The Uloliwe - Southern African Railways - Past & Present by Hennie Heymans, Nongqai Publications

THE ULOLIWE

The Railways of Southern Africa: Past & Present SpoorweĂŤ van Suidelike-Afrika: Toeka tot Nou A monthly railway historical and research publication â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;n Maandelikse spoorweg historiese en navorsing publikasie Vol 4 No 1 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 January 2013

Contents Welcome .............................................................................................................................................................9 Front Cover – Voorblad:...................................................................................................................................9 Editorial – Redaksioneel...................................................................................................................................9 Surprise chain of events .........................................................................................................................10 History: The SAR, SADF and SAP ........................................................................................................14 Wepener’s Perambulations and … Railway History .................................................................................15 Blue Train: 16 Nov 2012 .........................................................................................................................15 Other ad hoc photos received................................................................................................................21 Prasa Time Tables - Algoa: ............................................................................................................................22 Amatola ....................................................................................................................................................22 Bosvelder ..................................................................................................................................................23 Cape Town – East London .....................................................................................................................23 Cape Town - Queenstown .....................................................................................................................24 Komati ......................................................................................................................................................24 Trans Karoo Economy ............................................................................................................................25 Trans Karoo..............................................................................................................................................25 Trans Natal ...............................................................................................................................................26 Trans Orange ...........................................................................................................................................27 All photographs are by J & J Wepener and carry their copyright............................................................27 Patron................................................................................................................................................................27 My Railway Reminiscences: Richard Clatworthy ......................................................................................28 Various Maps: Bruno Martin .........................................................................................................................40 Durban - Pietermaritzburg ....................................................................................................................40 2

Durban: South Africa’s First operational railway ..............................................................................40 Jacobs - Wentworth .................................................................................................................................41 Milner Park ..............................................................................................................................................42 Choorkop - Kemptonpark......................................................................................................................42 Railway Philately ............................................................................................................................................44 Braamfontein Rapport: Dr V Mostert...........................................................................................................44 KwaZulu- Natal report: Jacobus Marais ......................................................................................................47 Natal Mainline – Rudi Venter .......................................................................................................................50 Kirk Falls (18E’s)......................................................................................................................................50 Lowlands ..................................................................................................................................................52 Wash away: Amamzimtoti 11 Dec 2012 (Natal South Coast Line) ..........................................................54 Via J & J Wepener ....................................................................................................................................54 Robbie Green ...........................................................................................................................................56 Schalk Claasen: Recovery.......................................................................................................................57 Western Cape Report: Tubby Myburg .........................................................................................................59 Voorbaai – Hartenbos .............................................................................................................................59 Tergniet: Mossel Bay – George Line .....................................................................................................61 Premier Classe .................................................................................................................................................62 Railway History of South Africa ...................................................................................................................62 No 2 Early Locomotives of the Cape Government Railway: Leith Paxton .........................................62 Early South African Locomotives: HBH ......................................................................................................64 CGR ...............................................................................................................................................................64 NGR ..............................................................................................................................................................64 3

Blackie: Cape Town Station ...........................................................................................................................64 OVS Staatspoorwegen (OVSS) ......................................................................................................................64 NZASM.............................................................................................................................................................65 Anglo Boer War ...............................................................................................................................................65 NGR ..................................................................................................................................................................65 CGR: Narrow Gauge ......................................................................................................................................65 NGR : NG .........................................................................................................................................................65 Railway Stations ..............................................................................................................................................65 Railway Station Johannesburg - Carlos Veiera ...................................................................................65 Comments Johannesburg Station: Les Pivnic ............................................................................................65 SAR RMT .........................................................................................................................................................66 SAR: World War 1 ...........................................................................................................................................67 SAR in GSWA: WW1 ..................................................................................................................................67 SAR: World War 2 ...........................................................................................................................................67 SAR Traction and Rolling Stock ....................................................................................................................67 1910: No 438 CSAR Paul Els ..................................................................................................................67 Leith Paxton: No 438 CSAR “Joseph Chamberlain” ..........................................................................68 Transnet Traction and Rolling Stock ............................................................................................................69 Prasa ready for roll-out ..........................................................................................................................69 SA Metro Rail...................................................................................................................................................72 Gauteng Metro.............................................................................................................................................72 Murder Most Foul : Hercules ................................................................................................................72 Train driver stabbed to death ......................................................................................................................72 4

Metrorail to honour slain driver .................................................................................................................72 Durban Metro ..............................................................................................................................................73 SAR Narrow Gauge (NG) ..............................................................................................................................73 Industrial NG ...................................................................................................................................................73 E.P.C.C. Update Bob Hogan ..................................................................................................................73 Gautrain............................................................................................................................................................75 Photo reports: Strange but True! Theft of Railway Line: J & J Wepener .............................................75 Railway People – Spoorwegmense ...............................................................................................................78 Kyk Spoorwegman, ek skryf en bid vir jou! Koot Swanepoel ..................................................................78 Railway Padre: Koot Swanepoel ...................................................................................................................78 Previous issues of Uloliwe .............................................................................................................................78 Rail Humour ....................................................................................................................................................78 Book Shelf.........................................................................................................................................................78 “Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years”: Jean Dulez ...........................................................................79 Books/ Boeke ....................................................................................................................................................80 Leon “Div” de Villiers’ Books: Cape Town .........................................................................................80 “The Staff Work of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1901 – Embodying Some of the War Letters sent to the Morning Post from South Africa (1901)” by Elizabeth Charlotte Briggs [Ray Ellis] ..........83 Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin No. 493, November 1978. .....................................84 Book Review: Rod: The Autobiography (Johan van Rensburg) .......................................................84 Road Motor Transport Service [RMT]..........................................................................................................84 South African Airways ...................................................................................................................................84 SAA at Victoria West: Wally Greig.......................................................................................................84 SAA History .................................................................................................................................................87 5

Flying Boats: Imperial Airways Wally Greig ......................................................................................87 Vaaldam, the Country’s First International Airport: by Johan Jacobs.................................................89 Response: Wally Greig ...........................................................................................................................89 Imperial Airways Handley Page HP42 "Helena" – Wally Greig ......................................................91 Harbours...........................................................................................................................................................91 Transnet leases discourage investment in shipbuilding – Damen (DefenceWeb) .........................91 Catering Division ............................................................................................................................................93 SA Railway Police ...........................................................................................................................................93 Water Police .....................................................................................................................................................93 GSWA/ SWA/Namibia (NamRail) ................................................................................................................94 Rhodesia Railways, National Railways of Zimbabwe ...............................................................................94 Railways: Tourism, Steam, Preservation, Societies & Clubs.....................................................................94 Rovos Rail.....................................................................................................................................................94 RRL Grindrod ..............................................................................................................................................94 Atlantic Rail Cape Town ...........................................................................................................................94 Memories: Bosveld Train Safaris – HBH .................................................................................................94 Lee Gates: Wine Tram ................................................................................................................................95 Railway Society of Southern Africa Natal – A Peter ..............................................................................95 Reefsteamers - Contacts for Depot Visits.............................................................................................95 Reefsteamers: Contact details ....................................................................................................................96 Umgeni Steam Railway: GMAM 4074 .....................................................................................................97 Paton’s Country Railway ...........................................................................................................................97 Patons Country Railway: Annual Aloe Train Trips ...........................................................................97 6

Umgeni Steam Railway - Ashley Peter ....................................................................................................97 Friends of the Rail (FOTR) .........................................................................................................................97 FOTR Calendar – Nathan Berelowitz...................................................................................................97 FOTR .........................................................................................................................................................98 Sandstone .....................................................................................................................................................98 JB Tours: Train Tours in Southern Africa ....................................................................................................98 North British Locomotive Preservation Group ..........................................................................................98 Railwayana.......................................................................................................................................................99 South African Models .....................................................................................................................................99 Scalecraft: - Adrian Hill ..............................................................................................................................99 Scalecraft news ............................................................................................................................................99 Shaun and Rinke’s contact information is as follows ......................................................................100 Scalecraft product information............................................................................................................100 Dream Trains – Wynand Vermeulen .....................................................................................................100 Hopefield: Terry Rowe ................................................................................................................................100 Railway Modellers’ Information Group: Lionel Penning .......................................................................100 From the Press ...............................................................................................................................................100 Transnet sees reopened Orkney-Vierfontein emerging as key agri link .......................................100 SA RAILWAY RELATED INTERNET GROUPS......................................................................................102 •

Suid-Afrikaaanse Spoorweë / SA Railways / Ulolwe (sic) ......................................................102

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Yahoo: SAR-Miniatures – Adrian Hill .......................................................................................102

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Facebook: ‘RHODESIA RAILWAY’ Group - John Batwell ....................................................103

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Website for Reefsteamers: Lee Gates ..........................................................................................103 7

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Well worth a look ..........................................................................................................................103

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Andre Kritzinger ...........................................................................................................................103

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Dennis Moore Steam.....................................................................................................................103

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Adrian Hill says:............................................................................................................................103

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Touwsrivier / Touws River ..........................................................................................................104

Rest of Africa & the World...........................................................................................................................104 Angola; Namibe or Mocamedes Anton van Schalkwyk & Peter Bagshawe ....................................104 CFB Map: Bruno Martin .......................................................................................................................105 Lourenco Marques or Maputo ................................................................................................................105 Tanzam-line ...................................................................................................................................................105 Liberia Railways ............................................................................................................................................105 Pandora’s Box ................................................................................................................................................105 Mail Bag ..........................................................................................................................................................109 J& J Wepener ..........................................................................................................................................109 Joe Neethling .........................................................................................................................................109 Richard Clatworthy ..............................................................................................................................109 First Railway Fatality: Trevor Alborough .........................................................................................110 Google Earth: Anton van Schalkwyk’s photo: Richard Clatworthy ..............................................110 Bruno Martin .........................................................................................................................................111 Charlie Lewis .........................................................................................................................................111 Friends of Soul of a Railway (SoAR) ..................................................................................................112 Gabor Kovacs .............................................................................................................................................114 Paul Scheller...........................................................................................................................................115 8

Len Stanway, UK...................................................................................................................................115 NBL Preservation Group .............................................................................................................................115 Lee Gates ................................................................................................................................................117 Stop Press .......................................................................................................................................................117 Reefsteamers: Lee Gates .......................................................................................................................117 Disclaimer and Greetings.............................................................................................................................118

Welcome Once again a word of hearty welcome, it is indeed a pleasure and an honour to bid you welcome here. (Please: This is my hobby which I love very much, should I forget to place your story, email or photograph please just refresh my memory! I am under a lot of pressure for the next month or two.)

Good wishes A prosperous new year to you all and your loved ones: We wish you health, wealth and happiness. May our trains run on time!

Front Cover – Voorblad: Nsongweni tunnel in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, between Durban and Pietermaritzburg: Photo by Rudi Venter. Take a good look at the photograph. Look at the lush vegetation and the graffiti! An ideal setting for a model railway. Why people waste money on paint is above my level of understanding. Watching trains in the USA on YouTube one sees many goods trucks covered in graffiti as well!

Editorial – Redaksioneel Life is not all that strange! Life is what you put into life! It’s all about sowing and reaping what you sow. The more you put into life the more you receive. Sow goodwill and you shall reap goodwill!

At this time of the year we usually reflect on the past year and what our plans for the future are! After spending a lifetime in the police force I certainly learned a few things especially when doing research. The Dutch have a nice name for a detective; they call him a rechercheur, the word always reminds me of a “researcher”. And if we want to do research we need serendipity and vast amounts of goodwill because it is usually time of a respondent or eyewitness that is wasted. I received a message of goodwill during the festive period from one of my new found friends, Ray Ellis, who lives in Australia. I replied to his e-mail and also to the other listees he listed not knowing them at all, whishing them a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year as well. I thought well it’s the festive season and time to show goodwill to all men!

Surprise chain of events

From Rabbi (Dr) Walter Rothschild: Harakevet This is the response I received from Rabbi (Dr) Walter Rothschild: Good Heavens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As the editor and publisher of 'Harakevet' on the Middle East railways I bow to you in deep respect, it must be a major effort to produce so many pages so frequently...... and cover such a wide range of topics... I have now read Ray Ellis' memoirs and I recognise several names in your distribution list.... I remain busy on several other projects at once but would be interested if you have any material on South African troops building the Haifa - Beirut - Tripoli line. I have two box files of material on this line and reckon the time is about ripe for a book on its history.... Shalom, Walter Rothschild. Berlin, Germany. The next intereting reponse was from our Patron, Les Pivnic, whose name was also amongst the listees:

From Les Pivnic Dear Rabbi Dr.Walter Rothschild, I was copied with your email regarding "Harakevet" and the part played by the South African Railways & Harbours Administration during World War 2. 10

Forgive me if you are already aware of this but the SAR Administration published a book on their War Effort shortly after the cessation of hostilities and the defeat of Nazi Germany. The book was entitled "We Fought the Miles" and it is split into three parts as follows:Part 1: "Fighting the Miles on the Home Front; Part 2: "Making and Mending the Weapons"; Part 3: "On Active Service". It is in Part 3 that an account is given of all the War-Time activities that involved the men and machines of the South African Railways. They are listed as follows:1. The South African Railways and Harbours Brigade; 2. East Africa and Abyssinia; 3. The Haifa-Beirut Railway; 4. The Western Desert; 5. The Italian Campaign; 6. Harbour Construction; 7. Operating the Docks; 8. Operating a Military Railway. The SAR & H Brigade did extensive and wonderful work in the Middle East and Italy during the War in establishing and/or rebuilding railways destroyed by the retreating German forces. The SAR even shipped locomotives to the War-Zone to provide motive power for the Allied War Effort. While the Administration's own book gives them credit, it is high time that their sterling efforts be recognised on a wider front. It also needs to be said that with the major political changes that have occurred in South Africa since 1994, the history and achievements of white South Africans is being systematically buried and in particular, the history of the previous South African Railways & Harbours. I now live in Australia and I see how the valiant efforts of Aussie troops who also played a large part in fighting the Nazi scourge are always remembered on various occasions and anniversaries during the year. The well-known words spoken at these events must also apply to the SAR & H Brigade -

"We Shall Remember Them" Regards Les Pivnic Assistant Curator (Retired) Previous S.A. Railway Museum, Johannesburg.

From Rabbi (Dr) Walter Rothschild Dear Les, I saw your name in the list of recipients and realised it had been an awful long time since we had been in contact - I think I was still living in Britain at the time! So first - "Hello!" Maybe I should tell you (and others) the following. Way back (!) in the 1980's I was in contact with John Knowles who kindly let me have a large number of his notes. He had also written lengthy article in the Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin No. 493 (Nov. 1978). Over the years I accumulated from a variety of sources two box-files full of materials on the HBT and incorporated a chapter on it in my PhD on 'Palestine Railways 1945-1948' (King's College, London - specifically the problems of maintaining operation, of sabotage and of the attempted sale to the new Lebanese government.) Through letters to newspapers across Britain I managed to make contact with several former railwaymen, policemen and soldiers who had been involved on Palestine Railways etc., one of whom, living near likely, gave me a photo of a hole in the track - this was where the HBT had been torpedoed by a German u-Boat and he had had the job of filling in the crater!! I acquired through a contact in Israel a copy from the Transnet Railway Museum of the report by Lt.-Col. W. Marshall Clark of the construction of the HBT by the South African Engineering Corps, dated July 1942.... And so on.

The Imperial War Museum has some good photos of construction and

opening and I have a couple of Working Timetables and so forth. So all I need to do is to find a year or so to plough through all this again - I did type a lot out, years ago, but on an Amstrad, it is now wholly inaccessible - and put it together as a book or even as a compendium of original texts .... I have already committed myself, inter alia, to helping a group write a book (BORHT) about military railways in World War 1 and another chap who is organising a commemorative Military Train from the UK to Germany a book or booklet on the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1945 and have just finished helping Robin Jones wrote and edit (and translate) a book on the Reichsbahn's role in the Holocaust, I am putting together Harakevet no. 100 as a bumper issue, and somewhere along the way I still need to get on with making a living - so there is NO RUSH..... What stimulated the thought again was the coincidence of getting in the same day the 12

link to this South African e-magazine, of which I knew nothing, and an offer from a chap in Holland whom I don't know, of some photos of abandoned goods wagons standing at Chekka!! Sometimes, I have learned, one simply has to go along with the flow. Maybe for 75 Years of the Line - 2017 - one could bring a proper book out.... I don't even have any contact with a publisher yet. I fully agree with you about the importance of recording accurately and fairly the events and the efforts of all those involved who lived and worked and fought in times that have now become 'politically incorrect' or classed as 'colonialist' - the same can be said of the Palestine Police, for instance or indeed all the British Military in the Levant at the time. Mike Christensen has told me he has a copy of We Fought the Miles - since we are in regular postal contact with the WW2RSG Bulletin it makes sense for me to ask him to send me a photocopy rather than you from the Southern hemisphere - my interest was whether there were perhaps other memoirs by former engineers or railwaymen that might have cropped up here and there. In my experience it is AMAZING what one can literally stumble across - I was sitting in the Tube reading the magazine of the Great Central Railway some twenty years ago when I found a letter about ROD 2-8-0's from a former driver who said he had driven them in Palestine and Lebanon - I made contact with him and through him to three other former colleagues, all now alas long gone... one was Wynford Fear who had moved to Australia - all were very kind in responding to my requests for anecdotes. Shalom, Walter Rothschild.

Dear Hennie, Many, many, thanks for this. I fully understand the time pressure problems - I am a rabbi serving at the moment seven congregations in various parts of Germany and one in Vienna - I do a LOT of travelling and even using a laptop on the train (most have a socket thank goodness nowadays) I cannot do anywhere as much as I would like. But I have learned that one has to focus on specific areas; mine at present are the railways in the World War 2 (especially in continental Europe, though I have a couple of books in Dutch on railways built by Dutch slaves of the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre... I would love to translate these in due course); and railways past and present in the Middle East. I have 13

accumulated substantial archives in both fields. (Then I like also to keep an eye on railways where I live or work - in Schleswig-Holstein, Berlin, Vienna and so on.) Have you been in touch with the Palestine Police Old Comrades Association? Edward Horne wrote their history A Job Well Done 1- I visited him many years ago somewhere near Bournemouth - and there is or was the 'PPOCA Newsletter' which was also a good source for anecdotes. Are you aware of the World War 2 Railway Study Group? They have a website and a good Bulletin (not as colourful and extensive as your magazine) for which I prepare translations. The issues of SA men as POW's by Cracow - oy Gewalt - is 'interesting' in a fascinatingly-horrible sort of way. In the nature of things there is little chance of ever producing a commercial book on any of these topics nor even of covering production costs - but one is driven by a desire to get the information out and into the public domain.... and in my case, since I do not deep down trust computers even though I use them, there is nothing like a 'real' book or bulletin or wad of A4 paper.... Bit by bit, one does what one can. If only to make life easier for other researchers in the future... Shalom, Walter.

From Hennie Heymans Dear Les, Walter and Ray, I will surely and gladly assist Walter via our railway magazine. The military and security aspects of railways have always fascinated me. I have made a study of the railways during the Anglo-Boer War, the 1913 and 1922 strikes, the 1914-rebellion and their role during the first and Second World War. (And during the revolutionary onslaught ...) / .................... / Hennie â&#x20AC;˘

No 20169 Const JK Roberts, South African Police, was killed on 10 March 1945 near Cracow during a train accident after being liberated from a POW camp. (Miliatry number SAP 198028.)

History: The SAR, SADF and SAP The SA Railways was founded during 1910 that was a hundred years during 2010. We have railways for a 150 years! 1

I have asked Div from Austral Books to look for the book. I need it! â&#x20AC;&#x201C; HBH

The Union Defence Force (later the SADF) was founded during 1912 and is now 100 years old. The SA Police would have been 100 yrs old on the 1st of April 2013. I am serving on a committee with General Johan van der Merwe (the last Commissioner of the SA Police) and other former officers. Our task is to bring out a book on the SAP. I am also heavily involved in our SAP history. Railway history is my hobby but the police’s history is my passion and first love. I do two magazines each month and some days I think it’s better chasing thieves than sitting behind a screen typing – but this is a job that has to be done! Our people may ask us one day; “What we did” and now is the time to write our history. History is far too important to be left to acadamicians and journalist alone! We as policemen, soldiers and railwaymen have been eyewitnesses to great events. We have a duty to write our own history: Thruthful, unbiased and objective. Only if we know where we come from, will we know what our destination is. Sir Winston Churchill once wrote: “History will be kind to me for I intend writing it.” 2

Without you I cannot do this magazine! Thank you for your support! Filler: 1892 - NGR Van Reenen Station. Received from Gillis van Schalkwyk.

Wepener’s Perambulations and … Railway History Blue Train: 16 Nov 2012 16 Nov 2012 at Leeudoringstad: Operating said it is a Special Test Run for the Blue Train??????? The unit on the left failed last week!

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/winstonchu161247.html

29 Nov 2012

Hi Guys. First train was at Skoonspruit, the Bothaville pick-up, one petrol tanker and a runner. Between Schuttesdraai and Bothaville the Ballast Tamping Machine was busy. So far it seems the Blue Train is running to Vierfontein on Sunday. E14 109 has finally been removed from Leeudoringstad. The 18E's are at Harrisburg heading North. Greetings from the crew. This train was looped for a crossing here, we only got the South bound train at Makwassie. Today there was an overhead catenary occupation Between Leeudoringstad and Orkney. The derailment we mentioned on Monday was just after Daalder on the way to Eersteling. The line is open with a 30Km/h speed restriction. Plenty of broken concrete sleepers and pandrol clips. At Eersteling a CCR coal wagon was standing staged, one can clearly see this truck was off the rails. Two pantographs are also lying in the veld. Operating told us the Blue Train only left Leeudoringstad at 0600 on Tuesday morning! The 6E's are standing at Makwassie, staged, pantographs down, no crew. The 10E's are also at Makwassie, this was the train crossing at Harrisburg. Cheers. J & J Wepener (19 Nov 2012)

Other ad hoc photos received

Prasa Time Tables - Algoa:

Amatola

Bosvelder

Cape Town â&#x20AC;&#x201C; East London

Cape Town - Queenstown

Komati

Trans Karoo Economy

Trans Karoo

Trans Natal

Trans Orange

All photographs are by J & J Wepener and carry their copyright

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.

My Railway Reminiscences: Richard Clatworthy Having taken up residence in Bulawayo in 1970, renewing acquaintance with George Pattison, I was introduced to the Bulawayo Railway Circle, which met monthly at members' homes. As well as George, members I particularly remember were serving railwaymen Jack Jordan, on the road, and Jack Lloyd, administrator. Also, though not a railwayman, a school contemporary of mine, Geoff Calvert, had pursued a career in forestry largely in the Mulobezi Forest in (now) Zambia, making a close study of the Zambezi Sawmill Company's railway with its fleet of second-hand 7th and 8th class locos, ex RR and SAR, plus some RR 10th class. Geoff had been in contact with (the late) Tony Croxton, and afforded me the introduction to write to Tony with a partial table of RR 7th class identities for filling in the gaps, please. Tony sent it back completed in detail, and I am pleased to say that this was the start of a correspondence during Tony's remaining life which gave me much pleasure and useful interest. Working in Bulawayo was very congenial as the Veterinary Department office was in 13th Avenue just past the cattle dock siding, opposite the throat of the railway station, with the footbridge end almost directly across the road. Further, much interesting working took place around lunchtime. In the early days the Mafeking mixed left early in the morning, but before long it was rescheduled to leave at 1.30 pm (platform 4), shortly after the scheduled arrival of its reciprocal working at 1.15 pm (platform 5). At 1.45 pm train 49, mixed for Gwelo and Salisbury, left from platform 1, and on platform 2 or the centre road a string of empty "irons" – open wagons – which had brought loco or power station coal awaited departure for Wankie. This train may have departed, or at least have the loco attached, when I went back to work at 2 pm. So on days when I was in the office my lunchtime routine would be heading up the footbridge and across to platform 4/5 to witness the Mafeking arrival and departure, then around the platform ends (terminal layout) returning up platform 3/4 to watch the departure of 49, from the footbridge. During the walks along the platform lengths I had two lines of interest: wagon markings, particularly maintenance data (e.g. G.BL (or US) 8.69, with the recall date, 5 years later, prominently displayed), and rail data, from the track or the rails serving as supports for the platform roof (e.g. B V & Co LD STEEL 60 LBS 1897 MR – I will prepare a full list separately). In 1967 existing rolling stock was classified as Unified Rhodesia Railways, with new stock going to New Rhodesia Railways or Zambia Railways. NRR freight vehicles had a large green diagonal cross painted on their sides, and were not permitted to cross the Victoria Falls Bridge. One day I noticed that the Wankie empties train was headed by a NRR wagon containing a load for Livingstone – it was so dirty as to render the green cross almost invisible. Fortuitously I met Jack Lloyd and a colleague out for a lunchtime walk, 28

pointed this wagon out to them, and saw the train engine, which had already attached, detach it and shunt it out of the way. Trips out of town along railway-side roads allowed observations. This was the time of "sanctions-busting" diesels – I had seen photos of the DE7 but not seen one in-the-steel. However I was able to see DE8s being delivered, in a blue livery. Much later I saw a railway magazine with a cover picture of the same loco, same blue colour, on the Congo Ocean Railway (to Brazzaville). In the meantime, one day I saw a couple of short GElooking locos in red – the first DE9s. I was then told there was a DE10 on the way. One evening I was phoned and invited to meet a contact near the loco depot. He took me inside and I saw a long, plain-sided box-cab loco in RR green and yellow – no.1500, class DE5. The intended DE5 had been the GE U15C, as a branch-line sister to the DE6 – the order had been switched to Zambia Railways who replaced it with one for the same number of U20Cs. So now RR were filling the gap. (The DE10, of course, followed in 1981 for NRZ). While travelling, by train or along parallel roads, I took note of abandoned railway formations where curves had been smoothed out, contour-following track replaced by cuttings and embankments, sometimes considerable lengths completely relocated. In due course this culminated in the preparation of two map-cassettes (Plumtree-Umtali and West Nicholson-Victoria Falls), rolls of tracing paper traversing the bottom of a cut-away shoe box – these I gave to the Bulawayo Railway Museum and I wonder if they can still be found? One Sunday, having gone into the office, I called to have a look-in at the station and saw a 20th class enter the through road and proceed to the east end, where one would not expect it to have any business, so followed it. I found that where the headshunt ended on an embankment overlooking Andy's petrol station in Fort Street, a 12th class had gone through the stop-block and was angled down the slope. The recovery gang had been at work and had rails laid under the wheels. A cable was attached to the Garratt's coupler and it impressively drew the errant loco up the slope. Some years later I heard of another incident when a 19th class also "went down to Andy's for fuel".One lunchtime I saw backing onto train 49 15th class Garratt no 424, causing surprise as the last of the class was 423. Then I learned that this was the re-incarnation of accident-prone 404. I believe she lived out her career without major accident – does anyone know if she had any significant incidents? Around this time George Pattison told me of a rather surprising new arrival on the loco scene - a group of SAR 15Es. Soon I saw one – 2881 I believe. Among them was 2878 but 29

she went back to South Africa, ostensibly with a cracked cylinder but I have heard tell that, with a "significant" builder's number (Henschel 23000) she was earmarked for preservation and is happily still running. She was replaced and the six then became RR property, dropping the initial 2 from their numbers – so 898 was RR's highest steam number. I'm not sure if it was before or after this change that I had to travel to Salisbury and went on the overnight mail train. I got myself a footplate pass and, having stowed my bag in the compartment, went up front to await the arrival of the loco. To my surprise (2)886 backed up. The cab was less roomy than a Garratt but I was welcomed aboard and I kept out of the way. The driver said this was his first experience of a 15E on the Mail – I wonder just how many times it did happen. Ironically, at Bembesi a diesel-hauled freight had been held for us to overtake on a run-through – but with less water capacity than a 15th we had to stop and fill up. At Insiza, where crews changed over, I retired to my compartment. On a subsequent occasion I footplated on train 49 to Gwelo, and was impressed by the Gwelo driver who took over at Insiza, a Mr. Johnstone – a believer in full regulator and early cut-off. As we ascended a wide valley, looking across at the sinuous original formation on the other side, he observed "No wonder the old 7th class ran up such high mileages, with all those curves!" Later, as we traversed a smoothed-out dog-leg, he commented "The surveyors ease curves but they never eliminate them – they always leave work for their sons." He followed this with "When they were building the north line the surveyor went down with malaria at Gwaai and the gang had to get on without him – hence the Dett straight!". (Dett is now Dete, of course). An early guest at a Railway Circle meeting was one Ted Talbot from England – I was impressed by the quality of his photos and more so by the sight of a cellophane-wrapped multi-pack of 35 mm films – I purchased films singly or possibly two if a requirement was anticipated. Anyway I took to contributing news to the Continental Railway Journal for the remainder of my time in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. One Saturday afternoon George P. and I were following train 49 when we discovered a stranger photographing the train – this turned out to be Geoff Cooke, a telephone engineer from Salisbury on a weekend bash to the south. Soon afterwards Geoff started the monthly Newsletter of the Railway Circles of Rhodesia, typed and cyclostyled – I shudder to think of the labour involved – and I submitted a report of the monthly meeting, and later wrote a number of "articles" (using the word charitably) for it. During my school years at Plumtree I had heard the story of how in 1938 the southbound Mail train had been in head-on collision with a goods train near Vakarange siding, just across the Bechuanaland border, with numerous fatalities. Something of a folk-lore had 30

developed about this event, with the legend that the Tsessebe Station Master, realising he had issued a wrong train order, attempted pursuit of the departing goods train on his bicycle or by car. I decided to research this accident, through newspaper reports in The Chronicle's archives, and had the good fortune to find some people who had been involved in subsequent events and clearing and recovering the wreckage. In summary, I found the legend to be unfounded – it was not until the Mail became overdue at Tsessebe that the hapless S.M. checked the orders, realised the potential for disaster and set out to investigate. Anyway I wrote it up in chapters for Geoff's Newsletter (grateful Thanks to my wife Jenn for typing it). Later I checked the possibility of getting it published as a book but no-one was interested. I later learned that the Railway Institute at Mafeking (Mafikeng) had some mementoes of the event so I arranged for the typescript, plus a cluster of amendment sheets and some photos, to be sent there, where I hope it all still resides. In April 1974 I learned that I was being transferred to Gwanda, which would be a significant career boost. I recall that that night it rained heavily – the following day I heard that a 16A (634 I believe) had ventured onto the West Nicholson branch at Heany Junction and the first culvert had collapsed under its rear unit. That weekend I visited the scene – a shoofly had been built around the site where the boiler and rear unit lay sprawled along the track. The front unit stood in isolation at Heany. Prior to the transfer I took enough leave to do an extended rail tour: to Vic Falls and back, to Francistown to check graves in the cemetery for Vakaranga victims, to visit the crash site (by car from Bulawayo, walking from the Botswana Customs post) and to and from Umtali, by mixed trains so as to traverse every section in daylight. This afforded identification of many relocations – major ones remote from the present route I traced from 1:25 000 maps. I duly reported these travels in Geoff's newsletter. To recapitulate the history and status of the West Nicholson branch: it was built to serve gold-mining communities near Gwanda and West Nic. En route to the latter place it passed by a gold mine, established presumably by an Irish prospector, named (The?) Colleen Bawn. Whatever the success of the gold mine (the dumps are still present), it was discovered that the overlooking hill was solid limestone. A quarry was set up to supply the factory at Cement – later another company set up a cement factory at Colleen Bawn, then the companies came under the same ownership. The consequence was that Colleen Bawn became the major terminus of the branch; the West Nic mixed still ran three times a week (out Mon-Wed-Fri, back Tues-Thurs-Sat) but two or three freights daily turned at Colleen Bawn where there were crew resting facilities. The West Nicholson terminus was tantalisingly close to South Africa, and in 1929 the SAR 31

had extended their track to Beitbridge in anticipation of a link-up. However a major slump and then a world war prevented this, and when after the war Southern Rhodesia considered its communication options, it was decided to build a line from Bannockburn, near Shabani, south-eastward to link directly with Lourenco Marques. When in 1973-4 a direct link with South Africa became imperative, it was Rutenga, on this southeast line, which was linked to Beitbridge. This link was on the point of completion when I arrived at Gwanda, in whose veterinary fiefdom Beitbridge lay. It was only in the closing years of the twentieth century that Bulawayo was linked directly to Beitbridge via West Nicholson. As stated, when I arrived at Gwanda in September 1974 the Rutenga-Beitbridge line was almost complete, albeit with some temporary track in the middle. Class DE1 1005 was shunting in the new station and I thought she had had a long journey round to get there – later I learned that she had been taken down by road. Ballast was quarried out of local granite outcrops – an early professional task for me was diagnosing nitrate poisoning, from explosives residues, as the cause of death of cattle drinking at a pool which formed in a quarry bottom. The daily mixed from Messina, behind a 19D, still came to the old station, west of Beitbridge, as the new station was not ready. Freights came in from the south behind 15Fs, sometimes double-headed. Occasionally a 15F would be on the mixed, after the service was transferred to the new station. However from mid-1975 steam was replaced by diesels of classes 33.400 and 34. To the north, some hired SAR 33s supplemented RR diesels, mainly DE6s. The presence of the former irritated me somewhat as I felt it could convey to the general public the impression that SAR were running the section for us – they should be deployed elsewhere. Later a few class 34s were hired to RR. Somehow not all RR enginemen were aware that when working in tandem, the exhauster of the non-driven unit should be isolated, or else it would keep on running, maintaining vacuum and frustrating hard braking. Thus the crew of a southbound freight entering the last siding before Beitbridge found themselves unable to stop. The siding was a double entry one with trap points, so the locos ran out of road – but better than a runaway through Beitbridge! I happened on the scene a couple of days later, finding a SAR crew recovering the locos – my first observation of a VW enginepowered multiple hydraulic jack. Back at Gwanda, trains to Colleen Bawn were mostly on 16As with the West Nic mixed usually on a 14A. In 1976 the 15th class appeared and soon took over most of the workings on the branch. In mid-1977 no .391 was returning to Bulawayo with a moderate load early 32

one Saturday morning and took a curve some way north of Gwanda at excessive speed. The loco went over to the right – miraculously the crew sustained only some limb fractures. Steam escaping from a fractured blowdown pipe blasted an impressive hole in the ground. Bogie wagons of bagged cement were scattered far and wide, some well ahead of the loco. Our enterprising Station Master obtained a quantity of salvaged cement for a screening wall around the Sports Clubhouse – security was just starting to become a major issue. I had to go away on a course and missed the recovery operation. However it was not too long before the next accident. In 1978 the Railways started loading soil from a cutting side north of Gwanda, laying a set of points at the bottom end of a moderate gradient cutting and extending a siding track alongside the line in the cutting bottom. Soil was shovelled from the cutting side into a string of short drop-side wagons. As the bank was dug away to wagon-bed level the track was extended further up the cutting. A derailing frog was placed at the bottom end but in the event it failed. I did hear tell that the brakes were set only on each alternate wagon. Anyway, came a Monday morning in December when the first train of the week, outbound to Colleen Bawn, ran past. Presumably it was the vibration of its passing that caused the loaded wagons to creep and then roll downhill. They jumped the frog, ran through the trailing points out onto the line and around a curve where the line crossed a watercourse on a low embankment over a culvert. They stood there for the morning, in view of cars passing on the main road, but not seen by anyone aware of the significance of the sight. Early in the afternoon the West Nicholson mixed came rolling down the grade behind 15th class no. 369. The wagons being around the curve, the driver had no chance of stopping. The violence of the collision was indicated by a wagon, presumably the impact one, folded in half with the wheels impacted inside. The loco went over to the left, down the bank – miraculously the crew escaped significant injury. No injuries were reported in the passenger coaches at the back. A few vehicles behind the loco was a wagon containing a prefab structure, home for a travelling railway officer. This gentleman was enjoying a relaxing hot bath. He emerged from his capsized residence with only his dignity damaged. The derailed wagons were swiftly enough recovered and the track reinstated, but 369 was left lying there. I was told that she would only be recovered when the rainy season was over. In the event January was a dry month; in February and March it rained. In May the recovery operation began. They first needed to drag 369 away from the foot of the embankment, but her running plate had sunk into the heavy clay soil which had set around it. The breakdown train was on a pair of DE9As – I had previously seen one of the class at Essexvale, attending a disabled Garratt, but this was my first experience of them at Gwanda. After a couple of days the driver had need to shut one of them down, and then could not restart it. I then had to go off for a couple of days and on my return the site was 33

clear and I thought everything had been removed. Early the following morning I heard the high-pitched hoot of a DE2, 3 or 4. I jumped into the car – no time to grab the camera – and chased off, to find heading out of town a DE3, the two DE9As, the breakdown train and 369. We were now in an insurgent war, and this episode did not go unnoticed by the enemy. One morning – a Saturday, I think – 15th class no. 386 on a train to Bulawayo was approaching the same culvert when the driver noticed that the right hand rail had been removed ahead of him, on straight track. He nearly succeeded in stopping but not quite and 386 went over on her right side. Again fortunately there was no serious injury. There was another train on the way up from Colleen Bawn, and the loco (15th) came up to draw the rest of the train clear. It turned out that this driver had been on 369 when she went over. He acknowledged that if he had been on the preceding train he would Anyway, came a Monday morning in December when the first train of the week, outbound to Colleen Bawn, ran past. Presumably it was the vibration of its passing that caused the loaded wagons to creep and then roll downhill. They jumped the frog, ran through the trailing points out onto the line and around a curve where the line crossed a watercourse on a low embankment over a culvert. They stood there for the morning, in view of cars passing on the main road, but not seen by anyone aware of the significance of the sight. Early in the afternoon the West Nicholson mixed came rolling down the grade behind 15th class no. 369. The wagons being around the curve, the driver had no chance of stopping. The violence of the collision was indicated by a wagon, presumably the impact one, folded in half with the wheels impacted inside. The loco went over to the left, down the bank – miraculously the crew escaped significant injury. No injuries were reported in the passenger coaches at the back. A few vehicles behind the loco was a wagon containing a prefab structure, home for a travelling railway officer. This gentleman was enjoying a relaxing hot bath. He emerged from his capsized residence with only his dignity damaged. The derailed wagons were swiftly enough recovered and the track reinstated, but 369 was left lying there. I was told that she would only be recovered when the rainy season was over. In the event January was a dry month; in February and March it rained. In May the recovery operation began. They first needed to drag 369 away from the foot of the embankment, but her running plate had sunk into the heavy clay soil which had set around it. The breakdown train was on a pair of DE9As – I had previously seen one of the class at Essexvale, attending a disabled Garratt, but this was my first experience of them at Gwanda. After a couple of days the driver had need to shut one of them down, and then could not restart it. I then had to go off for a couple of days and on my return the site was 34

clear and I thought everything had been removed. Early the following morning I heard the high-pitched hoot of a DE2, 3 or 4. I jumped into the car – no time to grab the camera – and chased off, to find heading out of town a DE3, the two DE9As, the breakdown train and 369. We were now in an insurgent war, and this episode did not go unnoticed by the enemy. One morning – a Saturday, I think – 15th class no. 386 on a train to Bulawayo was approaching the same culvert when the driver noticed that the right hand rail had been removed ahead of him, on straight track. He nearly succeeded in stopping but not quite and 386 went over on her right side. Again fortunately there was no serious injury. There was another train on the way up from Colleen Bawn, and the loco (15th) came up to draw the rest of the train clear. It turned out that this driver had been on 369 when she went over. He acknowledged that if he had been on the preceding train he would have been driving much faster and the wreckage that much greater. Damage to the track was relatively slight and the removed rail was fit for replacement after I and others had scoured the bush to recover scattered Pandrol clips. I was not around to witness the recovery operation but it must have proceeded smoothly. With my elder son at boarding school at Gwelo I had reason for periodic trips there. For a time RR had six 15Fs with six-axle tenders off class 23s working on the Bulawayo-Gwelo section, then they went back and a number of GMAMs were hired. There was no reason why GMAMs could not work down to Colleen Bawn but they never did – instead an increasing number of DE9/A’s came down. In February 1980 I was transferred to Gwelo as Provincial Veterinary Officer and we moved to a house in Athlone across the vlei from the four siding tracks named Chrome Yard. Years previously while on a formation bash near Insiza I had discovered and adopted an abandoned 45 speed limit plate and now I lived at 45 Peter Falk Road (P.F. had opened Gwelo's first shop). It took a little scouting to locate an old steel sleeper with flattened end to set up a combined house number and speed-limit-inthe-driveway post. There was at that time a motive power shortage and the four roads of Chrome Yard were packed solid with parked vehicles, allowing another session of marking-reading. The refurbished Garratts were returning to service, the 14As looking particularly impressive with their chunky tanks and bunkers. As well as the GMAMs, National Railways of Zimbabwe, as RR had become, had on hire from SAR a number of class 34 diesels, and also from CFM some similar GE diesels in the pink and grey livery that earned them the nickname "prawns". I am sure these two types would have been compatible for multipleunit working, but there would have been a political prohibition on such a coupling and I 35

never saw it happen. Another rather surprising hire was a class 7E electric locomotive – with electrification of the Gwelo-Salisbury section projected, a stretch of track on either side of QueQue had been wired up to carry out tests on induction effects in trackside communication lines. This section had concrete masts whereas steel was used for the subsequent catenary structures. Also on hire in Mashonaland were some Bombardier diesels from Malawi Railways – one got its photo in the newspaper following a derailment. At the time there were day and night trains in each direction to Fort Victoria and a daily (weekdays) out and back working to Selukwe, all Garratt worked. Gwelo hosted no "straights" at its steam depot behind the station – the diesel depot was at Dabuka yard on the Bulawayo side. Some three-axle DH2 diesel-hydraulic shunters worked in the yard but they were hard to spot. I quickly discovered the Gwelo and District Light Railway and was soon trained and allowed to drive Buckeye and Margaret on Sunday afternoons. At my suggestion the cab backplate on Margaret was cut down as low as possible to allow passengers to see in. I was never formally tested or passed but I had drummed into me that the top priority was to keep the firebox crown covered with water. I greatly enjoyed those afternoons. The rainy season of 1980-1 was wet. One morning after an overnight downpour the ganger at Senale, east of Gwelo, went to check a stream crossing. He found the track in good order and sent a message to Gwelo that the Fort Victoria train could leave.. However in the next hollow to the west the culvert had been unable to cope with the flow and the dammed water had overtopped the embankment and undermined the track. A class 16A went over to the left down the embankment. The fireman sustained a broken arm. That weekend I was able to watch part of the recovery operation, jacking and packing with timber wedges. A few days later I saw the rerailed Garratt being propelled cautiously into Gwelo, after dark. Later I noticed that another, larger, opening had been cut through the embankment. The rainy season of 1981-2 was just as wet (the last before a sequence of droughts). One night an iron ore wagon at the head of a "liner" train from Buchwa mine to the RISCO steelworks became derailed in the northern part of Gwelo station. The heavy, compact wagon, propelled by those behind it, gouged its way into the soft ground to completely bury itself. Lengths of 45 kg/m rail were bent to archway shapes. With the adjacent track involved, all through traffic was completely blocked. The following morning I was alerted by a radio announcement that the southbound overnight passenger train was held at QueQue due to a blockage at Gwelo – I think it must 36

have been Saturday morning as I did not have to worry about going to work. I promptly went to the station and found out what had happened. On the car radio I heard John Batwell hosting a programme so when I went home I phoned the RBC with a message for him, and later heard him broadcast a special message to the breakdown gang. A way past was obtained by cutting through the low station platform to lay a link from the main line to the disused "Fort Victoria Dock" whence an uninvolved track led to the branch. From Chrome Yard a track – Chrome Curve – led into the line northwards. So a through route was restored, albeit with a reversal. The following day I was able to watch a motorised multiple hydraulic jack in operation again. By this time a parallel track had been extended through the north end level crossing to give a direct through line. Over the next few days things were brought back to normal. With the next derailment I had some professional involvement. I was called to the station – a southbound goods train had derailed at the south end (improperly secured temporary points). Amongst the derailed vehicles was a loaded cattle truck, partly capsized and partly upended so floor and walls funnelled to a bottom corner. We got the doors open and the cattle struggled out, including, to my surprise, the bottom one, uninjured. We held them in a paddock for a day and then reloaded them to continue their journey. Some of the wagons had contained ferro-chrome which was spilt on the track. I was told it would have to be removed, which meant replacement of the ballast. When I asked why it could not remain in situ I was told that due to its high electrical conductivity it could be hazardous (through arcing) to anyone walking along the track when the 25 000 volt electrification was energised. During my time in Gwelo (which became Gweru) I got the chance of a few footplate rides, helped by the fact that there was a driver whose son was an Animal Health Inspector in my department, and whose daughter was one of my wife's shorthand pupils. I first rode with Ben Vermaak in a DE10, taking over the southbound Mail train in the small hours of the morning. We got to Bembesi before handing over to a Bulawayo crew and returning on a 15th class. Then I rode with another driver to Umvuma and back on the daily Fort Vic mixed, 16A each way. The Selukwe (now Shurugwi) line now only had one daytime working a week, on Wednesday but there was also a nightly service from Kwekwe (via Chrome Curve) to fetch ferro-chrome in special wagons, the same as used for iron ore. I got a footplate pass and waited at Chrome Yard on a Wednesday morning. A 15th class appeared with a short train, I boarded and introduced myself to Mr. Guti, one of the first African drivers on RR (before NRZ), and we ambled down to Shurugwi. There we found 37

very few vehicles to bring back, some of them wagons to be put off at Surprise for loading timber, so from that point on the load weighed less than the locomotive. Very disappointing. However my pass was valid for 24 hours so that evening I was again at Chrome Yard to board the leading DE9A of the pair. I learned that we would be setting out our empties at Guinea Fowl to be loaded from mines higher up the Dyke, and continuing light engine to Shurugwi to pick up a normal load. After dropping of the train, we ran very cautiously down the slope – apparently it is very easy to skid the units without train braking. At Shurugwi we turned, coupled onto the load and were away just after midnight. Grinding up the Sebanga Poort, on the level crossing the bit of foreign material on the track was sufficient to break the wheels' grip and we got a wheelslip alarm calling for a power adjustment. We came over the top at Guinea Fowl and drifted down toward Gweru at constant speed. Our running time to Chrome Yard, where I alighted, was 59 minutes. At the Lions' bingo sessions the call was "Fifty-nine – the Selukwe line" – I wrote up the trip for the Lions' magazine under that title. Early in 1983 came a fatal railway accident. The mixed train from Chiredzi picked up at Bannockburn a service coach carrying two railway officers who had been working at Zvishavane. The wooden-bodied service coach was placed between the single DE10 and the train crew's steel- bodied caboose. The train proceeded to Wida, on the main line to Bulawayo, where it was held east of the siding for a crossing goods train to enter the loop line. The two DE10s hauling this train ran the length of the loop and back onto the main line; in the collision the single DE10 was forced back, crushing the service coach and killing both occupants. The locomotives were derailed. The windscreen of the leading unit from Bulawayo had damage suggesting impact by the driver's head – he was taken to hospital injured. The other driver had jumped clear of his stationary loco. I visited the scene and immediately realised that security was far tighter than ever before – it was only on the basis of my personal acquaintance with the engineer in charge that I obtained access. However even this acquaintance was not sufficient on a subsequent occasion. Having decided that a change of career and country was now necessary, I retired from the Department of Veterinary Services and made plans to emigrate to England. Before leaving Gweru I had one last trip with Ben Vermaak. This was in an EL1(of a pair) on the nowelectrified Harare line. We got up to Martin before exchanging and coming back on a pair of the same. Our last crossing, with a similarly-hauled goods, was at Sekope, last siding before Gweru, The following day, while packing, I heard that there had been a derailment at Battlefields, between Kwekwe and Kadoma. As details emerged, I realised it was the 38

train we had crossed at Sekope. It transpired that at Battlefields; as the driver entered the siding he found the train to be crossed safely inside so he assumed he was clear to proceed without verifying the aspect of signals. However the road had not yet been set for him and the trap points turned him off the track and put both units on and in the ground. I was given to understand that the driver had absconded. Two days later we left Gweru for Harare, which trip would take us past the scene. My wife and son had gone ahead in the other car. I decided to turn in and have a look at the accident scene, but at the siding I was turned back by a security guard and name-dropping cut no ice. I carried on, and around the curve parked the car and sneaked through the bush to the cleared line, where I could see the derailed locos some distance away, but clearly visible through a 200 mm lens. I took a couple of photos and made my way back to the car, but was intercepted by a couple of security police. I must say they were surprisingly polite, but I lost my film â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a 36 exposure cassette with a lot of valuable shots. Serves me right, I suppose. However it was galling a couple of days later to see photos of the derailed locos on the front page of The Herald. Later, after arrival in Englaand, I received some photos of the scene from a friend. Thus ended my residence in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. I now live in Beverley in East Yorkshire, on the line from Hull to Bridlington and Scarborough â&#x20AC;&#x201C; passenger dmus only, which I can't put my heart into. The interesting freight traffic to/from Immingham docks and Scunthorpe steelworks* is nearly 40 km and a toll bridge away. I get what railway kicks I can wherever and whenever possible. I am still acquiring a few reminiscences for my anecdotage! * Iron ore trains on paired 37s, later a single 60. Must go sometime and see if 66s have taken over! Thanks Dr Richard Clatworthy! Hopefully more from Richard next month!

Various Maps: Bruno Martin Durban - Pietermaritzburg

Durban: South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First operational railway

Jacobs - Wentworth

Milner Park

Choorkop - Kemptonpark

Railway Philately

Braamfontein Rapport: Dr V Mostert The close up of 18 422 is supposed to show that it is running on bogie number 25 which dates back to 1971 and was presumably originally fitted to E1238, the thirteenth 6E1 built. The other bogie under 18 422 is no 1880 of 1984 which was one of the last bogies built and was probably fitted to E 2165 or thereabouts. At least SCAW made bogie frames that last!

KwaZulu- Natal report: Jacobus Marais

Springbokke?

Corpus delicti - Hidcote

Lowlands

The Anaconda nr Mooi River approaching from the Johanessburg side

Express car train

Natal Mainline â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Rudi Venter Kirk Falls (18Eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s)

Lowlands

Wash away: Amamzimtoti 11 Dec 2012 (Natal South Coast Line) Via J & J Wepener

Robbie Green

Robbie Green whants to know about the history of this old bridge next tot he “new” bridge?

The effect of rust next to the sea!

Schalk Claasen: Recovery

Western Cape Report: Tubby Myburg Voorbaai â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Hartenbos

Tergniet: Mossel Bay â&#x20AC;&#x201C; George Line

Premier Classe -

Railway History of South Africa No 2 Early Locomotives of the Cape Government Railway: Leith Paxton The next locomotive delivered to South African was in 1874. She was also from the Manning Wardle stable but was of a ‘Special Class B’ which was slightly a smaller design than the earlier engines. She was given build number 483 and was given the No. 14 in this country. It was delivered to the Port Elizabeth Railway which was being built departmentally by the Cape Government Railway, and was intended for the mainline north, via Cradock. As the line progressed, she was transported in 1877 by Government bullock cart for the construction of ‘Swallow’s Cutting’ north of Alicedale, near Middleton. Very little is known about this engine, but is presumed to be the mystery engine ‘Mliss’ referred to in the book ‘Uitenhage Past and Present’ which has confounded historians for years. In 1876 another 0-4-0ST locomotive was delivered, this time from Fox, Walker & Co. of Bristol, No.330. It was a class ‘W’ with 12” cylinders and similar in appearance to ‘Aid’ delivered to the Port Alfred harbour of the same period. Regrettably , neither photos or drawings survive of her. She was intended for use in the Port Elizabeth Harbour and it is presumed that she became PEHB ‘A’ which later became CGR No.1012. It is interesting to note that neither of these engines appears in Frank Holland’s ‘Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways’. •

With thanks to John Middleton and Russell Wear for technical backup.

•

Harman F.W. The Locomotives Build by Manning Wardle & Co. Vol. 1 Narrow Gauge. Century Locoprint.

•

Littley D. C.G.R. Numbering Revised S.A.Rail May/June 1993.

This rather heavily touched up photo is the only one known to exist of Manning Wardle No. 483 and is shown working at 'Swallow's Cutting'. SAR&H Mag 1915

Early South African Locomotives: HBH CGR NGR

Blackie: Cape Town Station OVS Staatspoorwegen (OVSS) -

Filler: Hans Sturgeon with Lourens Sturgeonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthday present. (Louens had a birthday on 23 Dec 2012.)

NZASM Anglo Boer War NGR CGR: Narrow Gauge NGR : NG Railway Stations Railway Station Johannesburg - Carlos Veiera

Comments Johannesburg Station: Les Pivnic The photo shows Johannesburg Station. 65

I think that the confusion about the name is that many "Jo'burgers" referred to the station as "Park Station" BUT......the official name was "Johannesburg". In the early days of the SAR (C.1912) the SAR timetables referred to "JOHANNESBURG (PARK) STATION" because in those early times, BRAAMFONTEIN STATION was still used to some extent as Johannesburg's main station. So the name "PARK" was printed in those early days to distinguish it from Braamfontein. This trend moved away from Braamfontein and by the 1920s, JOHANNESBURG was the main station for the City and shown as such in printed time tables. But names tend to stick around and even in my youth in the 1930s/1940s, a lot of people still referred to Park Station! So it all boils down to this:- Officially, the station was named "JOHANNESBURG" but it was still known by lots of locals as "PARK STATION". I prefer to stick to official names so for me it is JOHANNESBURG but the folk using the name PARK STATION are not entirely wrong! I hope that this clarifies the situation. â&#x20AC;˘

Thanks Les - HBH

SAR RMT

1966

SAR: World War 1 -

SAR in GSWA: WW1 -

SAR: World War 2 See bookshelf.

SAR Traction and Rolling Stock 1910: No 438 CSAR Paul Els At the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31st of May 1910 the SA Railways took part in the celebrations. Eight years before on the 31st of May 1902 the Peace of Vereeniging was signed between the Boer and the Brit. A high price was paid for the Union! The photograph of the locomotive was sent in by Paul Els (military historian and author). The Afrikaans caption reads:

This decorated “festival-train” travelled throughout the

Union to celebrate the unification of South Africa and the establishment of the SA Railways. • Also see Richard Clatworthy’s comments in the post bag – HBH.

Leith Paxton: No 438 CSAR “Joseph Chamberlain”

Central South African Railways, Class 8-L1, No.438 Photo: Leith Paxton Collection.

Transnet Traction and Rolling Stock Prasa ready for roll-out 2012-12-02 10:00 / Andile Ntingi

New passenger rail tender will transfer R37bn to broad-based BEE partners In two weeks’ time, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) will set the ball rolling for the transfer of R37 billion into the hands of black South Africans. Prasa chief executive Lucky Montana, the architect of South Africa’s modernisation of passenger rail transportation, has left no stone unturned to ensure that South Africa’s largest black economic empowerment (BEE) deal is also the most broad-based. “Historically, you would find that individuals who have access to money fly to Germany

or China to strike a deal. We have avoided this by making it broad-based. What we have done with this deal is to recognise workers,” Montana told City Press. Prasa will acquire 7 224 new train coaches from a foreign rolling stock manufacturer at a cost of R123 billion over 20 years. The first phase of the project will see the passenger rail parastatal buy half of these coaches at a cost of R40 billion over 10 years. Over 20 years, black investors will receive about 30% of the project’s R123 billion value. They will thus benefit to the tune of R37 billion. The rolling stock manufacturer will receive 70% of the R123 billion. In January, Prasa will announce BEE partners for the project while the winning train builder will be announced on December 12. According to Montana, 145 black-owned companies have expressed interest in participating in the 30% stake, which will be funded by the National Empowerment Fund (NEF). Seven international bidders are vying to build the trains. In ensuring the project is as broad-based as possible, Prasa has given 10% of the BEE stake to workers from Prasa and the rolling stock manufacturer; 10% to black enterprises operating in the railway industry; 7% to individual black investors; and 3% to an education trust. Mzi Dayimani, general counsel at the NEF, said a project company had been formed and the NEF would initially warehouse the 30% on behalf of the black investors. Dayimani said he was happy the BEE deal was biased towards workers and the education trust in terms of ownership structure, which was never the case in old BEE transactions. He is hoping other parastatals, such as power supplier Eskom, and transport and logistics utility Transnet, will take note as they are the principal drivers of government’s R3.2 trillion infrastructure investment programme until 2020. Unlike old BEE transactions, black investors will benefit early in the cycle of the project instead of after 10 years or sometimes even longer.

Dayimani said proceeds from the project would be used to pay off debt for the BEE stake, but there would be a portion that would go into the pockets of black investors. However, they would not be allowed to sell their shares for up to three years. “There will be some financial benefit that will accrue in the initial stages of the project . . . We will try to shorten the funding term,” he said. Since 1994, roughly R600 billion worth of BEE deals have been concluded, but only a few politically connected people have benefited. Many black investors in BEE have got their fingers burnt by the economic downturn and by borrowing at unsustainable interest rates. Montana said he wanted to use the project to help the country revitalise the struggling South African rail industry by improving skills and capacity, instead of pandering to the whims of a politically connected business elite. He said he had ensured that the tender process had been independent and free from lobbying by powerful economic interests. He revealed that seven transaction advisers – including big accounting and legal firms, as well as commercial banks – gave advice to the Prasa bid committee. “If you think you can influence Lucky Montana alone, you will not succeed. I don’t have power over this . . . The power is elsewhere,” said Montana. The Black Business Council, which initially had misgivings about the tender, is now supportive of the project and how it will help empower black people in the railway industry. “We are very happy . . . Black firms must be involved in the manufacturing of wheels, brakes and upholstery for the trains,” said Black Business Council chief executive Xolani Qubeka. http://www.citypress.co.za/Business/News/Prasa-ready-for-roll-20121201

SA Metro Rail

Gauteng Metro Murder Most Foul : Hercules Train driver stabbed to death 2012-12-26 19:07: A train driver was stabbed to death. (Duncan Alfreds, News24) Johannesburg - A train driver was stabbed to death outside Hercules station in Pretoria, Metrorail said on Wednesday. Spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said the driver identified as JP Du Plessis was found dead on Tuesday, with several stab wounds in a static train. "The cause of this incident is not yet clear and will be fully investigated with immediate effect," said spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng. Metrorail Gauteng provincial manager Tembela Kulu said train services would be suspended in Gauteng on New Year's Day in honour of Du Plessis. She said as a preventative measure, all trains would operate until 18:00 in Gauteng for the festive season until 4 January.- SAPA http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Train-driver-stabbed-to-death-20121226 Metrorail to honour slain driver 2012-12-27 08:32 Johannesburg - Metrorail will not operate in Gauteng on New Year's Day in honour of train driver J P du Plessis who was found stabbed to death in a stationery locomotive outside Hercules Station, Pretoria, on Christmas Day.

"No train service will operate in Gauteng on the 1st of January 2013 in honour of Mr Du Plessis for the dedication and passion he had in serving our commuters," the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) said. It added that trains would operate only until 18:00 until January 4, as a preventative measure against recurrences of such incidents over the festive season. "It is with great sadness and regret to learn of this unfortunate incident and as management we are of the view that one death is just too many to lose an employee on duty especially in this horrific manner," said Tembela Kulu, Metrorail's Gauteng manager. Anyone with information that will assist the investigation and arrest of the perpetrators may contact the Prasa's Protection Services department on 012 315 2566. - SAPA http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Metrorail-to-honour-slain-driver-20121227

Durban Metro -

SAR Narrow Gauge (NG) -

Industrial NG E.P.C.C. Update Bob Hogan Hennie... After spending time reviewing my SAR files this past week, I found an old (9 August 1974) misplaced letter from my friend John in Port Elizabeth with additional details of the wreck of #2 and some interesting "colour" on the final days of regular 2 foot steam out of P.E. This is what he said: "You and I took what must have been the last photos of the E.P.C. Baldwin #2 in service because she had her accident in the early hours of the Monday (August 20, 1973) after you left P.E. She wasn't involved in a crossing accident. What happened was that the fire was lit and because the regulator had been left in the open position and the engine in gear with no brakes on, she took off when steam got up. The points fortunately (or unfortunately) were set for the turning wye at the factory and the old girl ploughed through a concrete stop block and over a ten foot drop. It took them 73

almost two weeks to get her back on her wheels again and, although not visibly damaged, it was decided to retire her and place her outside the administrative buildings at the E.P.C. factory. The next I heard was that she was being shipped to England. This news was rather sudden and I was in bed with the flu at the time so I couldn't even get a shot of her leaving. The E.P.C. diesel was still in for repairs at the time of the accident so SAR NG-15 #19 was used by the E.P.C. until the diesel was repaired" "On the "N.G. Scene", the line from P.E. to Assegaaibosch is now completely dieselised, although we do see steam now and again on this section. All of the NGG-16 Garratts have been sent to Natal with the NGG-13's to follow soon. NGG-13 number 79 is the only one still in steam as she is used for working ballast trains used for the strengthening of the line. This was because the drivers did not like running the NG-15 2-8-2's in reverse when returning to P.E. I don't know of any NG-15's having been withdrawn, contrary to Roger's statement (Roger Lewis),) as most of them are further up on the line working from Assegaaibosch to Avontuur." "You asked about the effect of the oil crisis on steam in S.A. in your last letter. Well the good news is that steam scrapping has been stopped for the moment but that SAR diesel orders are still being placed. This could mean anything. I doubt whether this really means a reprieve for steam, although the 16 CR Class Pacifics on the Uitenhage locals should have been withdrawn in January (1974) but are still on the shunt or operating on the locals with no sign of orders for their scrapping as yet (August)." We all know how this played out, but I found John's comments very interesting. Even 38 years later. Warmest regards, Bob Hogan Dear Bob, Yes, I agree. Even 39 yrs later I have enjoyed the letter from John! Its nice to hear from you and to receive information on our industrial NG line - HBH

Gautrain

Both sides of the Gautrain Card.

â&#x20AC;˘ We need a Gautrain correspondent - HBH

Photo reports: Strange but True! Theft of Railway Line: J & J Wepener Hi all. As you can see from the photos, the Theunissen - Winburg line is no more... This is not an official removal, but THEFT. Transnet has told us on several occasions that they are not interested in the Winburg branch because the rails are to light and the steel sleepers are not worth re-using. The line is also on the list of lines to be tendered for private operators. So, the only people left are scrap merchants. The line is still intact close to Theunissen and into Winburg, where people can see the line. Where it runs into the farm lands, it has disappeared for several kilometres. Quite strange how a railway line and sleepers can disappear without anyone noticing makes you think... Cheers.

Railway People â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Spoorwegmense Kyk Spoorwegman, ek skryf en bid vir jou! Koot Swanepoel Railway Padre: Koot Swanepoel U kan Koot direk kontak by 082 041 9123 U kan Koot per epos kontak by: J.C. Swanepoel koots@telkomsa.net

Previous issues of Uloliwe For previous all previous issues of Uloliwe click on: http://issuu.com/hennieheymans/docs

Rail Humour Book Shelf

“Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years”: Jean Dulez

Now Available!

Books/ Boeke Leon “Div” de Villiers’ Books: Cape Town

Smuts (Dene); Paul Alberts. DIE VERGETE GROOTPAD DEUR CERES EN DIE BOKKEVELD. Bramley-Noord: The Gallery Press, 1988. Eerste Uitgawe. Hennie Aucamp het geskryf oor die boek en ek haal aan "Die vergete grootpad; dis wat my betref die mooiste streekboek in Afrikaans." en verder ook "Dis 'n weldadige ervaring deur Ceres en die Bokkeveld " Voorwaar 'n boek wat in enige ordentlike Afrikana-boekversameling hoort. 245 Bladsye, veelvuldige kleur en swart+wit fotos, sowel as kaarte en ills. 220x280mm Hoog. Swaar item en 'n postarief-kwotasie moet verkry word. Soos Nuut. Geprente Hardeband. Boek kom direk van Drukkers en was nooit in sirkulasie nie.

Geen

stofomslag.

Behalwe

vir

twee

drie

onopsigtelike skaafmerkies aan hoeke, is hierdie 'n ongeleesde eksemplaar in so goed as nuut kondisie. (#0001149) Fox M. J. Last Steam Locomotives of Spain and Portugal. London: Ian Allan, 1978. 1st. A real gem. A small ownership stamp neatly laid down on flyleaf. Near Fine in Near Fine dust-jacket. Green Cloth. OVERSIZED ITEM. POSTAGE TO BE QUOTED FOR (#000220)

Frankel (S.H.) . THE RAILWAY POLICY OF SOUTH AFRICA. Johannesburg: Hortors, 1928. First edition. An analysis of the effects of railway rates, finance and management on the economic development of the union. 367Pp., 2 folding tables. Some light foxing. 160x235mm Tall. Very Good. Hardcover. Ex-libris Huguenot University College with library sticker and stamp on fep, stamp on ffep, stamp on rear fep and the residue of removed catalogue card-holder visible on rep. Bottom of spine lightly faded with few small stains. Otherwise a remarkably well preserved copy of this extremely scarce item. Bind neat and tight. (#0001128)

Burman Jose. Towards the Far Horizon. The Story of the Ox-Wagon in South Africa. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 1988. 1st. Original price-stamp on flyleaf. Small ownership stamp neatly laid down on half-title page, otherwise a gem. Near Fine. Pictorial Laminated Boards. (#000221)

AFRICANA & OTHER BOOKS BOUGHT & SOLD, including: Book Collections, Manuscripts, Maps, Paintings, Prints, etc. Pertaining to our Literature, History, Historic Buildings & Places, Hunting, Nature, Wildlife, Railways, Maritime, 82

Military, Wars, People etc. as well as related Topics on the African Continent. Contact Leon at TEL/FAX: 021 592 3460 CELL: 084 436 0842 e-mail: australb@mweb.co.za http://antiqbook.com/bookdealer.phtml?o=australafrica http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/435994/Boekesmous http://www.facebook.com/africabooks (Free advert for our readers)

“The Staff Work of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1901 – Embodying Some of the War Letters sent to the Morning Post from South Africa (1901)” by Elizabeth Charlotte Briggs [Ray Ellis] Hi Hennie, As always, looking forward to a new Uloliwe. I recently got a “new” (well to me anyway) book: “The Staff Work of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1901 – Embodying Some of the War Letters sent to the Morning Post from South Africa (1901)” by Elizabeth Charlotte Briggs, an Englishwoman who was correspondent for the Morning Post, a UK newspaper. It deals with the non-combatant part of the Boer War, and 500+ pages is quite a large volume. It is a “print on demand” reprint of a book published in 1901. I have only read some of it at this stage, but it is quite fascinating. Found it on the internet. Do you know of, or have this book? Cheers Ray. Dear Ray – No I have never come across this book. Please send a copy of the cover and title page and the price. I am sure some of us will be interested in the book - HBH 83

Hennie, Yes, it’s an interesting book; even a chapter on the Princess Chrsitian Hospital Train! As well as lots of other interesting stuff! Cheers Ray

Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin No. 493, November 1978. Through contact with Ray Ellis I came in possesion of the following: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin No. 493, November 1978. Australian railway construction in the Middle East is discussed in great detail. South Africans were also involved in the construction.

Book Review: Rod: The Autobiography (Johan van Rensburg) http://www.bdlive.co.za/life/books/2012/12/11/book-review-rod-the-autobiography “Rod’s book is not a difficult read, and does have traces of humour. It is clear he is very close to his family, with many references to his parents and siblings. Rod is also a model railroader and the small, all-too-brief chapter he devotes to the subject is one of the best in the book. The layout he has in his attic is jaw-droppingly brilliant, with towering skyscrapers and a complex web of track, set in the mid-1940s, an era when the US was switching from steam to diesel. Apart from some help with the electrics, which on model railways almost demands a degree in electrical engineering, and a bridge, it is all his own work.”

Road Motor Transport Service [RMT] -

South African Airways History in the making: These old Shell photogrpahs were received from Wally Greig in Cape Town. He says as far as he knows this is the first time these photogrpahs have been published.

SAA at Victoria West: Wally Greig Hi Hennie, 84

I enjoyed the article on the Flying Boats. I have some photos, of them, which I will send soon. Attached is an article on SAA at Victoria West Airport plus three photos. I worked for Shell, and about fifteen years ago, I removed three old photo albums from a rubbish bin, at Shell. The two black and white photos are from one of the albums. There is no indication of who the photographer was. You can credit them to my collection. Regards, Wally

Vickers Viking at Victoria West Nice old Ford Truck!

Victoria West Airport Vacuum & Shell

Dear Wally â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Thanks for saving those photographs - Hennie

SAA History Flying Boats: Imperial Airways Wally Greig Hi Hennie, As promised, a few weeks ago, I attach 4 photos of Imperial Airways C Class Flying boats, taken while being refuelled from the Shell barge "Machava" in the Tembe River, Lourenco Marques, in July 1937. Captions: Photo 1: "Challenger" North bound on 21 July 1937. Photo 2 & 4: "Coriolanusâ&#x20AC;? North bound 28 July 1937. Photo 3: "Ceres" South bound 26 July 1937. The photographer was probably Taffy Drew, Shell South Africa's Chief Pilot, at the time. 87

Regards, Wally

"Challenger" North bound on 21 July 1937

"Coriolanusâ&#x20AC;? North bound 28 July 1937

"Ceres" South bound 26 July 1937

"Coriolanus” North bound 28 July 1937

Vaaldam, the Country’s First International Airport: by Johan Jacobs Response: Wally Greig Dear Hennie,

In his enjoyable article, Johan calls Vaaldam: "Vaaldam, the Country’s First International Airport". I feel a correction is needed. Imperial Airways commenced operations from London to South Africa on 9 December 1931. The last leg of this trip was flown by DH66 G-AARY "The city of Karachi" which arrived in Cape Town on 21 December, having stopped at Rand Airport, en route. On 27 April 1932 this route was opened to passengers. 5 January - 14 February 1933: Imperial Airways’ Armstrong Whitworth XV G-ABTI Artemis flew from Croydon to Cape Town. This was the first flight to South Africa by this type of aircraft. Shortly afterwards, Atalantas replaced DH66s on the Kisumu to Cape Town sector of the route. 2 June 1937: Imperial Airways’ first through flying boat service to South Africa left Southampton, G-ADHL Canopus. The route was Marseilles-Rome-Brindisi-Athens-Alexandria-Cairo-Wadi HalfaKhartoum-Malakal-Butiaba-Port Bell-Kisumu-Mombasa-Dar es Salaam-Lindi-Mozambique-BeiraLourenco Marques-Durban. The above information comes from the website "British Airway Explore our Past 1930 - 1939." I don't know when the service was extended to Vaaldam, but initially, Congella at Durban was the terminus. I attach a photo of a DH66 Hercules, "The City of Delhi" taken at Pietersburg. (This photo comes from the same album as the Flying Boat photos.)

Regards and best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and New Year.

Wally. Imperial Airways DH 66 City of Delhi Pietersburg.

Imperial Airways Handley Page HP42 "Helena" â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Wally Greig Dear Hennie, Attached is a photo of Handley Page HP42 "Helena" at Pietersburg in January 1933. Although the HP42 did not operate on the Kisumu - Cape Town sector, "Helena" made a special trip, in January 1933, carrying the Chairman and Managing Director of Imperial Airways. Courtesy calls were made at Germiston, Kimberley De Aar, Victoria West, Beaufort West and Touws River. A strong headwind slowed the ground speed to 40 mph on the last leg to Cape Town. Incidentally, as far as I know, the photos from the ex Shell albums have never before been published. Regards, Wally

Harbours Transnet leases discourage investment in shipbuilding â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Damen (DefenceWeb) Written by Dean Wingrin December 2012 11:36

Tuesday,

The Transnet National Ports Authority (NPA) policy of only allowing short-term leases is hurting investment in the ship building industry, according to Damen Shipyards. Kommer Damen, Chairman of the international Damen

Shipyards

Group,

said

that

shipbuilding, an important strategic activity for South Africa, required access to the waterfront. However, large areas of the waterfront in South Africa are owned by Transnet, which has a policy of only offering short-term leases of five to seven years. 91

Speaking at the inauguration of the new Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT) building in Table Bay Harbour yesterday, Damen noted that longer leases were required to increase investment. These short leases, Damen remarked, would be turned down in the boardrooms of European shipyards and financing companies. “What I suggest to Portnet,” Damen said, “is that they should give much longer leases for all their industrial areas in the port because then you’ll attract much bigger investments.” Damen should know what he is talking about. The original Damen Brothers boat building company was established in the Netherlands by his father and uncle in 1927. Purchased by Kommer Damen in 1969, the small builder was transformed into Damen Shipyards Group, now employing more than 6 000 employees working at 35 yards worldwide, building over 150 vessels annually. With an annual turnover of 1.4 billion euros, the Damen group purchased the Cape Town based Farocean Marine shipyard in 2007, with Montsi Investments taking up a 30% shareholding. Damen also complained that the short-sighted attitude of the Transnet NPA also impacted the repair of ships. This was because the repair docks at both Cape Town and Durban can only be booked for very short periods. “We have big repair yards in Europe, big investments for people training, new facilities, and you do that because you own the whole facility,” Damen explained. “But if you can only book for a short period, you don’t put in the investment and you also don’t take a lot of people into service.” This was because the shipyard would not be able to use its workers while looking for suitable alternative repair docks. Despite this, there is still good news for the South African shipbuilding industry. Damen has decided that South Africa is the perfect place to base itself to service its customers in southern Africa. Branches, however, are also situated in Angola and Mozambique, two important African customers, together with Tanzania and Nigeria. Damen will also be starting a training facility in Cape Town to train crews on Damen built ships in service with southern African countries.

Since the take-over of Farocean Marine, Damen Shipyards has invested heavily in the modernisation of the premises, including building expansion and improvements, installation of modern machinery and new, larger capacity overhead cranes, whilst at the same time continuing to build numerous vessels and increasing the staff component. As part of this expansion, the company inaugurated a modern new building on 3 December. Not only will this new 75 m long shed provide space for boat servicing, logistics and spacious office accommodation, but it will also allow DSCT direct access to a quay and the waterfront for the first time. A seventh shed is also planned, between two of the existing

sheds.

The company is one of many international shipyards seeking to take part in the South African Navy’s Project Biro competition for new offshore and inshore patrol vessels. Damen sees a good future for the Damen Shipyards Group in South Africa. But the shortage of space in Table Bay Harbour is of concern and they are looking at the Port of Saldanha Bay, 111 km northwest of Cape Town, for additional space. This additional investment may be dependent on the lease conditions as this port is also run by Transnet NPA. “When you have short leases,” Damen concludes, “you don’t put in the investments, you don’t put in the people.” http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28742:transnetleases-discourage-investment-in-shipbuilding--damen&catid=7:Industry&Itemid=116

Catering Division -

SA Railway Police -

Water Police -

GSWA/ SWA/Namibia (NamRail) -

Rhodesia Railways, National Railways of Zimbabwe -

Railways: Tourism, Steam, Preservation, Societies & Clubs Rovos Rail -

RRL Grindrod -

Atlantic Rail Cape Town Contact Tel: (021) 556-1012 or info@atlanticrail.co.za or visit their website at www.atlanticrail.co.za -

Memories: Bosveld Train Safaris â&#x20AC;&#x201C; HBH 94

Lee Gates: Wine Tram Unfortunately at the time of going “into the press” – these scans did not come out well – May be next month?

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– thanks for the Natal Newsletter - HBH

Reefsteamers: Lee Gates

Reefsteamers - Contacts for Depot Visits Dear Reefsteamers and Friends of Steam, As always, our depot is usually open for visits every day of the week, provided that you contact us first. For quite a few years now, we have been using our Oom Attie de Necker as our contact person for Depot Visits and for making other arrangements, as well as functioning as the Site Manager. Attie is becoming advanced in years and is starting to find it stressful trying to keep up with visits and requests to forward messages to other people, especially requests of a last-minute nature. He also doesn’t know how to use a computer, so that avenue of communication is not available to him. We want Attie to be able to enjoy his retirement years at the depot; pottering around with light duties as he is able, drinking endless cups of sweet milky ‘Spoorie Tea’, talking to like-minded people, teasing the youngsters and to just enjoy continuing to be amongst the great steammachines that have been such a part of his life for so long. So, from the point of view of depot visits, we are booking Oom Attie off from 95

Station Pilot Duties and placing him into preservation. He will, however, continue to assist us as Train Manager and Senior Driver in the mean-time. We thus ask that people do NOT try to contact Attie in matters concerning the depot or visits thereof. Please email your depot-related queries through to marketing@reefsteamers.com or engineering@reefsteamers.com. Unfortunately, Attie’s cell number appears in many of the already-released Depot Reports and other documents. We will have a new lower-mileage Depot Manager starting in January. As soon as we have run him in, put the first dent in the tender and tightened all the loose bolts, we will then announce new contact details for you to use when you need assistance around the depot. On a similar note, my (Lee Gates) primary contact number has changed. You can contact me on 081 010-9791, or use 078 181-9238 as a backup. Due to the nature of my testing\QA job, I have numerous handsets accompanied by numerous SIM cards and they do get a bit swapped around sometimes. Email or Reefsteamers Facebook remain the most reliable method of getting hold of me. Reefsteamers runs their last train of the year today and here’s hoping it is a successful one. Our next train will be a Magaliesburg Express, running on 2nd February 2013. Regards to all and enjoy the holiday season! Stay safe! Lee Gates Stubbornly unrepentant ferro-equinologists! Owns 1:12 scale 10BR No.751 ‘Little Empress.' Steam Power – It’s the Wheel Thing!

Reefsteamers: Contact details Bookings : bookings@reefsteamers.com Reefsteamer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/reefsteamers/ Depot Mobile: 083 651 5424 (Attie de Necker) Depot Phone: (011) 025-4363 96

Enquiries: chairman@reefsteamers.com Marketing: marketing@reefsteamers.com Postal Address: P.O. Box 1736, Germiston 1400 Reefsteamers Web Master: webmaster@reefsteamers.com Reefsteamers Web Site: www.reefsteamers.com

Umgeni Steam Railway: GMAM 4074 Contact Mr. Rob McGregor at Tel: 031-303 3003; 082-353 6003 or 087-808 7715 or robbie@umgenisteamrailway.co.za or visit their website at www.umgenisteamrailway.co.za

Patonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Country Railway Patons Country Railway: Annual Aloe Train Trips -

Umgeni Steam Railway - Ashley Peter -

Friends of the Rail (FOTR) FOTR Calendar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Nathan Berelowitz Hi Hennie, if you can open this could you publish the calendar advert in the next issue.

I will also

post you a complimentary copy if you send me your postal address please. Cheers, Nathan. Nathan trainman@friendsoftherail.com

FOTR Friends of the Rail: 012 7678145 Contact Mr. Arno Victor at Tel: 082 293 4616 or sales@friendsoftherail.com or visit their website at www.friendsoftherail.com

Sandstone -

JB Tours: Train Tours in Southern Africa JB Tours issue a lovely program with beautiful pictures. Unfortunately I cannot copy, save and paste it as a word.doc/x . Please subscribe to their annual program! For full 2013 year programme here is the email adres: info@jbtours.co.za ; www.jbtours.co.za ; Tel 011 913 2442; 086 152 8687; Fax: 086 687 7344; 011 913 0552

North British Locomotive Preservation Group Dear All, Please find attached NBL Preservation Group Newsletter for December 2012 which I hope will be of interest. New Members and Shareholders are always needed for our projects and so please feel free to forward this information to your friends and colleagues who may wish to help us preserve, (and build) NBL Steam Locomotives. Look forward to hearing from you all again soon, To unsubscribe from our mailing list, please return this email with the word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject Line. Thanks & Best Regards, Ken Ken Livermore 98

Hon. Secretary NBL Preservation Group www.nbloco.net

Railwayana South African Models Scalecraft: - Adrian Hill

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

Scalecraft news Locomotives, locomotives, locomotivesâ&#x20AC;Śthat is our war cry for the foreseeable future. Our model of the iconic Class 15F has become highly sought after. The model runs well and blends in nicely with our range of rolling stock. So where to from here, well, we have the Class 23, Class 16E, 6E, 6E1, 5E, 5E1 & 18E on the drawing board. The 23 and the 6E will be available shortly with the rest following shortly thereafter. Our steam locomotives are built around Mehano running gear and the electric locomotives are built on Bachmann. We install either constant current lighting or DCC depending on user preference. Keep in mind that the models are designed and assembled in such a way that DCC can be fitted later on if not factory fitted. Our aim is to provide the avid modeller with products of the highest quality that are an asset to their collection. We have decided to appoint two official agents with this in mind. Our agents will ensure that your SAR modelling needs is met. Scalecraft products are only available via three channels, namely; ourselves (of course), Mr. Shaun Le Roux of Cape Model Trains and Mr. Rinke Blok of The Model Train Shop. Shaun and Rinkeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s businesses 99

are the ONLY two official Scalecraft representatives so please feel free to speak to me, Adrian, Shaun or Rinke should you be interested in our products.

Shaun and Rinke’s contact information is as follows Shaun le Roux, Cape Model Trains, 081 475 4786 Shauncarl.leroux@capetown.gov.za Rinke Blok, Model Train Shop, Tel: 011 795-3270 info@modeltrainshop.co.za www.modeltrainshop.co.za

Scalecraft product information Scalecraft product information is available in the following publications: • The Uloliwe • RMIG (Railway Modeller’s Information Group Newsletter)

Dream Trains – Wynand Vermeulen 16 Besembos Avenue, Pellissier, 9301 Bloemfontein, South Africa PO Box 32882, Fichardtpark, 9317 www.dreamtrains.co.za

Hopefield: Terry Rowe -

Railway Modellers’ Information Group: Lionel Penning -

From the Press Transnet sees reopened Orkney-Vierfontein emerging as key agri link By: Idéle Esterhuizen - 3rd December 2012 The recently reconstructed Orkney-Vierfontein railway link – which fell into disrepair nine 100

years ago, after heavy rains washed away portions of the branch line – handled its first commercial traffic on Monday, when Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) also indicated that it could re-emerge as a key link in agricultural logistics chain. The 15.3 km line, which links the Free State and the North West provinces through the Kroonstad-Bethlehem and Klerksdorp cluster of branch lines, was officially reopened by TFR CEO Siyabonga Gama. It lay dormant until its revitalisation was given impetus in the 2011/2012 financial year in response to government’s National Growth Path, which views agriculture is a key future jobs driver. In April, the R40-million reconstruction project started and was executed from TFRs internal rail network resources, headed by depot teams in Bloemfontein, as well as a national project team. It was completed in mid-October, on time and within budget. The inaugural train transported empty grain wagons to Klerksdorp, but TFR believes the line will improve access to markets, while increasing efficiencies and capacity. It will serve mostly the agricultural industry, as well as other general freight business, such as fuel and bulk liquids. It will also reduce the distance between Klerksdorp and East London by about 16%, between Durban and Klerksdorp by more than 20% and between Bothaville and Randfontein by 56%. Gama said the revitalised line would contribute towards increasing traffic, particularly in transporting maize from North West to mills in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as to the Durban and East London harbours. Increased volumes of maize could also be transported from the western Free State to mills in Randfontein. “The line will create alternative access to supply Durban when the line between Klerksdorp and Vereeniging becomes unavailable to support the manganese flow and iron-ore to Newcastle, Cato Ridge and Durban.

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It will also serve as an alternative route for passenger trains when either the line between Vereeniging and Klerksdorp, or Orkney and Kimberley becomes unavailable,” Gama said. This year, TFR moved 70 000 t of maize from the Klerksdorp and the Coligny areas to Durban for export, while the future tonnage on the reopened line could rise to 150 000 t/y. Domestic maize railed could rise to 80 000 t/y. “We believe that the grain industry is one of the areas where TFR can regain its market share and contribute to food security, market expansion and the resuscitation of rural and small towns,” Transnet chairperson Mafika Mkwanazi stated. Meanwhile, Transnet was cooperating with various provinces and stakeholders in revitalising other parts of its branch-line networks, such as the completion of the DouglasBelmont Phase 2 upgrade that is set for completion in April next year. Mkwanazi stressed that there would be potential for private sector participation in some of the branch-line projects being pursued, as well as within Transnet’s wider suite of future capital projects. Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter Submitted by: J & J Wepener

SA RAILWAY RELATED INTERNET GROUPS • Suid-Afrikaaanse Spoorweë / SA Railways / Ulolwe (sic) Visit our website: http://www.facebook.com/groups/74709226744/ 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. 689 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. 102

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

• Dennis Moore Steam •

Adrian Hill says: 103

“Take a look at my website www.scalecraft.co.za “

• Touwsrivier / Touws River Touws River on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/77640489112/ Railway Groups NOT mentioned above: You are welcome to ad your group’s particulars here ...

Rest of Africa & the World Angola; Namibe or Mocamedes Anton van Schalkwyk & Peter Bagshawe

AG72 381_04-08-1872_CFM 555-118_Cb1227_13.30 Mocamedes-Sacomar_Mocamedes Stn C , PF Bagshawe

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CFB Map: Bruno Martin

Lourenco Marques or Maputo -

Tanzam-line -

Liberia Railways -

Pandoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Box

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Mail Bag J& J Wepener Hi Hennie. Nee, kyk dis nou n “Bumper edition” van Uloliwe, iets van alles! Puik, hou so voort! Dankie, mooi bly. J & J.

Joe Neethling Hennie, I really wish to congratulate you on the immense effort you have put in to let us relive the glorious past of the SAR and SAA I your Uloliwe publications. I take my hat off to you sir! Regards, Joe Neethling

Richard Clatworthy Hi Hennie, Many thanks for your two e-mails. I had thought I had sent you more text but anyway I am attaching a pair of related stories which you could follow my part 2 with (I suggest Slurry first). I might find and scan some photos to illustrate part 1, I’ll send some for part 2 later. I was most interested by the loco chosen for the Celebratory train (which I presume was the English word used at the time) – a Cape 8th class from the CSAR. I have to say that any Beatty-designed engine, with saturated steam and slide valves, could not be said to represent the most modern locomotive engineering in South Africa – that honour was, I feel, held by the CSAR class 10 with piston valves worked by Walschaert gear, as well as an 109

electric headlight. However I suppose they were too heavy for some of the lines they would have to traverse. What a pity that the 10C arrived just too late. I don’t suppose you could get a map of the route traversed? Cheers now, Richard

First Railway Fatality: Trevor Alborough Hello Hennie, I've a question that hopefully someone can answer. I am curious about our first railway fatality. Who, date, time, circumstance or even GPS location? An interest in railways does back several generations in our family. My great-grandfather Spencer was a train driver on the Durban-Pmb old main line based at Inchanga. But the story has on occasion been told of a prior generation (great grandfather Spencer's father?), who was the first to be killed by a train in South Africa. One evening as he walked home from work on the line between Point and Durban, he had not heard the train approaching from behind him, was struck and killed by the locomotive. I'd imagine back in those days the Bluff would have still been heavily bush clad, and in places escape routes may have been few. I think there may be a plaque marking the spot but I never looked for it when I lived in Durban.

Google Earth: Anton van Schalkwyk’s photo: Richard Clatworthy Hi Anton, I confirm that your pictures at (Te)chamutete and one at Dongo are on display on Google Earth. My experience is that it may take weeks for them to actually appear after acceptance. I did find that there is a single icon at Chamutete which produces either Chamutete town station or Chamutete town railway station according to the degree of zoom. Did you possibly inadvertently superimpose them when mapping them? I would suggest go into My photos, select one of them and alongside the image you will find an option Change position so move it a bit – they are taken at a different angle. I haven’t checked the Benguela line yet. How much of the Mocamedes line have you illustrated – Lubango?

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Does the junction of the Chamutete line, a little way out from Dongo, have a name of its own? I just went back into G E and I don’t see the image icons, but I’m sure they will be back. Coming back to the previous question, I think there were station buildings in that image. Has Dongo town got a new station? My previous observation was that the original line went through the town, the present line being a by-pass without any station. Cheers Richard Clatworthy

Bruno Martin Greetings Hennie Happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year. Kind regards Bruno I’ve been tied up with a big project for the Railway History Society of the Natal Branch of the RSSA for the past 3 months – History of the Natal Main Line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg – hence I haven’t been able to get more contributions to the Uloliwe.

Charlie Lewis As I get older, December 25th rushes up faster and faster and my greetings get later and later. Please regard these as my greetings for Christmas 2013. This way they’ll be in time each year until I finally hand in my battered dinner pail. During the past year Les and I have derived tremendous satisfaction from presenting our version of the SAR story on “Soul of A Railway”. I suppose there probably has been a bit much depressing nostalgia with over emphasis on the down side of the beloved country’s railway activities. The other day Peter Stow told me he had recently been to Durban on holiday and on the way home he called in at Ermelo. Every few minutes huge block loads and corresponding mt workings were moving in and out of the yard – very impressive. Allistair Christisson has written to tell us that freight traffic is on the increase and record tonnages are being handled. Eugene Armer and Peter Rogers have sent magnificent photos of modern traction in beautiful locations. We are grateful for these, and would welcome more input and positive news from our readers. 111

However, a few days ago, just when I was beginning to think that SoAR is perhaps too smugly judgmental, I caught a train from Newlands to Kalk Bay. It ran to time, as did the return working, but the carriages were filthy, graffiti despoiled almost every surface and the windows were opaque (whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wrong with old-fashioned windows that open --- oops, here we go again). It is good to report that Allen Jorgensen is recovering well. Meanwhile, please spare a thought for Leith Paxton and David Payling, who have had severe setbacks this year. We wish you both speedy restoration to good health. Thanks to all of you who have expressed their appreciation of SoAR, in particular those who have offered criticism and advice. As you might have gathered, we take it seriously. I have to mention again the vital role played by nephew Andrew Deacon, without whose computer skills our humble site would not exist. Finally, to our wives: thank you for your infinite forbearance. Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year to you all. Charlie Lewis

Friends of Soul of a Railway (SoAR) Dear Friends of Soul of a Railway, I would like to associate myself with Charlie's Greetings to you all. Enjoy the Festive Season! Regards Les Pivnic

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Very nico photograoh – I have never seen this “BLUE TEST” befor - HBH

Hello Hennie, Thanks for the latest issue of ULOLIWE - very informative as usual! Just one little item that might need clarification: Several of the photos that I supplied were from my collection but not taken by me personally. In fact, taking the Kitson-Meyer loco in Johannesburg as an example - I wasn't even thought of at that time - ha-ha! I remember the flying boats in Durban during WW2 - the spare Catalina's were stored in a warehouse opposite my school in Addington and the bigger Sunderland's were up at Bayhead. Thanks again! Regards Les 113

P.S.: What a shame with the Blue Train BUT........it is not unexpected in these times in which we live!

Gabor Kovacs

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Paul Scheller

“Weihnachten mit Loks” – My Afrikaans tells me: “Geweide nag (heilige nag) met stoom lokomotiewe!

Len Stanway, UK Hennie, Congratulations on an excellent magazine. Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year NBL Preservation Group

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Lee Gates

Stop Press Reefsteamers: Lee Gates Dear Reefsteamers and Friends of Steam, Please note that a new vehicle gate has just been erected in line with the west-end gates at the end of our depot. (Germiston End) Thus, you will now need to pass through two sets of gates to enter the Memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parking area next to the Forge. The motor and railway gates will eventually be highlighted with reflective tape, but for now they are painted in black etching primer and that area is still not well lit at night. 117

So, please take care after you cross the bunch of railway lines and turn left towards the depot on the last bit of road alongside the substation building. The gates, both original and the new ones, including the pedestrian gates, are soon to be allocated new numbers. The updated security policy is still being drawn up, including as to when the inner and outer gates will be locked.

(Picture by Aidan McCarthy) Also, on a slightly different note, as stated in the original invitation, the casual get-together that we planned for New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eve is for Reefsteamers Members and their families only. It was clearly stated within the original invitation email, as well as upon Facebook, but there have been some misunderstandings on the matter. Best wishes for the New Year and stay safe!

Disclaimer and Greetings We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like legalize, but it has to be there, so read the small print â&#x20AC;Ś. Readers and/or Viewers may use content from The Uloliwe for non-commercial purposes on condition that such material is attributed to The Uloliwe and appropriate acknowledgement is given to the author and source. Where it is clear that any material and/or comment is not made by The Uloliwe, this must be clearly stated.

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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.

The next issue of “The Ulolwe” will be Vol 4 No 2 and will be published, DV, sometime during late February 2013. Send in your comments, anecdotes and photographs please. 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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