CAPE GAUGE 1975
IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT
FROM
INTRODUCTION
‘AN
EXPERIENCE OF SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS’
In this book I have tried to create a visual impression of Cape Gauge steam operations on South African Railways (SAR) as they were when, armed with cameras, maps, and sleeping bag I visited the country with a fellow railway enthusiast in 1975. In addition to a brief history of SAR steam, I thought it would be of interest to describe how well (or otherwise) we planned the trip when money and information about the problems we might encounter were in short supply. At the time of our visit the biting wind of change was already beginning to blow through South African Railways, and in the next 7 years the SAR Cape Gauge route mileage operated by steam was reduced to less than 1,850 kilometres of the total 20,000.
The initial thought that became the final plan was to visit Southern Africa during the months of October to December 1975. As we found not the best months to chase trains, plenty of cloud and rain, the ideal time for clear skies was the winter months of May, June and July. In 1975 there was no internet and no Google maps available to help plan such a trip, (and remember the mobile phone and GPS wasn’t even on your ‘Dreams’ radar) the only source of information was word of mouth, World Steam and Continental Railway Journal. While our planning was in progress, steam was in its final season on the Cape fruit trains. Cape Gauge Garratts were rapidly becoming history. Pacifics were scheduled to be removed from the passenger links on the Port Elizabeth suburban system by the middle of 1975. So, were we simply too late, or close to an unforgettable experience?
Upon our arrival in Johannesburg on 26 September it was first to a bank for their recommendations. Here the assistant manager confirmed that renting a car was the only way to tour South Africa with his caveat being “Don’t sleep in the car, it’s dangerous!”
TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS AND CUNNING PLANS
Sunday 5 October One of those magic moments; to stand next to a Garratt for the first time, a GMAM in steam on Breyten depot. Monday 13 October Driving backwards became a thing of the past when we called into a garage and the mechanic asked whether it was a rental car. On replying, “Yes,” he offered to disconnect the car’s speedometer and with it, of course, the odometer. The life saver! Sunday 2 November We had a plan. With locomotive exhaust often difficult to find, we took a piece of cardboard, nearly a metre by a metre in size, which we painted white. In big blue lettering, we wrote on the board, “Swart rook, Asseblief! Photo” (“Black smoke, please!”) and “planted” it a couple of hundred metres before our preferred photo location. The locomotive crews found this tactic to be amusing. We learned from the crew, that if we left a couple of bottles of cold Coke on the ground near the sign, the chances of good smoke at our
preferred photo locations would improve dramatically. With what money?
Saturday 6 December The speedometer and odometer were eventually re-connected no harm done and money saved! Tuesday 23 December The final twist of the knife – Our last day in South Africa spent in Witbank car park. At first light, the sun streams through the Beetle’s windows, Bl…y typical, it’s been rain and cloud for over two weeks. We must chase the industrial steam!
Sleeping arrangements South Africa - Total Number of nights in South Africa: 77, Nights sleeping in the Beetle’s front seat, 43 Nights in a Hotel: 3, the balance were spent in farmhouses and station waiting rooms.
IN RETROSPECT
Did we have a satisfactory plan or sufficient money to cover the trip? The answers are, “no” and “no.”
DETAILS ON THIS BOOK:
Hardback, landscape format, page size 300 x 250mm. Printed on 170gsm Super White silk coated paper, hand sewn. 200 pages with 190 captioned images, maps, diagrams and copies of manufacturer’s literature. Books will be ready for distribution end of November 2024 and after that date books will be dispatched within 14 days of payment.
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