Part 6: Orange River to De Aar

Please note: All photographs, maps and text in Soul of a Railway are protected by copyright and may not be copied or reproduced in any way for further use without prior permission in writing from the compilers of this series, Les Pivnic, Charlie Lewis, Bruno Martin, Andrew Deacon, Peter Stow, Peter Micenko, Eugene Armer and Sandy Buchanan.

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we cover the last piece of Kimberley to De Aar sometimes known as the 'STEEL KYALAMI'. Please note that the following is not meant to supplant the excellent account presented by Reinhard Gumbert but rather to provide an opportunity to the many others who have contributed their own records of this stretch of line.

Reinhard is German but the tide of foreign visitors seems to have been set off by John Egan, a Queenslander who to my knowledge was the first overseas enthusiast to make a habit of staying at the Kraankuil and (later), the Witput Hotels. He arrived in RSA c 1965/66 and lived in RSA for about ten years. After John Egan came another Queenslander, John Knowles, who subsequently wrote the definitive history of QR locomotives with a very complimentary section dealing with SAR steam which, of course, were the same gauge. Then came Messrs Graham Watsford and Lindsay Crow in 1970 both now sadly deceased who wrote an absorbing account* of their three-month camper-van tour of South Africa in 1970. But the avalanche was really triggered after Dusty Durrant's dalliance in Australia in 1970/71. From then on there was a proliferation of accents - from the UK, US, Australasia, Japan and all over Europe. Principle beneficiaries were the hotels at Kraankuil, Witput and, to a lesser extent, De Aar and Kimberley.

*an extract from their paragraphs on the Kimberley-De Aar line: "probably the finest demonstration of big-time steam railroading in the world today, with big modern power that shows the capabilities of the 3'-6" gauge" [Graham's emphasis]

On the occasion of the RSSA's visit to Kraankuil on 7 September 1970, Les took this memorable photo of the participants. Back row: Noel Carter,* Charlie McLean – pensioner Special Grade Driver at Braamfontein Loco; right: late John Cornish; front row Late Drew Tipping, Late Graham du Plessis, Late Ginger Miller, Pat Miller, Carol Pivnic and Hugo de Wet. Front: Ginger’s son Andrew.

*thank you Peter Rogers for identifying Noel Carter, a Cape Town branch member.

25NC 3440, the regular engine of 'Swart' Koekemoer, rolling through on a down freight. #3440 was a Beaconsfield engine and these freight workings were almost always the return leg of a passenger turn in the 'Up' direction. Frequently the southbound workings were on the crack trains: 2-up, the Blue Train, 212-up, the Orange Express, 202-up, the Trans Karoo and 66-up, the Rhodesia Mail. Les advises that this was not taken on the RSSA trip but it is still quite appropriate because Roger also was a regular caller at the Kraankuil Hotel.

During the same visit another 25NC comes by with a substantial Up freight. By the fact that the engine isn't carrying a name one can deduct that this was in pre Alec Watson days. The tidiness of everything conveys the sense of pride in the SAR carried by railwaymen in those days - from the lowliest labourer to the General Manager

1.The last southbound run of the steam-hauled Blue Train on 30 August 1972 was hauled by 25NC 3448, the regular engine of Driver Martiens Minnie and Fireman Pat Abbott who both spent many hours preparing the engine.

Pat Abbott became a Special Grade driver before the seventies were out and retired as a locomotive inspector at Beaconsfield. One of the many heroes involved in the revival of steam on the 'Steel Kyalami' he passed away soon after retiring.

2. In the late afternoon of Sunday 24 June 1979, a southbound freight entering Orange River headed by a converted condensor number 3509 named Amanda . Judging by the angle of the semaphore blade it must have been a hot day but more likely signal fitters having over adjusted the signal runs! At this stage it was still possible to spend significant time lineside photographing trains and travel to sites by mainly steam hauled regular trains. We left Johannesburg on the Friday night, spending the Saturday around Mareetsane before catching the steam hauled overnight train to Kimberley and transferring to the Cape Town train. During the day at Orange River my wife, Jo-Anne, recorded 18 steam trains and one 100-wagon ore train passing through Orange River between our disembarking the 18 coach Up day stopper pulled by 25NC number 3441, and being collected in the evening by the Down day stopper back to Kimberley and Johannesburg. Incidentally, my log of the run had 3441 achieving a maximum of 95kph over the 1/2 km through the short dip of 1 /80 around the 12.5km peg but generally speed never exceeded 90 kph.

3. An early working to De Aar by the Red Devil on 14 March 1982. At the behest of designer, David Wardale, when the GPCS-powered class 26 No 3450 first appeared she was fitted with the German 'Witte' type smoke deflectors as shown. It was found that the softer exhaust was not being lifted properly, so redesigned (but rather flamboyant) deflectors were fitted that solved the problem. Nearest the cab in brown trousers is regular SoAR contributor John Middleton (no Briggs, not the guy raking the ashpan).

4. This beautiful night shot at Orange River by Dennis Moore shows #3450 with her modified smoke-lifters.

5. In April 1979 Harald found the Orange Express at Orange River. Even at this late date there was no talk of replacing steam on this prestige train - not even a whisper. Mr Yspeert* had done his sums that showed it was necessary to use not one but two class 34s to haul it which was considerably more costly.

* the Mechanical Engineer at Kimberley who worked in close collaboration with the Cape Northern Statistician (see the previous chapter).

6. The huge fans in the condensing tender of a class 25 (in this case #3462, one of the last condensers in active service). There were five fans and they were all necessary to cope with the 40°+ ambient temperatures encountered in the Great Karoo. It was said that the range of a 25 class between water stops was 500 miles but I don't think there were any drivers brave enough to put this to the test.

7. Southbound traffic at Orange River. The train on the left is 78-up pick-up with several bogies of bulk cement that will be detached at Kraankuil for delivery to the Van der Kloof damsite about 40 miles upstream from here (see also photo 24). Dick's caption for his picture:

"3506 ‘Elsabe’ is shunting the Pick up and rebuilt 3523 ‘Gillian’ is watering and having its fire cleaned with a southbound freight. There is still frost on the ground; we had slept overnight in the camping van and it was so cold we had to scrape ice off the Inside of the windscreen with a fish slice before we could get going. Taken in July 1976"

8. This was why Orange River was a thrilling place to watch steam as God intended. Southbound trains had several miles of 1/100 straight off the trailing points, requiring their engines to work out of there at the limit of their adhesion. The [fireman] has cleaned and prepared his fire and got the fresh fire well burning whilst the driver deals not only with the drag of his train but also the uneven rail surfaces and previous wheel burns over the ashpits and turnouts as his loco hits the 1 in 100 - as clearly evident in Peter's picture. A bonus being the beautiful Autumn colours on the trees on an afternoon in May 1988.

9. The Orange Express departing Orange River in April 1979 (same train as in photo 5). Noticeable in the background is the single-headed block load of coal, 4076-up, waiting to follow. By 1979 consumption of locomotive coal in the Western Cape had dwindled almost to nothing thus reducing the need for double-heading. In 1984 the opening of Koeberg Nuclear Power Station near Cape Town in conjunction with completion of the National Grid brought railage of coal to Cape Town's power stations to an abrupt halt and nowadays the rest goes by road.

10.Two years earlier, on 18 June 1978, one of the last active condensers, 25 3462 departed Orange R with the last southbound Drakensberg Express (note motor cars in the last two wagons). However, locomotive coal in the Western Cape still was needed so double-headed 4076-up block coal was waiting to follow.

11. Orange River departure of 4068-up block coal bound for the Western Cape. David's picture, made on a frosty morning, emphasises the point made with photo 8; these engines are really giving everything they've got.

12. Biting into the 1/100, 4068-up block coal on another chilly winter morning. If anyone can tell us what that red light between the rails is for, please let us know. I suspect it might be some kind of shunt signal but really don't know. The short length of rail between the running rails is providing reinforcement for the wooden block joints used to isolate the station track circuits at this point.

13. 25NC 3452 (the first rebuilt condenser) 'Maria' with original tender tank as designed and built under Watson's direction at De Aar.

14. There were probably more photographs taken between Orange River and Kraankuil than anywhere else on the SAR. We hope we've chosen some of the better ones, among which ranks the above effort by Dennis. I use the word 'effort' intentionally as his caption reveals:

"On this occasion, the photographer and his family were actually on their way to a conventional family holiday along the Garden Route and the decision was taken to overnight at the Witput Hotel. Who wouldn’t? The passage of a southbound steam hauled freight train, albeit still in pitch darkness, prompted a much earlier than anticipated departure to continue the journey to the coast. Upon arrival at Orange River station, it was apparent that the train was going to depart well before sunrise, so the ‘happy holidaymakers’ in their laden car and towing a luggage trailer (!) set out along the service road towards Kraankuil. At 9½ kms out this image of doubleheaded 25NCs set against the soft light of early dawn was recorded. Despite the burden of towing a (rather bouncy) luggage trailer, Kraankuil was later reached just in time to photograph the same train pounding through the station minutes after the sun had risen above the horizon. But that wasn’t to be the end of it, the chase continued on to Poupan (where another image was recorded), and only then did common sense set in. The remainder of the drive to Sedgefield was positively tame in comparison. (18 June 1989)"

15. Rebuilt 3461 ‘Sally’ heads south just as the sun hits the tracks having left Orange River before the sun was up. July 1976.

16. 25NC 3523 'Gillian' under way again (see photo 7). Three musketeers got this picture - Dick Manton, John Hunt and John Whiteley. Bet not one of them at the time thought that fifteen years hence they would still be able to repeat it (given these perfect conditions of course).

17. Complete rakes of the gorgeous orange, white and blue liveried stock were hard to come by, even on the Trans Oranje, the new name for the Orange Express that had been adopted by the time this picture was made a mile or so out of Orange River on 11 December 1992.

The engine is 25NC 3501 and the crew were the late, great and famous John Gilberthorpe and his fireman Richard Niven, who fortunately is still with us.

Peter Stow, for many years in charge of all passenger-stock overhauls, gives us this account of how the livery came to be adopted:

"Prior to the Corporatisation of South African Transport Services (SATS) in 1990, it was decided that a new Corporate Identity was required for the new entity which was to be called Transnet, with the rail leg being named Spoornet. A company Pentagraph was tasked with creating the new CI and for main line coaches a livery was presented which featured predominantly orange on the upper body side with a thin blue stripe through a lower light grey area as illustrated in this photograph. Although these colours were predominantly those of the then South African flag it was said by the consultants that governments come and go but the country’s flag does not change. Famous last words! The new livery was accepted and some 155 coaches were painted in this new scheme during the 1990/1 financial year. After about one year the message was received that this livery had to change and after a few tests with various schemes were conducted the orange was replaced with the same blue as the stripe and the stripe was made orange in the lower light grey area. The revised scheme introduced a third livery on main line trains and in an attempt to reduce the jumbled effect it was decided to concentrate at least some colours on certain trains where possible. Orange became the obvious choice for the Trans Oranje until the vehicles became due for heavy overhaul."

18. Of all the 25 classes and their derivatives #3454 made the most satisfying exhaust noise (crisp and loud) and one suspects it cost a little bit less to convert than the 'Red Devil'.

19. While on the subject of a satisfying exhaust noise, how about a condenser on the Drakies hitting 100kmh in the dip before Kraankuil? This approximated to the sound an F15 musta made when chasing a MIG 29 ... (25 3462 with the very last Drakensberg on 18 June 1978).

20. May 1988 sees a view of 4070-up conveying yet another block load of power-station coal for the Western Cape. The lead engine is 25NC number 3424 named Marjorie, leading an unrecorded 25NC with a "sausage dog" tender of a converted condenser. Whilst this pair were working south a second train was in Orange River station waiting "block clearance" before following with its train. It was interesting because at this time the first drivers were going for diesel training and [I had] not expected to see much steam.

21. Crossing the Saffa equivalent of the Nullarbor plain.

"25NC 3449 with the southbound Orange Express approaching Kraankuil on 26 December 1972. The ‘NC’s exertions and acceleration had been audible from the moment it left Orange River."

22. 3419 heads north as 3405 'Topsy' works south, from the Kraankuil overbridge 27 December 72

23. Northbound 4011-down express parcels (running slightly late) and 4068-up southbound block coal passing at Kraankuil. As you see, the parcels had an unrebuilt and rebuilt 4-8-4 combination but unnoticeable is the 25NC and condenser combination of the approaching train.

24. In the early 1970's Kraankuil was the railhead for the construction of the P.K. Le Roux Dam (now the Vanderkloof Dam). Cement and other construction materials arrived by rail, with extra sidings added to the station layout to accommodate the traffic. A temporary SAR Road Motor Transport depot was also built.

In this shot made from the road bridge north of the station, 25NC's 3402 "Alice" and unnamed 3447 are double heading a northbound goods to Kimberley, passing the temporary RMT depot on the left. In the background, a track maintenance crew accommodation train is parked on one of the sidings. Two more sidings are filled with DZ open wagons and cement wagons, the latter alongside the cement storage silos from which the road trucks were loaded for transport to the dam. 11th February 1974.

25. But a few years later (July 1978) the dam was complete and dismantling of the facilities at Kraankuil was well under way

26. Fifty years ago the west side of the tracks at Kraankuil still looked pretty much as it had in Cecil John Rhodes's time.

27. 25NC 3420 'Patricia' passing Kraankuil, December 1972

28. Kraankuil as it was photographed by E H Short in 1895. In those days Kraankuil was the station for Hopetown (where the first Saffa diamond was discovered) and Britstown so, although lonely, there must have been a fair amount of activity. Once/month a train would stop here so the SM's wife could go to the great Shopping Mall at Kimberley to buy her groceries......

29. Electrification of the Postmasburg branch was completed in June 1967 which released most of Beaconsfield's fleet of 61 condensers for the sections to De Aar and Bloemfontein. This one, seen paused for passengers at Kraankuil, was working 12-up all-stations southbound. The motley array of carriages is typical of the decade of the sixties when clerestory day/sleeper coaches were gradually making way for the elliptical-roofed Union Carriage & Wagon all steel and plastic vehicles designed in Australia and manufactured under licence in South Africa. Note also the first coach behind the engine which is standard SAR swing-door steam suburban stock.

30. 3423 ‘Victoria’ passing stationary 3483 ‘Katy’ on 2nd July 1976.

31. Your photographer had driven through the night from Bloemfontein to Biesiespoort to photograph a working of the White Train from Cape Town to Bloemfontein. Here it passes through Kraankuil behind 3430 in the Winter of 1973. Note the absence of any smoke- the locomotive inspector would have none of that.

32. Although seasonal, fruit traffic moved in both directions; the Western Cape from late January until September and the North-Eastern Transvaal from April until December. This determined-looking condenser tearing southwards through Kraankuil with a dozen fruit vans and general freight in July 1976 was probably conveying fruit and veg from the north to the markets of the Western Cape.

33. The 'Cape Mountaineer' railtour hauled by #3450 paused in the platform road at Kraankuil [by arrangement] while a northbound freight thunders by, still with the previous day's Trans Karoo headboard (the original Mountaineer had been in 1983). The northbound freight (Train 2421) was headed by 3441 driven by Peter Odell (seen nonchalantly leaning out of his cab) and it had been specially scheduled that day to depart De Aar promptly at 6 am so it could pass us at Kraankuil, then wait at Orange River so we could get a leaving shot when we caught up with it there. To say Peter really wound it up as he came through Kraankuil was something of an understatement !! [the notes for Bill Botkin's shot provided by John Middleton]

34. The 'Cape Mountaineer' a 'Steam and Safaris' railtour organised by John Middleton, Derek Phillips and the late David Rodgers, paused in Kraankuil to allow participants to photograph train 2416, southbound block load of coal hauled by 25NCs 3467 + 3482. It was specially organized and timed to depart Beaconsfield at 5 am. In an incredible morning, we pre-arranged FOUR freights and amazingly it all worked like clockwork (the gods were definitely with us). Preceding train 2416, we already had the sunrise spectacle of 3454 B.I. EBING thundering south on train 2414 which had left Beaconsfield at 4.10 am, while waiting for us at Orange River was Condenser 3511 on train 2418 which had left Beaconsfield at 5.30 am and which we photographed departing Orange River. All in all quite an amazing couple of hours and all organized without the help of cell phones, text messages or Whats-App. [caption provided by John Middleton]

35. The southbound Orange Express hauled by 25NC 3454, the 'B I Ebing' scarcely noticing Kraankuil in August 1991

36. Northbound empties having just past yet another southbound working, June 1986

37. 25NC 3452 'Maria', the second converted condenser with original rebuilt tender configuration coming through Kraankuil on 9 July 1976. This is the same train that features in photos 13, 51 and 62. Note train the other way.

38. The Down home signal at Kraankuil and the wide open spaces of the surrounding landscape combine to dwarf a northbound train of one hundred empty ore hoppers returning to Postmasburg, hauled by three class 34 diesels (GE type U26C). 11th February 1974.

39. 25NC 3442 with north bound freight, Kraankuil, 26 December 1972

40. Class 26 3450 with its original DB/DR-style smoke deflectors and still appropriately named 'L D Porta', working northbound mixed freight between Poupan and Kraankuil. March 1982.

41. Geoff Hall at the wheel of his regular 25NC 3411 climbing northwards out of Poupan

42. Peter writes: I don't have time to check records but I [was working] a southbound freight with 25NC 3530 rolling down into Poupan. The approaching train is 209-down, the Cape Town-Durban Trans-Oranje (09.15 ex De Aar), behind 3481. The Trans-Oranje [i.e. the old Orange Express] went diesel on 28 January 1984 but this was taken during the steam revival between August 1990 and April 1992.

43. Trains passing north of Potfontein. 25NC 3488 approaches with 4231-dn as 23 3300 thumps past with 2416-up, 31 July 1991.

Note from Charlie: this is a steam festival photo. I have broken the rules (like a Boris Johnson) because it is a perfect rendition of what happened several times daily on this route, from the arrival of the 25NCs in 1953 until the departure of the 23s twenty years later.

An interesting point in Rags's caption is related to the train numbers. In 1981 (ten years before this picture was made) all train numbers were changed to indicate where the train originated and whence it was going. In this case the first two digits of the southbound working (i.e. 24) indicate that it is an Up train that originated on System 2 (the Cape Northern Region) and is en route to System 4 (Cape Eastern Region). The reverse applies to the northbound train approaching the camera.

44. Dave and Dick specialised in spectacular cloud effects: "25NC 3466 'Vanessa' southbound with express freight 400-up between Kraankuil and Poupan. [We] chased this train almost until sunset from Kraankuil to De Aar, out of a heavy thunderstorm to the north of Orange River. The skyscape was stunning and it was the beautifully clear hot afternoon of 14th March 1982."

400-up and its opposite number 401-down were probably the most important revenue-generators on the Kimberley-De Aar line. They were restricted to 800 tons, bogie stock only, and timed at passenger-train speed. The coast-bound reefers would probably have contained fruit from the Transvaal with general high-rated traffic trailing behind. Here are the WTB notes for this train:

"No. 400: Conveys urgent through high-rated traffic from Braamfontein to Cape Town with a guaranteed time delivery. It is essential that the traffic conveyed by this train be handed over at destination as per schedule. The priority of traffic is (1) High-rated traffic (2) Parcels, post and periodicals (3) Inter-port traffic (4) Tourist motor cars (5) Livestock (6) Perishables (7) Empty fish trucks (8) Spare dining saloons and empty coaches. Must have preference over goods trains. On Wednesdays conveys butter for intermediate stations. Conveys parcels and van traffic for Modderrivier and Orange River if necessary."

45. A northbound 25NC heads into the night on Poupan embankment 27 July 91

46. Condenser 3511 getting 7-down away from Poupan as a storm comes over on 15 March 1982. [Beautiful silhouette of a condenser, so clear you can see the driver and fireman.]

47. This was the May 1969 version of the White Train where two Pretoria Works built (1941) ex Travelling Post Office articulated steel vans were added at either end of the train and two first-class steel 110v main line coaches of type C-34 were converted for use as staff coaches. The train was then consecutively numbered from 46 to 53, excluding the two covered ex type DZ wagons behind the locomotive, which were used to convey the official motor cars. On this occasion the train, hauled by 25NC 3430, was conveying South Africa’s second State President Mr. Jacobus Johannes “Jim” Fouche who served from 1968 to 1975.

48. 25NC 3437 'Trudie' working away from Poupan on the short, sharp 1/80 with 7-down, the northbound stopper, 14 March 1982

49. Converted condenser 3502 "Elize" has scored a "non condenser" tender and seen here with a good load of general freight working south through xxxx in May 1989. Warwick Falconer fits in the missing information: 'A lovely shot and not one you see often. I think the spot is called Fonteintjiesberg, it's approaching the small pass on the climb south from Poupan towards Kalkbult.'

50. 25NC 3437 'Trudie' bringing 7-down away from Poupan on 14 March 1982 (same train as in photo 48).

51. The same 400-up that is in photo 44, only by Dick this time! See Dave's caption to photo 44 - Dick 'n Dave were together.

52. 25NC 3452 'Maria' breasting the mini-summit between Kraankuil and Poupan with a train Harald had been following since Orange River. She was about to cross a northbound train of empty coal wagons.

53. 25NC 3480 'Susie' striding out of Poupan with 7-down in August 1978.

54. Having just been overtaken by 7-down this unknown condenser was restarting from Poupan in December 1971.

55. 25NC 3425 rockets through Houtkraal on a parcels train with Rhodesian Railways carriages, 31 December 1972

56. The last southbound Drakensberg on 18 June 1978 drew many photographers, including David who took this memorable shot of it hurtling through Poupan. Note the empty B bogies parked off on the main line - these were desperate measures taken by Operating when the exchange yards at Beaconsfield were full. By 1978 SAR had more traffic than it could handle and situations like this led to substantial enlargement of the reception yard at Beaconsfield South - completed just in time for the Road Transportation Act of 1977 to take effect.

57. Coming through Poupan with southbound freight is #3462, by this time (June 1979) one of the very last 25’s still on regular line work.

58. Poupan: departure of 14-up with 25NC 3439, the regular engine of driver J J Matthee who was the subject of our introduction to the previous chapter (yes, it was he who overan the interblock signal at Wigton - a SPAD in British Railway terms!). April 1979.

59. Hard on the heels of 14-up was 4070-up block coal for the western Cape (visible in the previous photo)

60. 100 wagons of ore - among SAR staff this was a sensation at the time but not long after it became regular practice between Sishen and Saldanha to run three times as many wagons in one train (with several more locomotives).

61. The good old days: presence of a 23 tells you this photo dates before 1973 when dieselisation of Beaufort West - De Aar released a flood of condensers for De Aar - Kimberley. Within three years the 23s had all been withdrawn....except one: see photo 43.

62. That's 4068 the western Cape-bound block coal again. An impressive photo by a man who is more used to photographing two-mile-long double-decker container trains on the Burlington Northern Santa-Fe.

63. Maria again, blasting up the hill to Potfontein.

64. A 16E and 25NC double! 858 and 3496 roll southwards near Potfontein. There was a light dusting of snow from the previous night but it was hidden by the long grass. This was my first sighting of a 16E! 27 July 91

65. The ‘Red Devil’ was a favourite photographic subject for many and it is not difficult to see why. Here 26 3450, resplendent in a fresh coat of paint and gleaming in the early morning sunshine, is captured just north of Potfontein at the head of a down freight. (12 May 1991)

66. A heavy seven-down approaching the halt at Kalkbult, July 1976

67. An unknown class 23 on down freight approaching Potfontein in October 1968. The 23s had been working this route since before WWII and somehow seemed to belong here more than any other class of engine.

68. Condenser 3462 approaching Potfontein with the same train as in photo 56.

69. Southbound Orange Express with 25NC 3490 'Purdey' at the same spot.

70. For a while #3450 ran in black with red smoke deflectors, here with 212-up, the southbound Orange Express at the same location.

71. 7-down departing Potfontein with 25NC 3433 'Zelda', December 1971

72. Ten years later, 25NC 3436 was pulling hard out of Potfontein with the same tightly-timed 7-down stopper to Kimberley.

73. De Aar - Kimberley pick-up, No 79-down in charge of 25NC 3467 'Carolyn' departing Potfontein, having shunted it empty

74. 4068-up block coal coming through Potfontein with 25NC 3434 'Corry' and an unrecorded condenser.

75. Potfontein: 212-up, the southbound Orange Express with 25NC 3429 Jennifer, overtaking a double-headed freight, probably 4076-up block coal. 14 June 1977

76. 209-down, the northbound Orange Express passing Up grain empties. Mystery: why were empty FZs moving southwards? They look either newly manufactured or ex-works; post overhaul and nobody had bothered to close the hatches.

77. A northbound air-braked double-decker car carrier coming through Potfontein with several hundred brand new motor cars that were assembled in Port Elizabeth. You would be forgiven for arriving at the logical conclusion that these vehicles were heading for Rhodesia but no, the autocratic Chief Superintendent Operating (a mechanical engineer who shall be nameless) had decreed that air-braked trains could not go the logical route via the Free State main line but instead had to take a 100-mile detour through Kimberley to deliver vehicles that were en route from Port Elizabeth to the Transvaal. This was part of his philosophy that a driver who had been trained and passed out on air-braked diesels or electrics could never revert to vacuum-brakes. This rigid policy was pursued for more than ten years until he retired. During this time it was almost a daily occurrence that air-brake crews would be sitting on their bums waiting for an air-braked train to arrive while rows of vacuum-braked trains were being delayed due to lack of crews. (See also photo 123)

78. 25NC 3435 'Pietermaritzburg' at speed with the southbound Orange Express, December 1971

79. Local folk of Griqua descent trekking through Griqualand West being overtaken by 79-down, the De Aar - Kimberley pickup slowing for the stop at Potfontein. The engine was 25NC 3455 'Kerry-Anne' and the date was April 1979 during the time that this train was used to provide transport for staff. Note the firewood stacked in the carts; this was autumn and preparations for winter were already being made.

80. Houtkraal; 25NC 3433 'Zelda' departing with 7-down, November 1972

81. Northbound Orange Express, 209-down, coming through Houtkraal

82. Northbound empties thrashing through Houtkraal with a class 23, number unknown.

83. The stations along the Steel Kyalami were kept neat and tidy by the station staff. Most often the wives got involved as well, otherwise life at a remote Karoo station could get pretty boring (Houtkraal had only five houses). In May 1988 a train that looks to be 4090-up, an important fast freight set aside for containers and other high-rated traffic races through the oasis of Houtkraal behind De Aar-based 25NC 3481 'Inge'. Locomotive 3481 entered service in July 1954 as a Condenser and attained a certain renown as a prestige loco. Note that the boards are off in both directions, this was when SAR still had plenty of traffic.

84. Old 78-up, the erstwhile Kimberley-De Aar pick-up, coming through Houtkraal non-stop - no business here today, nor likely in future.... Depicting Steamnet 2000's 25NC 3467 this is the latest steam-worked train depicted in this chapter, taken in 1996, the train was in fact 5534-up. Thank you Warwick for this information.

85. Houtkraal, 4076-up, southbound block load passing 7-down all-stations to Kimberley mid 1979.

86. Houtkraal again. As you see, only a few years earlier there was business here. 25NC 3507 'Eugenie' (her driver, D F Malherbe was of Gallic descent!) with an up freight while a down one plods northward.

87. 2209-down relief Orange Express passing 4068-up block coal at Behrshoek summit, just south of Houtkraal, in June 1977

88. 25NC 3481 crests Behrshoek summit with the northbound Orange Express 23 July 1991

89. Slogging northwards up the 1/80 towards the Behrshoek summit

“Scenically boring” wrote an S A rail correspondent of the climb away from the Brak River………….. This is taken from the bottom of Rhenosterburg, not far from the site of the proposed base tunnel* south portal, while Loskop looms above. The mountain in the distance is “Groot Tafelberg” some 40Km. S E of De Aar [which nestles out of sight in the “valley”] -[i.e. 58Km away]

After Spoornet took off steam in 4/92 a number of special workings for photographers were requested by Steamnet2000 and laid on by Spoornet until 31/12/1992.. This is the 2nd from last steam freight out of De Aar wholly operated by Spoornet. All future freights were operated on a payment [ton/km basis] by Steamnet2000 untill 1/3/97 when Spoornet changed their policy, banning steam.

[The photo depicts] Steamnet 2000 member, the late Jan van Aardt (his engine 3482 is currently in operating/certified condition by Steamnet2000-funded by Far Rails) at 16.30 on 11/12/92 at Km 213 approaching Behrshoek halt.

Train 2281, 25NC 3496 (#3496 went onto Mike Carter's beleaguered Bethlehem Steam Railway then later moved by Wilfred Mole to a siding near his farm where it remains)

*An amazing scoop by Peter 'Bedford' Odell. This project proposed by Head Office was kept very hush hush at the time. It seems only our Soul of A Railway reporter new about it. Unfortunately the current regime seems to have discarded the idea.

90. The Republic of South Africa's polished brass coat-of-arms decorating the front of condenser 3511 tells you that Faan Willers is at the throttle with fireman Peter 'Bedford' Odell obliging with the clag. This, the last active condenser, was departing Behrshoek halt with 7-down on 14 March 1982. Some additional notes by photographer Dave: "The RSSA Reef Branch had requested that the last running condenser be diagrammed to work the northbound stopper to which two additional coaches were added to bring the load up to seventeen carriages. Dick and I had been on De Aar shed while Faan Willers, that doyen of drivers (and all railfans' favourite) was preparing the engine. He told us that the running-shed foreman had offered him a pilot as the train was overload, but Faan refused as he did not wish to diminish the experience for the visitors. They were not let down!! "

91. 25NC 3433 'Zelda' approaching Behrshoek halt in November 1972. By the way, 'Zelda' was the regular engine of a Driver whose name I have lost. If anyone can help here it would be greatly appreciated. Zelda was the only 'NC' with a brass dome!

92. With the remote railway dorp of De Aar receding into the distance, 25NC 3466 'Vanessa' was slogging up the 1/80 towards Behrshoek with 5555-down, express fish (from 1910 until 1975 it was 55-down, scheduled at fast passenger timings). April 1979.

93. 26 3450, by this time long since known as the 'Red Devil' or "Soekie" climbing Behrshoek with empty coal wagons returning to the Transvaal collieries, 29 July 1991

94. The 1/80 gradient from the bridge over the Brakspruit (a half-mile out of De Aar) to Behrshoek summit was probably the most taxing on the De Aar-Kimberley run - exemplified by this unknown 25NC in the afternoon of 26 June 1979.

95. A relaxed study of #3450 approaching Behrshoek belies the fact that she was working hard up the 1/80 with empties returning to the Transvaal collieries. August 1985.

96. On 28 August 1982, 25NC 3425 "Trixie" was heading out of De Aar, making time with the eastbound Orange Express towards Perdevlei. Meanwhile sister 25NC 3502 on a goods train was nearing the end of its journey from Kimberley. The southbound freight was running downhill through old Perdevlei station, which after the doubling became merely a halt for passengers.

97. 25NC 3477 on northbound empties shortly after leaving De Aar in June 1979. We had awoken to thick cloud and rain/sleet. We chased this train out of De Aar up the maintenance road as the sky started to clear.

98. We turned around to be presented with this dramatic going-away shot.

99. Still on the strenuous slog up to Behrshoek summit, the same train a coupla minutes later......

100. 25NC 3437 'Trudie' setting off with 7-down on the first stage of the sustained 1/80 climb to Behrshoek summit in January 1982.

101. 7-down again, this time hauled by condenser 3511 'Frieda' with Faan Willers driving and Peter Odell firing. That's Faan's solid brass Republic of South Africa coat-of-arms on the smokebox door (same train as in Photo 90), 15 March 1982.

102. Empty stock moving northward behind 16E 858 and 25NC 3426 on the 1/80 immediately away from the Brakrivier on 31 March 1986.

103. 25NC 3467 brings 5534-up pick-up up the last half mile into De Aar (this was being operated for Transnet by Steamnet 2000 and is one of the very last steam workings on the Steel Kyalami to date. (thank you Messrs Odell and Falconer).

104. A fine portrait of one of Hendrie's best designs, class 12A 2123 shunting the South West Africa yard at De Aar.

105. 12A 2111 sorting wagon-load consignments in De Aar's classification yard. Note the preponderance of short (i.e. 4-wheeled) wagons. They were highly popular with customers, especially farmers, until an MBA in the commercial dept decreed that demurrage charges for short wagons would henceforth be the same as for bogie trucks with twice the capacity. This decision came after the Road Transport Act of 1977.

106. Can't be sure whether these wagons are going north, south, east or west. 12A's 2111 and 2123 shunting the south end of the north yard, June 1980

107. The northbound Orange Express starts away from one of the new extended platforms at De Aar hauled by 25NC 3414 'Carol', named by Alec Watson after Les's Manager, the gracious lady depicted in the introductory photo of the RSSA's visit to Kraankuil in 1969.

108. Alec Watson's favourite engine, 15A 1970, by this time one of only two unrebuilt 15As still active, on the passenger shunt at De Aar, date unknown but towards the end of the seventies.

109. 25NC 3433 'Zelda' departing De Aar with 7-down (this is the same train featured in photos 70, 79 & 91).

110. Departure of 401-down express freight with double-headed condensers - that's 476 tons of narrow-gauge motive power!

111. De Aar by CT Short in 1895. Spot these two buildings in the photo below, taken 63 years later. Note also the running shed (left background), pretty much where it always was.

112. With the exception of the expresses, most passenger trains were remarshalled at De Aar. This is because four main lines connected here - the Cape Western, the Cape Midland, the South West African and the Cape Northern. For example, the 12AR above is re-assembling the northbound 7-down out De Aar after detaching coaches for Pretoria (via Noupoort and Bloemfontein) Durban and Walvis Bay and adding coaches for Kimberley. While 7-down itself was allowed 45 minutes for all this, passengers for the other trains had longer waits before they resumed their journeys. Some of the connecting trains had no dining cars so De Aar dining room did a roaring trade.

113. Removing the Walvis Bay saloon off 7-down from the south end of De Aar station. It will later be attached to 600-up which is made up of coaches from everywhere. With 1138 miles to go, 600-up's passengers have two more days on the train. At least there's a dining car. Note the old South signal cabin and five condensers on shed in the background.

114. The 12AR is waiting to park off the Walvis Bay coach that later will be attached to 600-up for Windhoek and Walvis Bay

115. At last 7-down is nearly ready. The guards van is being coupled so there's just time for pudding in the dining room if you gulp it down.

116. When Alec Watson took over at De Aar in 1970 he wasted no time in stamping his authority on the place, be it serious stuff like finely-tuned maintenance or morale-boosters like clean engines with names. He used 3 station pilots, 15A 1970 'Milly', 14R 1911 'Aida' and 12A 1547 'Stephanie'. Somewhat quirkily he attached a 24-class tender to Aida - here re-assembling 7-dn for afternoon departure to Kimberley.

117. Beaufort West here we come (by December 1970, when this photo was made, the section beyond Beaufort West to Touws River had been electric for eight years).

Management was extremely cagey about the contents of 404-up and its opposite number. Some of us thought it was arms and ammunition for export or gold bullion or even just moving vans around - after all, it frequently was used to ferry dining saloons as in this case. Never did get a satisfactory explanation......

118. In October 1971 De Aar was still a very steamy place. Only the line to Prieska and South West Africa had gone diesel and even the far end of the Midland Main Line still had steam turns, by now worked by De Aar shed as Noupoort's big power had been transferred away. In the middle a heavy 5-down (Cape Town-Pretoria via Bloemfontein) is departing for Noupoort with a pair of 25NCs - see the next picture. On the left is one of Shedmaster Alec Watson's pets, 12A 1547 'Stephanie', downgraded to the carriage shunt, putting together 600-up to Windhoek, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. The condenser on the dead end is waiting to take 16-up Cape Town all-stations (!!) passenger as far as Beaufort West; beyond there has been electric since 1962. On the far right a pair of condensers are backing onto a southbound (Up) freight also for Beaufort West (see photo 129).

119. The exceptionally rare sight of double-headed 25NCs on a passenger - in this case 5-down; 16:55 off De Aar, bound for Noupoort, Pretoria and Durban. This train would have come in at 15:00 as 7-down from Cape Town via Stellenbosch and its passengers treated to a wholesale reshuffle into components: 7-down for Johannesburg via Kimberley and 5-down/4-up for Pretoria via Noupoort and 5-down/4-up/71-down for Durban. As you see, the vans are behind the engines as the Pretoria and Durban parts of 7-down reverse direction at De Aar. At Noupoort 5-down reverses again and morphs into 4-up, continuing as such through to Pretoria. At Bloemfontein two (sometimes three) coaches would be detached, along with one of the vans, for the continuation of journey to Durban; now attached to 71-down.

An interesting footnote to all this is that one of the first initiatives of the brand new 'Health and Safety Department' (c 1990) was to prohibit shunting of passenger coaches with passengers in them!

120. The northbound Orange Express arriving at De Aar with Condenser 25 3506 in April 1972. Note that even at this late date nearly all the vehicles parked in the yard behind the train still consist of clerestory stock.

121. Arrival of 209-down, the northbound Orange Express, with a Beaufort West condenser on 8th January 1972. The hand operated points are temporary while the remodelling of De Aar station is in progress and extra and longer platforms with electrically-operated points are being installed. The classic old signal cabin has not got long to go.

122. An atmospheric study of the southbound Orange Express, made up of brand-new first-class saloons in the new brown-and-cream livery departing De Aar some time in 1965. These coaches had panelyte and plastic-lined interiors (gone were the days of mahogany and walnut) but were quite comfortable thanks to their wider interiors and slightly larger compartments. De Aar's well-known four-poster home signal is delicately outlined against the evening sky.

123. A De Aar class 23 coming in from Noupoort with new motor cars fresh off the assembly plants in Port Elizabeth, destined for Rhodesia. The signal with a circle half-way up the main post indicates that this train will be directed to the Up block-load yard.

In 1965 the practice was to load new vehicles into DZs (as it had been since the 1920s) and not even bother to cover them to protect them from weather and the continual rain of cinders they would encounter on the 1500-mile journey. It goes without saying that vandalism and theft did not exist then (compare with the air-braked double-decker, photo 76). As an aside, check the rows of clerestory stock on the right.

124. Rather like Bloemfontein, there never was a dull moment in De Aar's perpetually busy station, running shed and yards. On the right is the incoming motor-car train seen in the previous picture while the guards van for a northbound passenger working is being attached in the carriage sidings.

125. Semaphores at the south end of De Aar, 1969. The nearest is the three-post home signal for trains from Noupoort, while the Victorian-looking four-poster in the background serves the main line from Beaufort West.

126. A pair of 25NCs coming in from Noupoort with empty B-bogies used for iron ore, heading for Postmasburg in April 1972. This was very late in the day for steam-haulage of ore.

127. From sublime to ridiculous: a crippled 15BR departing De A with eight loads of ore. This 15BR, based at Noupoort, is unique in that it has a 4-6-4 configuration and the fact that it is only moving eight loads is an indication of how desperate the ore-export situation was by the mid 1960s.

128. Arrival of goods from Beaufort West, December 1970

129. Beaufort West condensers departing with a heavy consist destined for the Western Cape in September 1972 (see also photo 118)

130. Shunting 3-down: in October 1959, 3-down arrived in De Aar at a quarter-to-six. and was shunted by the engine that had brought it from Beaufort West. Actually two engines were involved in this complex daily operation. Our engine drew the front portion forward to release two coaches and the twin diner that were to be attached to 600-up to South West Africa. It would then rejoin the rest of the train it had brought from Touws River and retire to the shed. 3-down reversed direction here and went on to Noupoort as 5-down where its number changed again to 4-up.

131. Unsurprisingly this rather ordinary photo by my late Dad was rejected by Les when I submitted it for what was originally supposed to be his chapter. But when he delegated it to me I was stuck with not showing a 15E arriving at De Aar at all, or showing youse this one. Its use enables me to borrow Les's caption from his De Aar loco chapter:

"In my original notebook, where I recorded info on my personal trips, I made a note involving a trip on train 203 from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 1952, wherein I wrote: “Beaufort West to De Aar – 15E No.2883 (working our train) pulls like lightning!!” It was probably the fastest trip that I ever had on an SAR top-link fast passenger train! With the foregoing in mind, it is interesting to contemplate the fact that in 1952, the fastest section on the Cape Main Line was the section between De Aar and Beaufort West and roughly 18 years later, the section north of De Aar up to Kimberley would become known as the ‘Steel Kyalami’ for the speeds attained by steam-hauled trains on that section. There are many reports of hi-speed runs between De Aar and Kimberley with class 25NCs which will be covered in the chapters on the ‘Steel Kyalami’."

Footnote from Charlie: Having made six runs with 15Es over this section between 1952 and 1954 I can confirm what Les says. Before the advent of long-welded rail the main line was laid with 96lb rail fishplated in 40ft lengths which made train timing simple and fairly accurate by counting the number of rail-joints in 27 seconds. In the small hours of the morning, on two separate occasions, we sustained 70mph + for mile after mile; for example, covering the 10 miles between Deelfontein and Mynfontein in 9 minutes including slowing down for picking up the tablets.

132. Class 25NC 3425 "Trixie" has just coupled to the northbound Orange Express alongside platform 2 at De Aar. The guard is chatting to the crew, no doubt adding their names to his train journal, while some of the train passengers admire the locomotive that will take them on the next leg of their journey. The engine is carrying one of the headboards commemerating the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Republic of SA in 1961. 28th August 1982.

133. "......on arrival at De Aar there was just enough time to grab this shot while the engine was uncoupled, before moving off to the shed.

De Aar station was already electrified, but the line to Beaufort West was still being worked by class 34 diesels. 27 January 1984."

134. Departure of the last southbound steam-hauled Blue Train to Beaufort West where electrics will take over. Date: 30 August 1972.

The condenser was 25 3463 and the impression of speed was not intentional. It was caused because the train began to roll while I was still letting off flash bulbs. By the time I'd run back to the camera to close the shutter it was gathering speed. Amazingly, the previously lit and now un-illuminated engine appears sharp and what looks like a headlight beam is actually the headlamp moving off in a straight line!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank the following for their memorable contributions (in random order):

Bruno Martin (for his beautifully rendered map of the line), Andrew Deacon (our IT and formatting expert), Robert Horlacher, Robert Kingsford-Smith, Les Pivnic, Peter Micenko, Peter Stow, the late Harald Navé (courtesy Alfred Luft), the late Don Baker (courtesey Stina Baker), Dave Fleming, Eugene Armer, Allen Jorgensen, Leith Paxton, Pierre De Wet, Hugo De Wet, Robert Sugden, Dick Manton, John Hunt, DRISA via Yolanda Meyer and Johannes Haarhoff (the founder of DRISA), late David Rodgers (courtesy Julie Rodgers, Warwick Falconer, Bill Botkin, Peter (Bedford) Odell, Dennis Moore, Peter Kuyler, late Roger Perry, courtesy Les Pivnic, late John Gilberthorpe, courtesy Richard Niven