South African Railways Illustrated Special Feature Issue
How It Was By Harold Leslie Pivnic A potted-picture look at what 1st & 2nd1 Class main line passenger rail travel “South African Railways (SAR) style� was like back in the 1950s & 1960s.
South African Railways Illustrated Editor / Design & Layout
Charles Baker Email Telephone Cell
sarillustrated@gmail.com
(031) 337-7760 082 923 4868
Author
Harold Leslie (Les) Pivnic
Photograph Credits
SAR Publicity Department & Les Pivnic The Late Roger Perry
Drawings / Graphics
Greg Hart
Proof Reading / Copy Typing
Dave Gallop Front Cover: A 1st Class compartment on the original Orange Express. It is in a Type C-22 articulated saloon. These coaches were replaced by Type C-34 saloons on the Orange Express in 1957. Back Cover: The Blue Room Restaurant, in the concourse of the old Johannesburg Station. This Restaurant served meals of Blue Train calibre and in fact, Spiros Metaxis (see Page 21) was at one time, Head Chef here. Below: Class 3E No. 202 at Vereeniging. See Pages 36 & 37 for the full picture and caption.
Š COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
All Rights Reserved. All the photos / images, sponsored adverts and text contained in South African Railways Illustrated are copyright, and remain the property of, and / or, under the control of their original authors / photographers and South African Railways Illustrated. None of the content may be copied, saved (stored on a PC or / Retrieval System), Print Screened, shared or posted / distributed on other web pages or websites, either in part or in full, without the written permission of the editor of South African Railways Illustrated or the original author / photographer.
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Editor’s Comments Les Pivnic, pictured on the left, really encapsulates the true magic, style and awesomeness of the South African Railways during the 1950s & 1960s at the very height of its main line passenger rail travel operations with this piece entitled “How It Was”. I’m very grateful to Les for once again sharing his vast SAR experiences and insight here with us. This time around we are provided with a fascinating look back to an era when rail travel in South Africa provided so many people with the fondest of memories of traversing the country, either for pleasure, relocation or general needs by means of a relaxed, clean and safe mode of transport. Hospitality, passenger comfort and customer service were everything and operations were very slick and organised on the SAR at a time when the world was a very different place. Life was slower and the need for speedy transportation was not of significant importance yet. The chance receipt of an email from a very unhappy couple who had recently experienced a desperate and most unpleasant journey with PRASA / Shosholoza Meyl prompted Les to reflect on the past, as he often does with such remarkable ease, clarity and authority. Thoughts on the unhappy couple’s experience were then exchanged and before we knew it we had the basis for “How It Was”. On a personal note, now in my early fifties, I’m so very happy that I did get to experience first hand at least some of what Les describes and illustrates here in “How It Was”. Our South African Railways really was something very special and its development and history from inception right up to what remains of it now in its various guises will always be of intense and special interest to me. My only regret is that I didn’t pick up on my rail photography interest from a much earlier age. Enjoy the read everyone! Charles Baker 3
Above: A station porter at Johannesburg taking passengers luggage down to the platform.
How It Was By Harold Leslie Pivnic A potted-picture look at what 1st & 2nd Class main line passenger rail travel “South African Railways (SAR) style” was like back in the 1950s & 1960s. Booking for your journey was essential, especially if your trip was planned over the peak holiday seasons. If you travelled as a sole passenger, you could reserve a coupé for sole use for something like a 25% surcharge. Families were automatically given compartments. When you arrived at the station to join your train, porters were on hand to take care of your baggage and you could book excess luggage into the van to be collected at your destination if you so desired. At the platform, a booking display board was provided to allow you the opportunity to see where you were booked – coach number etc., as well as an indication as to where the dining car was positioned on the train. 4
Above: The reservation board on a platform at Johannesburg Station in SAR days. The train would normally draw alongside the platform, 30 minutes before departure time. This would allow passengers to get comfortably settled before departure. Top-link passenger trains on the South African Railways only conveyed 1st & 2nd Class passengers. The coach in which you were booked was spotlessly clean – in fact, you could smell the freshness of the atmosphere in the coach. Fresh drinking water in large glass bottles was provided at each end of the corridor. Towels were provided in 1st Class, together with a small cake of Lux toilet soap – 2nd Class passengers had to provide their own. The exterior of the train was also spotlessly clean having been washed down in the Yard prior to drawing in to the platform. The train would invariably depart on time – in those days the drivers regarded time-keeping as a religion. Upon departure, the Chief Steward and his staff would stand to attention in the central aisle of the dining saloon. Pages 6 & 7: A dinner scene in an air-conditioned dining car attached to the Trans Karoo Express in South Africa. Pages 8 & 9: A South African Railways steward is ready to serve passengers in their compartment. 5
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Shortly after departure, the Chief Steward would do his rounds (starting with 1st Class) to take bookings for the first meal – be that lunch or dinner. For those not wishing to go to the diner, meals could be ordered for delivery to one’s coupé or compartment. A refreshment trolley would also be wheeled through the corridors of the coaches offering sweets, chocolates and tea or coffee. By the 1960s, the top-link trains also had air-conditioned dining and lounge cars in the consist which provided bar service if required. One was also free to just go and sit in the lounge if you so desired.
Above: A typical lounge car scene in South African Railway days. Page 11: The Train Manager (Senior Ticket Inspector in old parlance) checking on a passenger’s tickets and any other requirements that might need her attention. The Train Manager would then make his rounds checking tickets and was available to answer any special concerns that a passenger might have. He was followed by the bedding attendant, who would arrange to make your beds – usually while you were in the dining car. An additional mattress was also available at an extra cost – this would normally be arranged when you booked your journey. 10
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Above: A corridor steward heading for a compartment with refreshments on his tray. Insert Below: The "Deagon Chimes" - every dining car had one. The striker seen in this photo was sometimes replaced by a soup spoon, which gave the tone a more metallic sound - not quite as smooth as when played with the genuine striker. The first sitting for the dining car would be announced by a steward playing a tune on the Deagon Chimes that was carried by all dining cars. On arrival at the dining saloon, the Chief Steward would show you to a table – single passengers would normally find themselves at a four-seater to enjoy their meal with other passengers travelling alone. Couples were automatically shown to two-seater tables. Your table steward would then offer you drinks from the bar followed by bread – white or brown, in a silver platter covered by a spotless starched napkin. The meal, normally 4 courses for lunch, or 5 courses for dinner, would then be served in a set routine. For example: if the main course was roast beef & vegetables, clean plates with the crest facing the passenger would be laid before you, followed by the service of the meat from a large silver platter and finally, the vegetables offered from a silver veggie dish with a variety to choose from. The meal would end with the offer of cheese & biscuits and a small china cup and saucer filled from a large silver coffee pot. 12
Above: A table laid for lunch in an air-conditioned dining car. Returning to one’s accommodation, one would find the bed/s made up by the attendant with the blankets folded back to reveal spotlessly laundered and sanitised sheets. The bedding would have been brought to the coupÊ or compartment in a canvas bag that was sealed by a lead seal, which indicated that that set of bedding had been disinfected and laundered by the departmental laundry. Retiring to bed was a real pleasure, listening to the clickety-clack of the wheels and the sound of the locomotive up front eating up the miles and every now and again, the whistle warning road vehicles that a train was approaching the level crossing. The following morning one would awake to the smell of bacon and eggs coming from the dining car. But before that would be enjoyed, a click on the compartment door warned passengers that a steward was ready to serve a large hot cup of railway coffee from his large silver pot for you to enjoy in bed. Only 1st Class coaches / saloons had showers on top link standard trains, that could be enjoyed in preparation for the coming day’s travel. 13
Above: A first class coupĂŠ with the bed made up for night travel. 14
Above: A first class coupĂŠ (almost identical to the previous photo) now ready for day use. 15
Above: An old photo of the Departmental Laundry in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. Breakfast in the diner was usually the next item on the day’s events. This was served from 7am on a first-come-first-served basis (see a typical menu on Page 17 from Train 433, which was the 1st & 2nd Class only, from Johannesburg to East London on Sundays). After choosing a cereal one could order haddock or a fried kipper or eggs – fried, boiled or poached, together with bacon or boerewors. Toast, offered on a silver platter, was enjoyed with a large cup of railway coffee. During the journey, and remember steam traction was still very much in vogue, the bedding attendants would mop the corridors and clean the toilets and the compartments on a regular basis. During the day, the window-shutters would be drawn up to minimise the sun streaming into the coach on the sunny side of the train. Non air-conditioned coaches could get very hot in the Karoo. To sum up, main line trains would invariably run to time as already mentioned. On arrival at one’s destination, porters were available to unload one’s luggage. If arrival was at a coastal resort like Durban, there would be hotel porters announcing the well-known hotels on the platform in case one needed transport to the hotel where one was booked for one’s holiday. 16
Above: Dining Car “UMGWEZI” on Train 433 - A typical breakfast menu. 17
Above: Dinner in “KEISKAMA” on the Orange Express, Train 209 (Cape Town / Durban). 18
Above: Dinner in “SEZELA” on the Orange Express, Train 212 (Durban / Cape Town). 19
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Page 20: Dinner menu from the Blue Room Restaurant on Johannesburg Station. Above: Spiros Metaxis in the foreground – one of the famous SAR Chefs who served on Royal Trains, the Blue Train and in the Blue Room Restaurant in Johannesburg Station. It was overall a very pleasurable way to travel in the old South Africa. The holiday started from the station where one boarded the train. This form of travel was also extremely safe. The SAR civil engineering staff maintained the track in perfect condition – you could go to sleep in the cosy bedding in the knowledge that the driver was an experienced man and the signalling allowed for safe travel between stations on well-maintained track. I have written this piece drawing from extensive personal experience of rail travel in the old South Africa. The luxury Blue Train offered even superior service to what I’ve already described. Pages 22 & 23: Here is the driver and his assistant in the cab of a Class 3E electric locomotive. No shortage of experience on the driver’s face! Pages 24 & 25: Tapping the wheels – a trained Carriage & Wagon Examiner checking the wheels for cracks during a train’s long journey between major cities. This was regular practice in SAR days. Pages 26 & 27: Another experienced driver on the footplate of Class 15F No. 2922. 21
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Pages 28 & 29: Charlie McLean on the footplate – a man of vast experience on the job. With men like this on the footplate, you could drop off into dreamland in the knowledge that you were in safe hands. Pages 30 & 31: Exchanging the tablet at a platteland wayside station. Safe trains-working was a given on the old SAR.
Soul of A Railway Š By Les Pivnic and Charlie Lewis Les and Charlie are working together on this project to convey to future generations the essence of a once magnificent transport network in South Africa - the South African Railways or SAR. The SAR was divided into nine systems as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Cape Western, based in Cape Town Cape Northern, based in Kimberley Cape Midland, based in Port Elizabeth Cape Eastern, based in East London Orange Free State, based in Bloemfontein Natal, based in Durban Western Transvaal, based in Johannesburg Eastern Transvaal, based in Pretoria South West Africa, based in Windhoek
Charlie is doing systems 1 to 4 while Les is doing systems 5 to 8.
Introduction https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/home/introduction 32
Above: This is a type C-34 1st Class main line saloon equipped with Commonwealth bogies, which provided a very smooth ride. Placed in service in 1950. Pages: 34 & 35: The Orange Express hauled by a Class 15F was photographed as she steamed past my camera near the Bloemfontein Showgrounds. This was train No. 212. Pages 36 & 37: Class 3E No. 202 is seen arriving at Vereeniging - its first stop from Johannesburg. This top-link train conveyed 1st & 2nd Class passengers to East London and Port Elizabeth - splitting at Bloemfontein. Page 38 (Top): A Cape scene with the Orange Express - also 1st & 2nd Class only - being hauled by a Class 4E locomotive. Page 38 (Bottom): Here is the Trans Karoo Express passing Witpoortjie Station en-route to the Cape. The Imperial Brown coach on the extreme left is the Wegmann type A-37 / AA-38 twin dining car with the lounge car next in the consist. Page 39 (Top): The Control Room at Potchefstroom where all train movements were controlled in the Western Transvaal on the Cape Main Line. Page 39 (Bottom): A Class 15F is seen working Train 432 near Makouvlei across the Vaal River from Vereeniging - this 1st & 2nd Class only train ran as such, as far as Bloemfontein where the Port Elizabeth and East London portions were split to continue their respective journeys conveying all classes. 33
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Above: A timetable for 1955 covering the section Durban – Ladysmith, which includes two of the top-link passenger trains No. 212 Orange Express and No. 192 the Durban Johannesburg Express, the forerunner of the Trans Natal. In SAR days passenger trains had total priority over goods trains, especially regarding the top-link main line trains. This led to general right-time operation. Of course there were delays occasionally, but these were always due to unforeseen circumstances. The Blue Train enjoyed special treatment! If a signalman or station foreman was found guilty of unnecessarily delaying the pride of the SAR, he would be fined a Pound-a-Minute, 40
deducted from his salary. This had the effect that when the Blue Train was due to pass a given station, the foreman on duty would clear everything well before she was due to pass! In the timetable example shown here, you will see that top trains like the Orange Express and the fast passenger to Johannesburg had very limited stops. After departing Durban the first stop was Pietermaritzburg, then Mooi River, Estcourt and Ladysmith. I recall especially on steam-hauled sections on the Cape Main Line, travelling on Trains 202 or 203, forerunners of the Trans Karoo Express, the train would thrash through wayside stations with the fireman throwing off the tablet and picking up the new one for the section ahead. The driver would then open up his steed and then we would race on to the next station where one invariably rushed past a waiting goods train with the hiss of steam as you passed the locomotive. Very exciting stuff! Lastly, I would like to pay tribute to you, Charles, for coming up with this idea to produce a special edition of South African Railways Illustrated covering SAR-style main line travel. Les Pivnic (October 2016) Below: The late Roger Perry captured this wonderful shot of the Orange Express leaving De Aar behind a Class 25NC.
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How It Was By Harold Leslie Pivnic A potted-picture look at what 1st & 2nd42Class main line passenger rail travel “South African Railways (SAR) style� was like back in the 1950s & 1960s.