdal-area (KwaNdebele). One of these days we may expect trouble. In spite of the petrol hike, Putco busses are still ferrying thousands of commuters daily to that area. We need to invest in mass and rapid transport. But our whole state machinery is in trouble: Parliament, Police, Defence, Education and Health to name a few!

Metrofail – a vote of no confidence in the W Cape Metro / Die Burger: Metro(f)ail faal passasiers in bibberweer: Deon Wessels Danksy Metrofail het die meeste van ons eergisteraand, nat en koud, tussen 20:00 en 21:00 tuis gekom. By die Kuilsrivier-stasie het feitlik geen ligte gebrand nie. Die aankondiger het geen rede vir die vertraging aangebied nie. Metrofail het duidelik nog nie van voorkomende onderhoud gehoor nie. Daar is nie ’n bus- of taxidiens van Kuilsriver na die Strand nie, dus is ons uitgelewer. Gisteroggend was die trein van die Strand na Kaapstad 10 minute laat – weer sonder enige aankondiging. ’n Reis van 40 minute het net meer as ’n uur geduur. By Faure moes ons tru vir ’n ander trein en naby Eersterivier het ons vyf minute lank gestaan. Metrorail is duidelik nie in staat om die situasie te hanteer nie. Moet Helen Zille, Robin Carlisle, Patricia de Lille en Kylie Hatton nie meer doen om vervoer op koers te kry nie? Hierdie swak dienslewering moet end kry! Deon Wessels Kuilsrivier http://www.dieburger.com/MyDieBurger/Briewe/Metrofail-faal-passasiers-in-bibberweer20120816 [2012-08-16 05:00]

SA RAILWAY RELATED INTERNET GROUPS • Suid-Afrikaaanse Spoorweë / SA Railways / Ulolwe (sic) Visit our website: http://www.facebook.com/groups/74709226744/ 87

It is an “open group” on the railways in South Africa. Keep abreast with the latest developments of the railways in South Africa. It was started by Hennie Heymans some years ago. Johannes Marais is co-administrator. No politics or no language questions. Keep it simple: only one thing on the agenda: Railways in Southern Africa. 641 Members

• Yahoo: SAR-Miniatures – Adrian Hill Please join us on our mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sar-miniatures/join We not only talk about modelling SAR but also about modelling in general. The list is free of politics and bickering and our aim is not only to advance SAR modelling but also to exchange ideas and techniques.

• Facebook: ‘RHODESIA RAILWAY’ Group - John Batwell A recent innovation on Facebook has been the start and rapid development of a RHODESIA RAILWAYS site. Started by former railway employee Eddie Roussot, the site has grown in leaps and bounds and has over 260 members already and a plethora of photographs which depict the historical milestones and development of the small country’s railway since those pioneering days back in 1897. Besides photos of stations, sidings, locomotives of all types of traction, there are a number of photos posted too depicting the human resources of the railway. The facility has enabled so many folk spread far and wide across the world to reunite electronically and share their nostalgic and contemporary photographic records and short comments of another time and age working on one of Southern Africa’s most efficient rail systems. The facility also enables technical questions to be shared and responses offered, new publications to be marketed, as well as a catch-up time with old friends and work colleagues of yesteryear.

• Website for Reefsteamers: Lee Gates You can find the latest information (albeit a bit scattered) on the 15F 2914 on our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/387773301244867/

• Well worth a look Reefsteamers Website is : www.reefsteamers.com Reefsteamers Page is : www.facebook.com/groups/reefsteamers/ Reefsteamers Locomotive Restoration Project Page (15F 2914) is: www.facebook.com/groups/387773301244867/

• Andre Kritzinger André Kritzinger, Cape Town, Website: http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/grela/chessie01.html 88

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Locomotives_of_South_Africa http://grela.rrpicturearchives.net/ http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=12115 •

Adrian Hill says:

“Take a look at my website www.scalecraft.co.za “ Railway Groups not mentioned above: You are welcome to ad your group’s particulars here ...

Angola: Huambo -Anton van Schalkwyk Map: Bruno Martin

Huambo These photos was taken pretty early in the morning. I was watched the whole time by policemen, one of which you can clearly see watching me from a distance. The train in the station was about to leave, with some SA train coaches in tow. I took a photo of the flags on the station so someone can perhaps use the email address to contact CR20. Also a photo directly across the street from the station; so you can see the contrast in Angola. All is not what is seems. All stations are guarded by numerous policemen, I think to prevent damage etc to the stations, but some were not friendly towards me and it was difficult obtaining decent shots. In Huambo I found that the many (especially Garratts) that were there in 2008/9 are all gone, supposedly cut up!

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Huambo I found that the many (especially Garratts) that were there in 2008/9 are all gone, supposedly cut up!â&#x20AC;?

“I took a photo of the flags on the station so someone can perhaps use the email address to contact CR20.”

“The train in the station was about to leave, with some former SA train coaches in tow.”

“Also a photo directly across from the station; so you can see the contrast in Angola. All is not what is seems.” •

The ravages of war? But it looks clean! All stations are guarded by numerous policemen, … but some were not friendly towards me and it was difficult obtaining decent shots.

CFM: Lourenco Marques or Maputo -

Tanzam-line Tanzam Map by Bruno Martin

Rapport: Afrika uit ’n trein - Willemien Olivier 2012-07-07 15:29 Iemand ruk aan die badkamerdeur. Ek kyk deur die venster en sien ’n paar kameelperde wat kopomhoog aan doringtakke vreet. Die trein verloor spoed en kom tot stilstand. Wat gaan nou aan? Met die tweede oggend se wasbakbad-roetine klaar, skuif ek die deur oop. ’n Jong man groet my in die treingang en vra: “Sopa-sopa?”

Seep is nou nie juis iets wat ek graag uitleen nie, maar dis Desember en tussen Zambië se Kapiri Mposhi en Tanzanië se Dar es Salaam sal nog ’n seepgewaste lyf nie skade doen nie. Afrika-direktheid is immers wonderlik en ek druk die koekie Palmolive in sy hand. Terug in die kompartement vertel vriend Cobus Olivier daar’s olifante op die spoor en die trein wag dat die trop oorstap. Dis dié aardse soort eenvoud waarvan ek hou. Ek dink terug aan hoe ons op die Tazara Railway se International Passenger Train beland het. Tazara staan vir Tanzanian and Zambian Railway en dit neem twee nagte om deur van die mees afgeleë dele van ons kontinent te ry. In die 1950’s het die Chinese aan die spoorlyn help bou. Alhoewel die dorp Kapiri Mposhi groot op die kaart gemerk is, is dit ’n klein dorpie. Dis geleë waar die hoofpad van Lusaka vurk na Kitwe in die noorde en Tanzanië in die ooste. Ons tydsberekening hier maak dat ons byna die Tazara se tweede en laaste vertrek vir die week misloop. Dis 13:50 en volgens die brosjure vertrek die trein om 13:43. Cobus druk my agter ’n tou mense voor ’n kaartjiekantoor in. Hy storm die stasiegebou se reuse- stel trappe af. Ek neem aan dit het iets met ons geld en die treinkaartjies te doen. Blitsvinnig is hy terug en ons geldruiltransaksie afgehandel. Die vrou by die treindeur wil ons name én vanne op ons paspoorte sien. As ongetroudes word ons in aparte kompartemente op hierdie Afrika-trein gesit. Vroue hier, manne dáár. In die tweedeklaskompartement, waar ses mense kan slaap, sit reeds vyf groot vroue, gelaai met bagasie. Ek groet en skuif versigtig verby die dames om ’n sitgaatjie te kry. So tien minute later verskyn Cobus skielik in die deur. Hy het sy vriendskapsvaardighede ingespan en met sy trok se kondukteur gesels oor my moontlike oorskuif na sy kompartement. Ek groet die vroue en skuif-skommel met rugsak weer op die rug na die kompartement waar ons twee darem saam kan reis. In ons kompartement sit ’n ou man. Hierdie ntate (vader) is ’n Tanzaniër oppad na Dar es Salaam. By Mkushi se treinstasie besef ons dat ’n arriverende trein ’n groot gebeurtenis is. ’n Jong meisie kom aan met ’n skottel kleinerige mango’s op haar kop. Ntate praat met haar en sy hou haar skottel na my uit. 95

“Ja,” beduie ek, “gee my maar so vyf mangotjies.” Ek gee haar ’n 500 kwacha-munt – sowat R1. Ntate neem die hele skottel by haar deur die venster en keer sowat twintig mango’s op ons tafeltjie uit. ’n Ent verder kom ’n kind, bietjie hoër as twee bakstene, na die trein aangewaggel. Agter hom kom sy ma al skommelend aangehardloop om te keer dat hy die treinspoor haal. Die hoop om alleen in tweedeklas te reis was ’n illusie en ons maak plek vir nog vyf reisigers. Hier is ek nou vrou-alleen tussen vyf mans waarvan ek een, Cobus, net-net ken. Ons deel van die mango’s uit wat ek vroeër gekoop het. Ek wonder hoe dit in egte koloniale dae op hierdie trein sou wees toe ons aandete met die invul van ’n vormpie bespreek. Geregte soos vis, sosaties, schnitzels, pap en vleis kan bestel word. Restaurantreuke waai vroegaand in die gang af en die atmosfeer is gesellig. Die biefstuk en hoendersosaties met rys is wel nie wat ons bestel het nie, maar nogtans val ons lustig weg aan die smaaklike kos. Daar is ’n kroeg in die eetwa, maar ons vra toestemming by ons kelnerin om ons bottel rooiwyn oop te maak. Terug in ons kompartement lê ntate reeds in sy bed. Cobus haal sy gasstofie uit en terwyl ek die pot en hy die stoof vashou, begin koffiewater prut. Ntate se oë rek toe Cobus vir hom ’n soet koppie koffie aangee. Ons speel ’n paar potte Uno en mense wat ons gelag en wedywering hoor, sluit by ons aan. ’n Suid-Koreaan, Jee-yung Choi, speel ook saam. Rammel-gesus raak ek onrustig aan die slaap. Dan klop iemand skielik aan ons kompartementdeur. Ntate sit orent en knip die deur oop. Ek’s verlig om te hoor dis Jeeyung. Hy wil weer Uno speel. Ntate beduie dat ons reeds slaap en stuur hom saggies weg. Zambië lê agter en ons bereik Nakonde, die grensdorp. Ons gaan nou Tanzanië binne. Ntate groet en klim af. Hy gaan ’n sak rys op Nakonde verkoop. Die trein se fluit weerklink teen oorhangkranse. Ons begin die Skeurvallei [ Rift Valley] binnegaan en ek voel die trein teen die afdraandes rem. Tunduma, die Tanzaniese grensdorp, is sowat ’n uur van Nakonde. Die grensbeampte wil nie Cobus se enkel Amerikaanse dollars neem nie. Gelukkig is daar ’n geldwisselaar op die trein en ons ruil Tanzaniese sjielings en betaal die beampte. 96

Toe ons weer by ’n stasie stilhou, gee vroue hul babas deur die vensters na binne in derdeklas aan. So ook sakke vol goed en nóg kinders. Ek verwonder my hieroor, want so sit hulle deur die nag regop en slaap, kinders op die skote. Die landskap- en plantegroeiveranderings wat vanaf die Koperbelt tot in Dar es Salaam gesien word, maak hierdie reis ’n unieke ervaring. Sommige plekke het soveel kremetartbome dat dit soos ’n plantasie lyk. Oop velde is plekplek met rysplantasies gelap. ’n Boer leun rustig op sy graaf in ’n mielieland toe die trein verbyraas. Hy het ’n lang wit rok aan en tulband om sy kop. Hier vanuit die treinvenster lyk Afrika se eenvoudige leefstyl baie aanloklik. Laataand begin die trein spoed verloor en gaan doodstil staan. Dis nagdonker buite. Iemand vertel in die gang die Tazara het net sy gewone enjinprobleem op die gewone plek. Twee ure later beweeg die trein weer die donker nag in. Op die volgende oggend se rit deur die Mikumi-nasionale park is daar kort-kort diere soos wildebeeste, vlakvarke en Thompson’s Gazelle te sien. Dis hier, terwyl die spons louwarm water oor my lyf gooi, wat ek kameelperde uit die waskamervenster van die Tazara sien. Die wêreld hier voel anders. Mense is vriendelik en daar is ’n gevoel van respek vir mekaar. Die Tazara kom ses ure laat op die Dar es Salaam-stasie aan. Met modderdorpies, kremetartbome, wild en die Skeurvallei langs die spoor gee ons nie om vir dié soort Afrika-gedrag nie. Die 38 uur op die Tazara van Kapiri Mposhi tot in Dar es Salaam het groot kopskuiwe binne my losgemaak. Mens voel aan die wit man, mzungu in Chichewa, is meer as welkom. Afrika het sy hand hier na mý gereik. Dít was lekker.

http://www.rapport.co.za/Reis/Nuus/Afrika-uit-n-trein-20120707 Filler

Pandoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Box Anything can come out of Pandoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Box; here are some pictures we received this month:

Ghost Town Chev c1957 and

a train at Ghost Tow

Circa 1957, a train in Ghost Town and a a beautiful Chev to complete the picture

American Railway Express

US Army: B-2084 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Jeff Manning (UK)

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Railway & Fashion

Mail Bag Wally Greig: Cape Town Hi Hennie, I refer to Eric Samuels query about the loco he saw, on TV, on Battersea Bridge. She is not a Duchess Class. Her details are: London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Princess Royal Class No. 6201 (British Railways No. 46201) Princess Elizabeth is a preserved British steam locomotive.

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Overview 6201 was built in 1933 at Crewe Works, the second of its class. She was named after the 7-year-old elder daughter of Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), Princess Elizabeth (today HM Queen Elizabeth II). Despite the class officially being named after 6200 Princess Royal, the class received the nickname "Lizzies" after 6201. After nationalisation in 1948, British Railways renumbered her 46201. 46201 was withdrawn in 1962. 46201 was bought by the then Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society straight from BR service when withdrawn in 1962. Initially kept at the Dowty Railway Preservation Society's premises at Ashchurch, Glos, and then subsequently at the Bulmers Railway Centre in Hereford. When the Bulmers Centre closed in the 1990s the loco moved to the East Lancashire Railway. Since April 2009 it has been based at the Crewe Heritage Centre. On 3 June 2012, Princess Elizabeth's whistle signalled the start of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant while the locomotive was standing on Battersea Railway Bridge. Princess Elizabeth is one of two preserved Princesses; the other being 46203 Princess Margaret Rose. Regards, Wally Greig

Leith Paxton (Cape) Hello Hennie, 102

I am afraid to say, things have not been that good recently. Early on a Saturday morning about a month ago, I awoke to find I was having another stroke. I was admitted to hospital where, for the next few days was subject to several scans and x-ray and it was discovered that I had a blockage in the artery in my neck and was sent home. Two weeks later I returned to hospital and they operated on my neck to clear it. The dressing is now off and I and again trying to pick up the pieces of my life. Fortunately the effects of the stroke are minor and have only lost movement in my right hand. I am typing this email using my left hand only. At least we have now got to the bottom of my problem and why I fell off the mountain in the first place. The Dr says I have another 100,000 miles on the clock, which is good news. Unfortunately I cannot draw until I get the use of my right hand back. I trust things are better your end? Regards, Leith â&#x20AC;˘

Dear Leith we wish you a speedy recovery! There is much work to do! Vasbyt en beterskap!

Les Pivnic (Australia) Dear Hennie, Ek het lekker geskrik met die slang-storie! In the 1970s - I forget which specific year - I was seconded with another SAR colleague from the Tourist side to officially escort a Japanese film crew around South Africa for the purpose of making a documentary on the S A Railways. We travelled extensively by rail and kombi to various places where trains could be filmed. Amongst the places that we visited was Kloofeind and I informed the group that we would have to climb the koppie to get a good vantage point to film trains coming from Kimberley. I also warned them that the koppie in question was FULL of puffadders and that they were to watch very carefully where they placed their feet! While the warning was no joke, I and my colleague were bursting at the seams (inwardly) watching those Japs carrying all their heavy photo equipment up the side of the koppie. I actually saw a freshly-discarded puffadder skin as I walked up the steep slope!

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Two of the Japanese guys could understand English and then they translated for the remaining members of their film crew. The look on their faces when told of these deadly snakes also made for a hilarious picture. After photographing several trains we all made our way down safely from "Puffadder" koppie only to repeat the process at Fauresmith the following day! When my colleague and I were out of range from our Japanese guests, we roared with laughter!!! Regards Les P

Terry Rowe (UK) Hi Hennie Many thanks I enjoy and look forward to Uloliwe, it just gets better and better. I promise after the holidays (summer or what is called summer over here) to send in some stuff. Once again many thanks Terry P.S I've been watching the cricket over here even got to the last day at the Oval for the master class but I must say I don't think our South Africans are as good as your South African's.

Stop Press -

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The Uloliwe makes every reasonable attempt to screen or edit content in The Uloliwe by third parties, but does not accept any liability for illegal, defamatory or obscene content. Readers and/or Viewers are encouraged to inform The Uloliwe of any content that may be offensive or illegal. Save where the views expressed are clearly those of The Uloliwe, no responsibility is accepted for the view of other contributors. The Uloliwe does not accept any liability, nor will it be responsible for any damages howsoever arising when this information is obtained and/or utilised in an unauthorised and/or illegal manner. All advertisements are placed in the interest of our Readers and/or Viewers. Such advertisements are placed free of charge at the discretion of The Uloliwe. The Uloliwe does not accept any liability nor will The Uloliwe be responsible for any damages howsoever arising from such advertisements. The main purpose of adverts is to be of an informative nature.

Goodbye from Wesselsbron in the Free State – J & J Wepener

The next issue of “The Ulolwe” will be Vol 3 No 10 and will be published, DV, sometime during October 2012. Please send in your comments, anecdotes and photographs. Take care! Issue / Volgende Uitgawe Stuur solank u stories, herinneringe en eie foto’s aan heymanshb@gmail.com in jpg-formaat Hennie Heymans – Pretoria, ZA

2012

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