Steam in the Portuguese Colonies Photographed by Peter Gray Compiled by Ron White
© Images and Design: The Transport Treasury 2021. Text: Ron White ISBN 978-1-913893-13-2 First published in 2021 by Transport Treasury Publishing Ltd. 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe, HP13 7PJ Totem Publishing, an imprint of Transport Treasury Publishing. The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved. Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher. This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the copyright holder. www.ttpublishing.co.uk Printed in Malta By Gutenberg Press ‘Steam in the Portuguese Colonies’ is one of a series of books on specialist transport subjects published in strictly limited numbers and produced under the Totem Publishing imprint using material only available at The Transport Treasury.
Front Cover: Mine, mine, all mine, isn’t she lovely? Well, the answer has to be yes, the driver is properly proud of his gleaming 701(MLW76126/1948) on the turntable at Lourenco Marques which would have looked just as at home in Toronto on the table at Spadina. They looked massive but were about the same as an SAR 15F, but domeless and deflector-less they had panache. 19 August 1973 Frontis Piece (1): When I compiled the first collection of Peter’s work (advt!), I put together a perfectly reasonable itinerary to get from Lydenburg to Empangeni but since then our noble publisher has found more boxes which have exploded my ideas (and produced pictures which would have enhanced Steam in South Africa). He didn’t fly from Heathrow to Joburg, but went from Athens (!) to Lourenco Marques to do the 75cm Joao Belo line and this entailed a trip out to Pecuaria behind Baldwin 2-10-2 No. 209 (BLW 52151/1919) on the misto (mixed). 6 July 1967. Rear Cover: The logging area at Lepi - CFA cultivated thousands of hectares of renewable eucalyptus trees for their own use and these logging platforms were everywhere; not only at the sheds. 30 August 1973
Foreword What IS a foreword? This is the third I have stumbled into inside a year - the first was simply intended to be a tribute to one of our great railway photographers, someone whom we all thought we knew as Swindon’s gentil parfait knight their sword-bearer, liege man of life and limb and what did we find? A globe trotter, have Kodachrome, will travel. Beautiful pictures seeking only publication, a publisher seeking a wordsmith, an old man stuck in a wheelchair, been there, done that, wished he could still do something useful and found he could by putting words to music as it were. And then, how about writing about somewhere you haven’t been? Why not, I had read of all these places, I had seen pictures taken by someone else on the trip who had expounded on some of the things that had gone wrong and had quietly thanked insolvency and an early marriage for saving me from what they had endured. Would anyone believe half of what I was to write or simply regard this book as so much airy persiflage? And then, out of the blue come Peter’s rough notes of the rough trip, and this becomes more important - the possibility of putting together an almost complete set of pictures of steam in both colonies and, if you are going to do that, add in as much information as you can find and get it in print and there are the makings of a genuinely useful as well as attractive book. Does it have to be dull? Couldn’t possibly be - too many things went awry and I (from a safe distance) could savour them and find suitable words from my rich vocabulary - Gullible’s Travels can only be a sub-heading but it might not be entirely unjust but I hope you will just regard it as another phrase from a forgotten world of phrase-spinning, words for words sake - I’ll be 90 at Christmas if I”m spared and my life has been spent trying to instruct and amuse simultaneously. Ron White, Chesham, August 2021
Abbreviations ALCO AW Bag. BLW BP Dubs H St. P MLW NBL N O&K SGR TZR
American Locomotive Company Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd. W. G. Bagnall, Ltd., Baldwin Locomotive Worka Beyer, Peacock & Co. Ltd. Dubs & Co., Locomotive Works, Glasgow Haine St. Pierre Montreal Locomotive Works North British Locomotive Co. Ltd. Neilson & Co. Orenstein & Koppel Sudan Government Railways Trans Zambesia Railway
Bibliography From Kenya to the Cape, E. Talbot, Halcyon Press The Smoke that Thunders, A. E. Durrant, APG Garratt Locomotives of the World, A. E. Durrant, David & Charles Steam in Africa, A. E Durrant & C. P Lewis & A. A Jorgensen Hamlyn
Acknowledgments Particular thanks are given to Amyas Crump, Esq., Peter’s executor, for making available Peter’s daily notes on the trip which makes this book largely a work of fact rather than imagination. Had I not been able to reveal this, you would have thought some events beyond belief; I wasn’t there yet I seem to have had a first class seat and felt no pain!
Steam in the Portuguese Colonies This might not be an entirely accurate opening, because my ancient dictionary uses all sorts of circumlocutions - overseas territories, distant administrations - but whatever they were, Portugal ran them with quiet efficiency for centuries. I do not propose to comment about what happened there in 1975 (or in Portugal itself for that matter) - all I will say is that in 1973 you could go to either of them and be warmly welcomed, enjoy travelling around by rail or air (though not necessarily by road).; two years later if you got in at all, don’t wave cameras about near railways, whoever was in charge was paranoid about such things Angola’s railways ran east to west, aiming at bringing exports down to Lobito, and carting imports inland to wherever; the coastal plain allowed the use of straightforward steam and diesel; then the climb to the central plateau demanded Garratts, all 4-8-2 x 2-8-4 and mainly wood-fired - until right at the end Rhodesia off-loaded their 16th class 2-8-2 x 2-8-2s to work the top section to the Congo border. The CFB was a big, long line, Angola’s pride. 1067mm gauge, as were the CFA and CFM. The CFA, from Luanda to Luso was already mainly diesel, but enough steam remained to make a trip worthwhile and the two 60cm branches were great fun. The third main line, Mocamedes to Vila Serpa Pinto had long since gone diesel and was ignored. This crazy trip managed to find virtually every type of working steam save for CFA 104/110 (not seen): CFB 215/216 (not seen), a 10B Garratt (identical to the 10A) and the 10Es (RR16th class identical to CFM 980 - 992 which they did get). Mozambique differs from Angola in that it has two major ports and several land-locked countries needing access; this led to a number of individual lines being built and the CFM didn’t appear until the 1920s and was still building new link lines up to 1964 (and the Richards Bay development to come). In 1973 the system ran well and the party was well looked after with special railcars to get the most out of the trip Peter only missed CFM571 but found CFM572 - and we thought he loved only Swindon’s finest!
(2) At Joao Belo all was feverish activity as Alco 2-6-0 081 (Alco 55840/1916) was being logged up for the misto, not as pretty as her Baldwin sisters but just as effective she had spent time on the Quelimane section. 6 July 1967
(3) Baldwin 2-6-0 06 (58180/1925) was wooded up to capacity to take a train to Chicano and Peter went with her into the unknown. 6 July 1967
(4) At Mazucane the sun shone, the locals swarmed around the daily event, all Africa in one cracking picture. 6 July 1967
(5) The magnificent station at Lourenco Marques gives the impression that the Royal Pavilion at Brighton had gone for a paddle in warmer waters, the Portuguese were proud of their colonies and showed it. 7 July 1967
(6) 332, a splendid Henschel 4-6-2 (29067/1955) brews up with a short local to an unspecified destination. 7 July 1967
(7) The docks at LM were extensive and demanded heavy machinery to deal with the traffic - how about a fine 0-10-0 tank by Henschel, No.67 (22381/1934). 8 July 1967
(8) The shed at LM was as picturesque as the station, a semi-roundhouse but unusually tall, and the smoke-blackened roof set off whatever used the turntable - in this shot the first Baldwin 2-10-2 from the first batch, No. 200 (BLW 41879/1915). 8 July 1967
(9) 2-10-2s were popular in LM and Henschel provided a batch of 22 of them - this is No. 255 (29048/1955). 8 July 1967
(10) No. 9 was a 4-6-0T by Dubs (2760/1892) and had escaped scrapping to remain at LM works. 8 July 1967 This is where my thinking went out of the window when these slides arrived - Peter went by the overnight mail to Belfast, but in sections. He first went to Nelspruit and spent two days on the GF run lines to Sabie/Graskop, also collecting a GCA and some domeless 19Ds - which explains why the one picture I had was dated the day before he was at Lydenburg - I thought it was a mistake, but, not Peter; he was back on the train coming over the Long Tom Pass through Harrismith to Belfast, CHANGE for the Steelpoort branch and Steam in South Africa (advt!) then picks up the story for a while Then, we seemed to end up at Empangeni to no purpose; but MORE films arrived to show progress up the coast apparently by road as there are distant shots of trains but eventually he reached the Swaziland border post, crossing into Mozambique via Goba and ending up at LM yet again on 20 July 1967.
(11) Baldwin 4-6-2 304 BLW(57397/1923) has the 08.20 to Xinavane and this might be the same working as picture 8 - sheer guess work but the leading wagon gives a hint. 20 July 1967
(12) What a magnificent station, much nicer than 1960s Euston. 20 July 1967
(13) Montreal 4-8-2 708 (MLW 76133/1948) is in the works and this shot gives a fine impression of how spacious and organised things were in the good (bad?) old days. 20 July 1967
(14) Baldwin 2-8-2T 95 (BLW 73074/1946) finds employment as works shunter at LM. 20 July 1967
(15) With some time to kill, Peter went out to the busy hub at Machava and hit the jackpot with 954 rolling in from Komatipoort with freight. These were not quite the equal of the five Henschels, but there 12 of them from Haine St. Pierre, this being their 2062/1952. 20 July 1967
(16) Henschel 2-10-2 260 (H29053/1955) bangs off to Swaziland with empties for the mines. 20 July 1967
(17) Pretty little Pacific 305 (BLW57397/1923) takes the Komatipoort line with a local. Machava could get very busy at times. 20 July 1967 Busy or not, it was time for Peter to come home and had I not seen these pictures I would have guessed at a return to Durban from Empangeni (feasible by rail or air) and onwards to Joburg as usual, but NO, not he. He flew to BERNE, where a connection could be made to Heathrow, but NO, not he, still not exhausted, he took a train to Brienz and took the rack railway up to the Rothorn. What followed? I don’t know, the film ends with him perched on top on 21 July 1967 and I haven’t got film 269 which would reveal all - putting these pictures together is fun with occasional frustration.
Part Two- AN ORGANISED(?) TOUR TO SOUTHERN AFRICA, ENCOMPASSING SOUTHERN RHODESIA/MOZAMBIQUE/SWAZILAND/SOUTH AFRICA/ANGOLA - A TRAVEL AGENT’S ATTEMPT TO GET A QUART INTO A PINT POT I AM TOTALLY INDEBTED TO AMYAS CRUMP FOR MAKING PETER’S DIARY AVAILABLE - FACTS ARE BETTER THAN FICTION. This tour was arranged by David Ibbotson, of Solihull, not only a travel agent but a railway enthusiast who knew what his clients wanted and what HE wanted as well; his enthusiasm was boundless and he was infinitely persuasive where railway authority was concerned - too much so at times. I wasn’t on this, I know someone who was (indeed, he might be the only survivor!) I couldn’t afford it, having a wife and mortgage to consider, but it was a potential winner or disaster in the making. 24 (I think) heroes took it - now read on! The tour started and ended in Angola, they flew into Luanda and straight out again to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia as it then was to make a connection to Beira in Mozambique - the long wait was filled with a quick visit to the station and closed steam shed, then used for diesels and RR locos to and from Mozambique on loan, mainly 14th class Garratts. Since this work does not concern itself with Rhodesia or, later, South Africa, why mention it? Simply because when the party tried to board the Beira flight it could only take 12 (including Peter) and 12 were left to their fate overnight at Salisbury - his diary does not say when they caught up, only a visit, after dinner, to a magnificent but empty station. (18) The following morning, with or without the balance of the party, the station and docks were visited, the first mild surprise being an on-loan RR14th class Garratt 501 (Henschel 27781/1935) preparing the 11.50 misto for Manga. 13 August 1973
(19) Then 902 (BP6511/1928) backed in to take the 12.30 misto to Vila Machado actually built for the CFM. 13 August 1973
(20) 0-8-2T 51 is by Henschel; (their 28379/1950) and a solid Teutonic lump. 13 August 1973
(21) This old lady, CFM 11, is from the North British Locomotive Co., (NBL 16090/1903) and the last working one of three originated as a Rhodesia Railways 7th class 4-8-0. RR 36. CFM was a ready market for second, even third hand power. 13 August 1973
(22) Heavily overcrewed 50 (Henschel 27115/1945) - the light was much more sympathetic for this one. 13 August 1973
(23) 921 (BP 6798/1936) started life as Sudan Government Railways No. 260 and was sold to Rhodesia where it became their 17th class No. 271 and then went on to the CFM in 1964 - second or third hand it was acceptable. 13 August 1973
(24) 505 (Henschel 23994/1938)- a bit lightweight for line service but there was always work somewhere in the docks. 13 August 1973
(25) 55 is the third 0-8-2T we’ve seen, (Henschel 28383/1950) but lurking is 61, an 0-10-0T (Henschel 27075/1931), as comely as a big girl can be. 13 August 1973
(26) Beira’s magnificent station, but not empty this morning. 13 August 1973 By the following morning all the party was back together and left at 08.25 in a railcar, ABCZ 62 to go to (initially) Gondola, stopping wherever a picture was to be found.
(27) Garratt 990 (BP7063/1943) at Vila Machado was built as WD,74406 to go wherever it might be needed and this turned out to be the Chemin de fer Congo Ocean where three of them served until the line was dieselised in 1949 when they were sold to the CFM becoming their 990 - 992. 14 August 1973
(28) ABCZ 62 is looped at Vila Machado and 926 lurks in the distance. The railcar was swiftly dubbed “the flying loaf of bread” by some unknown wag but it proved a very handy tool indeed. 14 August 1973
(29) Garratt 926 (BP 6871/1937) shunts at Vila Machado, also third-hand from Sudan (SGR 255/RR276) arriving on the CFM in 1965. 14 August 1973
(30) Something bigger in the shape of 954 entering Maforga with a misto for Beira - if not quite as splendid as the Henschel five, there were twelve of these from Haine St. Pierre (HSP 2062/1952) nearly all based at Gondola, our next port of call. 14 August 1973
Opposite Top: (31) Gondola shed, stiff with Garratts, the only shed in the world where the whole allocation was of that design. 962 (HSP 2070/1952) is the ex-works one on the right, the others are anonymous, sadly - a total of fourteen on shed and several out working, eat your heart out, Toton! 14 August 1973 Opposite Bottom: (32) 972 (Henschel 28643/1956) at rest on shed, a rare look at the bunker end. CFM preferred chimney leading, SAR MUCH preferred bunker leading, especially the GMAMs which could get intolerably hot in the cab when chimney forward. 14 August 1973
(33) 972, the standard posed shot of CFMs biggest and best; no-one seemed to find a bad word about Henschel’s beauties. 14 August 1973
(34) 982 (BP 7067/1943) is similar to 990 in the it was built as WD74410, but went to Rhodesia and became RR 282 of their 18th class and was sold to the CFM in 1949. 14 August 1973 And then? Lunch for everyone at the Railway Club! Was this private enterprise or the CFM? Another unanswered question - I’ve had a mental picture of 24 Portuguese visitors seeking sustenance at somewhere like Rowsley, good luck to them.
(35) After lunch, the loaf is sliced into action, and stops at Nharochonga to cross 971(H 28642/1956) on her smoky way to Vila Machado - I suspect that smoke was to order, and it was well done. 14 August 1973 They went on, the sun set at 17.30, on and on and rolled into Beira at 18.35; dinner, and so to bed; not a bad day at all. 14 August 1973 It seems odd that next morning they should FLY straight back to Nampula, but they did, in a 737 and landed at 11.15, a coach to the station/shed and yard, and down to work - the main objectives were the Atlantics, but there were other oddments to savour.
(36) Dead, but still desirable, one of the three surviving ZASM 0-6-4Ts, No. 42 was found, thought to have come from Esslingen, but no positive identification to be found. 15 August 1973
(37) 148 is a 2-6-2, (SACM 8154/1950), all eight were based here, and were the only locos built by SACM for the CFM. 15 August 1973
(38) Yet another variety of 2-6-2, these were from Henschel, and 616 was their 19905/1925 but by now the whole batch was being retired but still intact. 15 August 1973
(39) This was the real reason for coming back, one of that delightful quartet of 4-4-2s, the very last ones built ANYWHERE for ANYONE. 814 (Henschel 19909/1925) is clean and comely; her three sisters are out working as they should be - they looked good and were good, and might have looked better without those large deflectors. She was 814 no matter what the buffer beam said. 15 August 1973
(40) Another 2-6-2? 511 was Henschel 22783/1935 and looks remarkably like 505 in picture 24, but this one has a capped chimney and 505 has a spark arrester(?) 15 August 1973 Everything seen, they embarked on a railcar set and went to Rio Monapo where they changed for Lumbo and had a steam run behind 501 (Henschel 27281/1935) - three hours+, mainly in the dark, crossing ZASM 37 in steam somewhere down the branch. At Lumbo, CFM buses took them to Mozambique Island over a very long bridge and left them at a pousada for the night. The group was allowed to have a relaxing morning on the beach, but the memory of ZASM 37 in steam somewhere was enough for an early lunch, and a search for it, but it was always “somewhere up the line” and time ran out as they needed to catch the 16.00 from Nacala to Nampula.
(41) They just made it, and 813 was ready, willing and able to give them a good run, their delicate appearance belied their solid worth and reliability - 813 was Henschel 19908/1923, already 50 years old and fit for more. 16 August 1973
(42) An hour out and the sun sets, this could be Namarral but Peter didn’t say - all we know is that they again saw ZASM 37 in steam in the dark at Rio Monapo and 813 did them proud with a top speed of 62mph but they were still 30 late into Nampula arriving at 21.40. Dinner at the hotel and then a shed visit at midnight. (I can’t find any pictures!) Opposite: (43) Having failed to take pictures in Braille on ASA25, they went back after breakfast to make sure of TZR 47 (NBL27781/1957) which had popped in for a little TLC. The TZR was declining at it’s northern end but they had offices in Beira who were anxious to keep things going. This 2-8-2 strongly resembled the Nigerian River Class and could be described as a typical NBL export model. 813 relaxes in the background. 16 August 1973
(44) “Stuffed and mounted was a face I thought I knew” - I wouldn’t mind a quid for every time I’ve sung that Flanders & Swann classic, but this is cruelty to frames and axle boxes. Said to be No.1 she was once No.71; Henschel 20244/1929. 16 August 1973 They then caught a 737 to LM, calling at Quelimane, Beira, Beira again forty minutes later (no explanation) and finally landing at LM at 17.50 and after dinner managed NOT to go to the shed. 16 August 1973
WENT TO THE STATION AT 05.50 FOR THE RUSH HOUR! I can find no pictures and assume he was on automatic pilot - back for breakfast and the group split (or disintegrated) some went to Joao Belo for the narrow gauge but Peter had done that in 1967 and he opted for Swaziland, flying to Matsapha in a Fokker F27 arriving at 10.30 and being met by 3 x VW Kombis to give maximum freedom of movement for this group. (45) Sidvokodvo yards teeming with traffic “Only place I ever knew named after the shed master” said a small voice - how it was pronounced was something entirely different. 16 August 1973
Opposite Top: (46) CFM 470 had started life by being built by RR in Bulawayo in 1954 as a 12B, No. 260 and was named PRECURSOR by someone who must have been trained at Crewe! The whole class was sold to the CFM in 1961 and went straight to Sidvokodvo for the ore traffic which they handled until the 700s arrived. 16 August 1973 Opposite Bottom: (47) CFM 492 looks very like 470, but is actually a 12A and was built by NBL as their 23772/1928 and was RR 213, like 470 it spent it’s early years in Northern Rhodesia, and 492 didn’t arrive on the CFM until 8/64. 16 August 1973 (48) CFM 259 (Henschel 2-10-2 29052/1995) leads SAR !5BR 1829 (Montreal 58440/1918) dropping down from Ka Dake with ore for LM; the 15BR would eventually be bought by CFM - they took 12 which became CFM 421 - 432. 16 August 1973
(49) On the way back to Matsapha for the flight back to LM the light was on the turn and it was a pity if they didn’t use it’ CFM 476 was just another 12B. ex RR 266 but Matsapha was deceptively busy with non-ore traffic. 16 August 1973 The faithful Fokker returned them to LM by 16.55, a quick dart to the station in the dark, then dinner and bed - tomorrow is the final day in Mozambique; a day for cleaning up the odd corners of the shed, works, docks and a last look at Machava until the light fails.
(50) 701 (MLW 76126/1948) has to be included as well as used on the front cover, so we have both sides to look at and admire. 707 got a Giesl ejector which slightly spoilt her classic lines, but Peter never found that one. 19 August 1973
(51) Three (or two and a half) for the price of one - Baldwin 4-6-2 304 (BLW 57397/1923) in the centre. behind her Baldwin 2-8-2 401 (BLW 57966/1924) but is that smokebox identifiable? Trust the photographer who avers it is CFM 722, ex SAR 15E 2889 (Henschel 23113/1936) The CFM took three of these but found the complexities of their valve gear too much to manage (as did everyone else who tangled with them) - once SAR allocated them away from Bethlehem/Bloemfontein/Kroonstad they quietly died. 19 August 1973
(52) Baldwin 2-8-2 404 (BLW 57969/1924) sits on the turntable on what was to be a busy day, though surprisingly short of pictures - perhaps he was aware of how much he had already covered, and what lay ahead in South Africa (which we shall pass by) and Angola. 19 August 1973
(53) He noted 49 locos in LM and Machava, ignoring all diesels, but he missed taking 571 which was station pilot but 572 came up from the docks just in time (Porter 7295/1941). 19 August 1973 We’ll gloss over the next five days; the party left LM in a 737 at a 06.35 and were photting away at Germiston by 09.10 and Charlie Lewis ensured they were fully employed until they left for Luanda on the 25th - I haven’t seen all the pictures but there weren’t that many of them as he had done it all before - pages and pages of numbers in his diary but few marked as b/w or colour taken. The 747 landed at Luanda at 13.45 local time and two buses carted them off to the modern shed of the CFA (Caminho de Ferro de Luanda) where a nice selection of clean and polished power had been lined up.
(54) Garratt 504 was BP 7311/1949, six in the batch and by this time, few were in use, diesels had arrived, and Luanda and Zenza sheds were handy for storing spare power. 25 August 1973
(55) On the turntable was even bigger Krupp 554 (2496/1954), easily distinguishable from any other Garratt by that strange front tank for which I have found no explanation. 25 August 1973
(56) 211 looks exactly like an English export loco should, (AW563/1923) is a 4-8-0 and a solid lump of wood-burner. 25 August 1973 Did you get them? All three of them? No time to draw breath, back to the airport where a Fokker F27 was waiting to take them to Benguela and a hotel AND an improving talk on the railways - I am so grateful to Amyas Crump for making all this information available - I couldn’t have made it up. 25 August 1973
(57) Next morning, they took the 08.55 Lobito to Catumbela (not far) where class 11 401 (NBL26959/1951) had arrived - these mainly worked the coastal section of the CFB (Caminho de Ferro de Benguela) - the longer of the two railways. 26 August 1973
(58) 403 (NBL 26961/1951) - another 11 - took them back from Catumbela to Lobito where more delights had been prepared; CFB 1 of class 4 was Hunslet 874/1905 and in smoke if not in steam. 26 August 1973
(59) No. 26 is a class 6 4-6-0 (NBL19348/1909) well wooded-up and in steam; every shed should have something as lovely as this for pilot duties, and most did. 26 August 1973
(60) A close-up of her numberplate shows the old spelling of Benguella. 26 August 1973 The following day was a confusion of scrap yards, museums, sugar factories, mainly by coach returning to Benguela over a very bad road which must have been extraordinarily bad to get a mention!
(61) At Benguela was another 6 class 4-6-0, No. 22 (N5139/1898) - 75 years young and she, too, has kept her girlish looks. 27 August 1973 Then Gullible’s Travels went into overdrive and Peter’s notes more fragmented, I can only quote disjointed pieces - caught 17.00 mail with 361 (10C)…Cubal shed (and a list of locos!) at 00.15...362 (10C) took over the train...passing 370/367 early a.m. at Lepi…337 with 345 on rear near Belem…arrived Nova Lisboa but no time recorded…to the shed and works. 28 August 1973 At the works were all sorts of things, including the only 10B Garratt seen on the whole trip, but 311 (BP6602/1929) was in no state to be filmed these and the 10Es lived at the far ed of the line; and the tour only went as far as Silva Porto. The 10Es had come from Rhodesia where they had been class 16 and the first victims of dieselisation.
(62) 12, Class 5, wooded-up and in steam had once been a rack tank (Esslingen 3642/1907) working up the Lengue Gorge section (a new route was carved out in 1948) - she then found employment as works shunter. 28 August 1973
Opposite Top: (63) Still no sleep for them as after lunch at the hotel they were carted off to Vila Nova (method unspecified) where they encountered a dupla - a double-header with the locos often well separated - the leader is a 9C 4-8-0 No.222 (NBL 22979/1929) and the second locomotive is totally hidden behind the tree, be patient and… Opposite Bottom: (64) 10A 304 (BP6336/1926) will appear and this lot left Nova Lisboa at 12.39. 28 August 1973
(65) 6 class 4-6-0 27 (NBL19349/1909) shunts at Vila Nova (I think). 28 August 1973.
(66) 10A 303 (BP6335/1926) leaves Chingvar on the passenger for Nova Lisboa, just enough strength left to climb the cutting side. 28 August 1973
(67) Back at Vila Nova (?) the lowering sun makes for a fine shot of 11 class 4-8-2 404 (NBL 26962/1951) readying the passenger for Benguela - these were the equivalent of the SAR 19D yet, somehow, much prettier. 28 August 1973
(68) A freight has been waiting for us at Vila Nova and now 10A 303 (BP6335/1926) pushes her train out of the loop to clear it for an incoming dupla, and 303 will follow us to Silva Porto. 28 August 1973
(69) The dupla is in, with 10A 301 (BP6333/1926) as the second locomotive; 303 is already following us through the platform and will keep in surprisingly close contact. 28 August 1973
(70) Silva Porto shed with 10C Garratt 348 (BP 7598/1952) effulgent and further delights in the distance. 28 August 1973
(71) 9Cs 229 (NBL 23986/19929) and 226 (NBL22983/1929) - twins, fortunately not Siamese. The high level hutch also has charm; who lived up there? 28 August 1973 At this point, even Peter’s iron will gave in (mercifully, no medical details given) and he was compelled to remain at the hotel while the rest went off to Lepi for some linesiding. He beseeched Trevor Owen to take a few spares for him but this is his book and Trevor only got the usual 10A/10C mixture so you won’t see the curve at Lepi or that prominent hump in the background. I assume the traditional three of sand and one of cement for lunch got our hero back on track, but a couple of pages are missing from the diary so for a brief spell, I’m on my own; even the slides are uncaptioned.
(72) The first identifiable shot is of 10D Garratt 361 RAINHA DONA AMELIA (BP7667/1956) - first of her class, one of only five named locos on the CFB. I’m assuming they have come down on the train to Coruteva and stopped off here for photography as the train leaves without them. 30 August 1973
(73) By means unknown, out into a very nice position for a dupla freight climbing eastwards. 10C 336 (BP7371/1952) leads and sister 331 (BP7366/1952) obediently follows. 30 August 1973
(74) A useful close-up of 336, quick work in the days before motor-drive; you digital boys have it on a plate nowadays. 30 August 1973
Top: (75) 10D 361 RAINHA DONA AMELIA has found her way back to Coruteva but none will require those logs in her bunker for she burns oil. 31 August 1973 Here we get back to the diary, and the party walk to the main road to pick up a coach to Benguela airport arriving at 16.30 but that familiar Fokker F 27 didn’t get airborne until 21.30 and it was 23.00 when they landed, no mention of when (or if) they got to bed. 31 August 1973 Now, remember you have paid a goodly sum to be racketed about the country, but Gullible’s Travels expect you to do without food and sleep if necessary for the cause: and here we go again taxis got them to Luanda station at 04.55 and a special railcar left at 05.00 arriving at Canhoca at 08.30 where they were given breakfast. not a moment too soon. 1 September 1973 Bottom: (76) Waiting to greet them was CFA Garratt 505 (BP7312/1949), quite a surprise as the CFA was pretty well dieselised by now, with steam held in reserve at Luanda shed and Museques works. 1 September 1973
(77) The object of the exercise was to fit in and travel on the two 60cm CFA branches; and this one, from Canhoca to Golungo Alto was particularly seductive. It wouldn’t be possible to do a complete round trip and so they settled on going halfway (to Cambondo) with 0-8-2T 61 (O & K 10497/1925) wood-fired and Peter managed part of this on the footplate.
(78) 61 is posed to show the whole special train, especially the brake/fuel supply - the branch traversed forest and coffee plantations and was a useful feeder to the CFA main line. 1 September 1973
(79) 65 (O & K 9932/1922) an oil-burner had the returning train which had the usual branch coach attached behind the special’s one; who sits where? Arriving back at Canhoca they were allowed a riotous 20 minutes for lunch before the railcar swept them on to Zenza.
(80) The air-conditioned shed at Zenza displays 4-8-0 158 (Henschel 19867/1923) which had been the regular engine on the Dondo branch for many years, but not today. 1 September 1973
(81) Today, 2-8-2 252 (Jung 12262/1956) has the honour and the party will go as far as Cassossoalala where the railcar, having preceded the special, was waiting to return them to Luanda, reached at 18.20. 1 September 1973
(82) The last day before flying home - you’d think they would give you time to pack, check you hadn’t left any film in the fridge, down to the tat shops for something to bring home, but not this lot, now approaching Monty Python levels. They boarded a chartered Dakota at 09.15 and flew to Porto Amboim arriving 10.20 where cars ferried them to the NG station where two railcars were available to go up the line and find the steam train (which they did, at Boa Viagem) with 0-6-2T 40 AMBOIM (Bagnall 2637/1942). 2 September 1973
(83) And this is where the story really starts - they were away and within 15 minutes - “Now, that’s what I call an ex-railcar”, …”No, it ain’t dead. it’s sleeping” - memories of John Cleese going berserk. Miles from nowhere and an aircraft to catch in the morning. The diary says Derailed 14.45 approx., heavy gang arrived 16.20, re-railed at 17.25 THANKS MAINLY TO THE PILOT OF OUR D-C-3. Read that again. WHAT is he doing and how? Why was he there? They simply, resumed the journey at 17.40 but only as far as the next halt where it was thought prudent to continue by lorry (!) to Porto Amboim arriving 19.40. The pilot, presumably out of hours after re-railing the railcar declined to take off in the dark. Don’t panic; don’t panic but help! The pilot says he will go at first light, Okay? and so to bed. 2 September 1973 At 05.15 they left the hotel, at 06.00 the Dakota flapped into the air and landed at Luanda at 07.05 where the 707 connection to Lisbon was waiting and took off at 08.30 arriving in Lisbon at 18.45 (by road?). 3 September 1973 But it was not over for these weary bodies. Next day, no seats available to London, another hotel to find. 4 September 1973 Next morning back to the airport, booked on a late running flight to Frankfurt, a DC 8 calling at Toulouse, Lyon & Geneva to Zurich where they made a connection to LHR - a Trident which landed at 19.05. 5 September 1973 Determined to see Glorious Devon, Peter took the airport bus to Reading General but his Western Region treated him as badly as the world’s airlines, but he duly noted - 1952 on 21.19 to Temple Meads: 1007 on the 02.55 to Newton Abbot: Peak on the 05.55 NA - Torquay - generous connecting times indeed. 6 September 1973