The Port Elizabeth Suburban Service (1: 1875 to 1970) by C P Lewis ©

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 and Charlie Lewis.

Once again we are indebted to several contributors without whose input this chapter would not have got off the ground. Thanks to the following in alphabetical order of surname:

Stina Baker (for photos by her much-lamented late husband, Don), Bruce Brinkman (historical photos, compilation of the timetables, dates, drawings and location of photos), John Carter (photos), Eric Conradie (historical photos), Andrew Deacon (formatting the layout), Geoff Hall (photos), Bruno Martin (his unexcelled maps), Yolanda Meyer (historical photos and notes), Leith Paxton (his own photos, historical photos and historical details plus numerous text corrections), Les Pivnic (assistance, advice, numerous text corrections and the best photos you'll ever see of the PE suburbans in their glory days), Port Elizabeth Public Library (photos via Chris Jeffery), Ken Stewart (photos), Peter Stow (his own photos, text corrections and historical details of the coaching stock). NB: there are numerous contributers for the pending second half of this chapter (i.e. post 1970). Our thanks will be extended to them when it is posted, which should not be too long after this one appears!

Please note that we made an artificial division at December 1970 for no other reason than we have accumulated similar numbers of photos for pre- and post 1970.

Bruce Brinkman has kindly provided a brief outline of what the next two chapters (Port Elizabeth Suburban Service, parts 1&2) are all about:

"A passenger train service between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage was introduced on the opening of the railway line between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage in September 1875 by the Midland Division of the Cape Government Railways.

This service continued until the absorption of the Cape Government Railways into the South African Railways after the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 whereafter the service was provided by the Midland System of the South African Railways & Harbours.

The South African Railways and Harbours changed its name to the South African Transport Services (SATS) in 1981 and restructured itself to run along business lines.

Prior to April 1990, commuter rail services were provided by the South African Railways and Harbours, then South African Transport Services (SATS). On 1 April 1990, SATS transferred its functions to a newly formed public company called Transnet, which included various main business undertakings such as Spoornet, Portnet and the South African Airways (SAA).

At the same time, and through the Legal Succession in terms of the South African Transport Services Act, No.9 of 1989, Transnet was relieved of the responsibility for the provision of commuter passenger rail services and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) was established as an agency of the National Department of Transport to assume the responsibility for the commuter rail services throughout South Africa.

The SARCC inherited all assets (land and properties) in and around commuter stations and corridors for the purpose of commercialising these assets to financially contribute to a reduction in the subsidisation of the social commuter rail service.

During 1992, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the SARCC, Intersite Property Management Services (IPMS), was formed to perform this function for the Corporation.

In May 2004, the Minister of Transport, Honourable MP, Jeff Radebe announced that the SARCC is to lead and drive the consolidation of passenger rail entities to form a single passenger rail entity which would incorporate commuter, long-distance and other passenger rail services."

For more than 100 years Port Elizabeth, the second city of Cape Province, was served by a regular and reliable service of suburban and outer-suburban steam-hauled trains. From a railway modeller's point of view Port Elizabeth was perhaps the most manageable of all the SAR's city termini. For this reason we will feature aspects of the operations and their supporting installations, beginning with the signal gantry barely 100 yards from the station's facing points. While not as impressive as the 13-post gantry protecting the entrance to Cape Town station it was attractive nonetheless - and it outlived the Cape Town structure by more than 30 years. When finally demolished c 1960 this was the last major signal gantry on the SAR thereby making Les's picture a worthy introduction to this chapter.

Peter Stow, the mechanical engineer in charge of SAR/SATS coach affairs for much of his career, has sent this summary of useful information regarding identification:

SAR Suburban Coaching Stock Used on the PE Service

Standard suburban coaching stock built by the SAR from 1910, including that for the Port Elizabeth service, was based on that built for the progressive CSAR, the standard being set in terms of dimensions in 1904 and refined in terms of door spacing and openings in 1907. The change in which way the door opened was made for very good reasons. The doors on the 1904 stock opened from left to right when viewed from the platform while that of the 1907 stock from right to left. As it was reasoned that most platforms in the direction of travel were on the left hand side, a door that may still be open as a train pulled away would tend to close if it opened from right to left, thus assisting in its closing by someone from within.

The SAR continued to place in service vehicles of the same basic design and appearance until 1925. I have called this era 1. It was characterised by coaches with a small quarter light (light being railway parlance for a window) just above the normal drop light. These quarter lights had rounded corners at the top. From December 1925, and including those vehicles built for the Cape Electrification in 1928, the quarter lights were squared at the top. I have called this era 2 which continued until 1929. Almost parallel with this, from 1928 through to 1935, vehicles were also built where the quarter lights were dispensed with and frosted panels fitted in intermittent positions in the facia with the class numeral painted in some of the panels. The vehicle number was also inserted in one of the panels in the centre of the coach. This was especially useful at night as these class numerals and coach numbers were clearly visible, being illuminated from behind from within the vehicle. I have called this the 'toplight' era 3. No vehicles of era 3 were built as plain trailers for EMU’s but a large number of them were converted from steam service to plain trailers, the regions from which they were appropriated (including PE) being short changed with era 1 coaches from the Reef that were considered too old for conversion. The greatest number of era 3 vehicles was allocated to the Natal System to replace obsolete ex-NGR 34’ and 36’6” clerestory stock used on the Durban and Pietermaritzburg suburban services.

In the diagram books SAR made no distinction between the eras as the internal layouts and dimensions were the same. For example, second class coaches of type O-15 had examples of all 3 eras, despite their obvious and significant external differences. In 1935 the final major design change was made when the compartments where there was no door had their drop lights reduced from three to two, giving the vehicles a more modern appearance. Although the first vehicles built in era 4 had raised mouldings around the panels between the drop lights, this was soon dispensed with as they were really only dirt collectors and no doubt added to the cost of building. This final development with relatively smooth sides included many coaches built for the Reef Electrification in 1935 and expansion in the late 1940’s and mid-1950’s of electric and steam services throughout the country. It continued until the last timber bodied suburban coach was built in 1963.

In terms of SAR suburban vehicle identification, the following rule of thumb applied: First class coaches had 4 side doors if they had a toilet, 5 if not. Second class coaches had 5 doors a side but differed from the firsts without toilets since the additional compartment, in the same length of coach did not have a door at the end. Third class coaches had 6 doors per side. There were obviously composite coaches and brake ends for which this rule did not apply."

The coach developments and usage from 1971 until the end of SAR in 1981 will be described in Part 2 of our history of the PE suburban service.

In our time period for this chapter there were eight stations between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage (but only seven up to 1947). I have posted the story in geographical order from PE to Uitenhage. As we advance to the next station I have tried to post the oldest photos first, progressing from there to 1970. Note that PE - Uitenhage trains are "Up" and the reverse direction is "Down" (with the exception of snobbish Cape Town, all trains heading for, or in the general direction of, Johannesburg are "Up").

1. Port Elizabeth's main station as built, soon after its opening in 1875. The corner "baggage room" and the two storeys depicted still exist today.

Thanks to Bruce Brinkman, who has set out the timetables so that we can read them here, we are able to provide you with the train service as it was eight years after the service to Uitenhage began in September 1875. Note that there is no De Mist as yet, but there is a Cuyler Manor. A halt was put there to serve the descendants of General Jacob Glen Cuyler, Landdrost of Uitenhage from 1806 to 1827 who lived in a Cape Dutch-style farmhouse not far from the railway. Before WWI the halt had become disused, possibly as a result of early motor transport, but soon after the war a new station named after another estwhile Cape Governor was built to serve the new suburb of De Mist. In 1977 the new Cuyler Manor workshops were opened with the intention of eventually closing the old railway workshops in Uitenhage Town. By the end of the decade it became necessary to have a halt to serve the Cuyler Manor workshop's employees and thus the name was re-instated.

We have included, for comparison, the timetables for 1929 (when the service was still operated by the sprightly class O3 4-4-0s) and 1940 (by which time the 10B/10BR 4-6-2s had taken over). Note that the most rapid train in 1940 did the journey in 35 minutes (including three stops) as compared with 50 minutes by the 1970s. In fairness it should be mentioned that train weights had increased considerably in the interim due to the changeover from CGR coaches to SAR standard designs and increases in train length.

This is the service that would have been worked by No 08 (see photo 43 below) in 1929, note especially 172-up, the 17:52 departure with its start-to-stop schedule of 42 minutes for the 21 miles including stops at North End, Sydenham and Swartkops.

Check this: 264-up, the businessman's limited-stop service, was timetabled 41 minutes for the 21 miles with five intermediate stops, an electrifying, if not electric, schedule. You can't do that by car today but of course in your car you have many more stops, all unscheduled. As you will see in Part 2, not even diesel haulage today can manage this. Note also that the last train left at 23:15, great if you lived in Uitenhage and wanted to go to the cinema in PE - and that on an all-stations timing of 45 minutes, something else you can't do by train today.

And this: 225-down daily Uitenhage to PE with three intermediate stops in 35 minutes for the 21 miles.

2. We have used this photograph by EH Short c 1896 before. It shows what probably was a Uitenhage local about to depart with an 'improved' Cape 1st-class 4-4-0T+T by Neilson & Co as described by Holland (Volume I page 25). Removal of the umbrella roofing from the platforms would reveal that in 2019 the structure is substantially the same after almost 150 years (the only major visible change would be the additional two storeys to the office buildings on the right). Note the gent posing with his peg-leg. He was probably a CGR shunter, and could even be the signalman famous for employing a baboon to throw his point levers (see photo 106)

3. From the late 1930s onwards a stand-out feature of the service was its employment of the class 10 Pacifics and their derivatives originally introduced on the CSAR by P A Hyde. The low-slung, high-wheeled passenger engines of the CSAR were seriously good performers both in terms of power and speed. This was 10B 752 one of the last two survivors in original condition. They were never rebuilt and were finally withdrawn in 1960 - not long after Les took the introductory picture and this one.

4. When A G Watson became CME he soon put his stamp on the designs of his predecessors - in the shape of the Watson standard boiler. That revered locomotive historian, D F Holland, bemoaned the fact that this ruined the classical lines of D A Hendrie's locomotives. But there weren't many complaints about how the tens looked with a standard boiler, surely because the well-proportioned Hyde cabs were retained. See how well it sits on this 10BR backing its train into PE station.

5. From c 1930 the 10As and 10Bs were fitted with Watson standard No 1 boilers when shopped for heavy overhaul, only 752 and 757 escaping the process. This was famous 10BR 760, stationed at Uitenhage for more than three decades; during most of this time she was in the care of driver Cliffie Brockett who maintained her in the condition shown in Les's photo.

The apparatus with two vertically-mounted cylinders alongside the boiler is not an air compressor for braking; it is a Hendrie steam reverser and notcher-upper.

6. The 10BRs looked right and they were right, perhaps the most successful of Watson's reboilerings in terms of performance and certainly in looks. Interesting what an effect retention of the Hyde cab had on the gravitas of the engine. #756 was about to head back to Sydenham after bringing in a Uitenhage working. In the background is an ex CGR main line saloon.

7. One of PA Hyde's perfectly-proportioned class 10 passenger engines, No 738 of 1904 couples up to 10BR 756 before the pair of them head off to Sydenham for a well-earned rest. In the background is the same ex CGR main line saloon.

8. Bulled-up 10BR 760 moves off from platform 1 with an up Uitenhage while a signalman looks on from his enviable vantage point. The cabin itself was an example of the traditional English-style structures that could be found all over the SAR until comparatively recent times. Bearing in mind our promise in the first paragraph, further on you will find views of this cabin from all angles. The Campanile clock in the background shows the departure time of the train: 12h55.

9. Different day, different train, same engine. In full regalia, Cliffie Brockett's 10BR 760 wearing all her war medals, takes out an evening Uitenhage semi-fast. Sad to say, #760 only had a few more months to live; the years of starting and stopping heavy suburban trains on tight schedules had taken their toll and soon after Les made this photo in January 1960 she broke her frame, thereby becoming the first of the 10th classes to be withdrawn from service, not without a public outcry from her patrons in Uitenhage and Despatch.

10. A down Uitenhage or Swartkops with 10BR 751 approaches the terminus with a consist that appears to be all 3rd class, in January 1960. The bricks stacked on the right, as well as the workman's gang in the distance, spell doom for the Victorian-style manually operated signals. Removal of the fourth track under the gantry by deviating it to the right of the separate three-doll bracket signal was the prelude to elimination of mechanical signalling and complete remodelling of PE's track layout to accommodate four extra platforms. The whole project took several years to complete.

When she arrived at Sydenham this same month #751 was almost certainly less tired mechanically than her 13 Port Elizabeth sisters; she had been employed on undemanding station pilot duties at Kimberley for the previous 15 years.

11. For all you railway modellers, a view of the upwind side of the gantry. The main boards were all in traditional red with a white band (as shown in photo 12 of Part 9 of the Cape Midland story), although smoke from countless trains had stained most of the arms as well as the silver-painted posts and bridge lattice work and no one was going to paint them again when they only had a year or so to live. You can also see the afore-mentioned three-poster with its interesting array of arms and skirting it on the left is the temporary track laid to replace the down goods road that formerly occupied the space under the main gantry (see previous photo).

12. A view showing the lattice construction (and the smoke stains) in more detail. Note that the recently erected three-doll bracket signal is still relatively unstained.

13. Also for the benefit of our modelling friends here is another angle on PE's classical signal cabin covered in grime with not long to go before the end of its working life. Enlargement of the photo revealed that the signalman seemed to be blowing his nose, or perhaps just covering it with his hankey to avoid inhaling that fragrant coal smoke.

14. Dead side on so you can take measurements. The man up the ladder is refuelling the oil lamps. The man in uniform holding the ladder is ensuring the ladder doesn't slip (that's his job) and the other two gents are there to tell them what to do next.

15. And this is how the rear side looked with a down Swartkops-PE just pulling in (there was no turntable at Swartkops).

16. It was shot on Anscochrome which was grainy and is now badly degraded but I couldn't resist giving youse an idea of how #760 looked in colour.....

17. In January 1960 12 class 10s came here to join their younger sister Pacifics after several electrification projects on System 7 (Western Transvaal) completed at the end of the 1950s had rendered them redundant there. This was also originally a colour photo but so far has proved beyond our abilities to restore.

18. The Alexandria mixed making its daily morning departure with class 24 No 3667 in charge. First tank behind the tender is a loco-water feeder and the second is domestic water for remote stations and lineside track personnel. S2 No 3743 in the background is on carriage shunt duties.

19. A day spent roaming the platform ends at PE was incredibly rewarding. In addition to dozens of passenger and mixed trains arriving or departing there were freights, transfer haulers and light engines on their way to or from the harbour. The variety of classes and sub-classes to be seen was probably unique on the SAR; more than 20 in the early fifties and more than 15 in the 1960s. PA Hyde's superb 11th class, still absolutely in their 1904 format, were well used at PE, particularly after transfer of more of them from Postmasburg where they had been employed on the Sishen ore runs until the early 60s. In the left background a 10BR is just departing with an up Uitenhage local.

20. About as traditional a CGR 6th class as you could find, still serving PE in January 1960, 6B 508 complete with oil lamp on her way to the docks for another day's shunting.

21. Class 8B 1132 heading for the Harbour with a hauler from New Brighton while 6A 452 was standing by on the carriage shunts. May 1962. If you care to tap into our System 1 (Cape Western) chapter, Part 7 shows this same 8th-class working an excursion to Caledon in 1973.

22. CGR's flat-sided, match-boarded, oil-lit suburban coaches had no frills and a rather grim and determined air about them, but nevertheless we loved them. They lasted in everday service at PE right into the sixties - quite disrupting the roof-line of Uitenhage trains (see photo 10). Needless to say, the survivors did not carry the new red and grey livery very well. Behind the coaches is PE's gasometer for the central suburbs gas supply - another landmark that disappeared not long after this picture was made.

Thank you Peter Stow for providing the details:

"Only in Port Elizabeth in the early 1960s could you find 3 ex-CGR arc-roofed suburban coaches coupled together. The photographer was wise in recording them as it wouldn't be long before all three would be scrapped. Of greater significance is that they were very much in their original condition and somehow never had corridors or end doors fitted - borne out by the fact that all the swing doors are still in place. Note the side steps running the full length of the vehicles, thus facilitating ticket collecting from outside - something else that wouldn't be allowed by the Rail Safety Regulator today. The lack of centre corridors may also explain their pending scrapping. The electrical jumper cables at the nearest coach end allowed provision of lighting from adjacent more modern vehicles, as these CGR coaches did not have axle-mounted generators or batteries. The nearest coach was 2nd-class 5663 of SAR type O-6 built by the Gloucester Carriage & Wagon Co and placed in service in August 1904. With 8 compartments it was of the same family as 4684 described in photo 79. Like many coaches of this vintage, it was downgraded and stencilled third class without structural modification. It was scrapped at Uitenhage in June 1961. The second vehicle is 4630 of type L-6, a sister of 4684 described in photo 97 and of the same family as 5663 above. It was built by the Birmingham C & W Co, placed in service in July 1904 and scrapped at Uitenhage in June 1961.

The third vehicle was first class coach 4575 of type L-5, built by the Metropolitan Amalgamated C & W Co and placed in service in May 1898. It was also converted to third class in Bloemfontein in March 1959, and the new type would have been S-83 but it would appear that official records were not amended. It was scrapped in Uitenhage in August 1961."

23. An interesting coach, photographed at PE in May 1962 when it looked close to ex-works. It ought to be mentioned that Uitenhage Works did exceptionally sound overhauls.

Peter Stow has provided the history of this vehicle: "The Port Elizabeth suburban service had an interesting allocation of coaching stock, not the least of which was timber bodied composite number 5091. This unique coach was built in 1904 by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage and Wagon Company [of Birmingham] for the progressive CSAR as a driving trailer and was semi-permanently coupled to a steam locomotive. This unit could then be driven either from the locomotive in one direction or from the coach in the other, obviating the need to run the locomotive around. It operated in the Pretoria area. Looking at the photograph, the first window from the right adjacent to the first class section was the driving compartment while the two windows from the left adjacent to the second class section provided baggage accommodation. As built the sides had sheet metal panelling which was later replaced with dado boards. At Union this vehicle was numbered M-1 of type U-8. In December 1928 it was re-numbered 6347. The baggage section must have become superfluous because seats were then fitted in that area and the vehicle emerged from the Pretoria Works in August 1932 as 5091 of new type M-39. It is not known exactly when this vehicle ceased to operate as a driving trailer but it was prior to 1942. The coach was transferred to PE, no doubt after electrification of lines on the Reef.

The coach was scrapped in Uitenhage works in April 1971 after no less than 67 years in service, which speaks volumes of the high standard of maintenance undertaken by the then Mechanical Department of the SAR.

The CSAR later built their own centre-entrance vehicles on old underframes, totalling 6 of 2 types with no drivers compartment and 3 of one type with a drivers compartment. One of the former viz. 5092 has been preserved."

24. No 6006, a beautiful carriage, and nice to see it full of regular patrons on the 17:10 to Uitenhage in June 1962.

Again Peter has come to our rescue with its history: "This ex-CSAR gem was one of a family of 9 vehicles of three types built in 1903, also by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage & Wagon Company, for Reef suburban services. One of the types was a second, luggage and brake composite of which 6006 was one of three numbered 6005 to 6007. It was classified P-5 at Union and the design was based on American practice at the time with flat sides and fixed quarter lights above the window . Although the other 2 type P-5’s had relatively short lives on the Reef, 6006 was transferred to PE and was well maintained by Uitenhage Works. It was reclassified first class without modification in March 1965, becoming type N-3. It was officially withdrawn in November 1975 after 72 years of service. Fortunately 6006 has been preserved as well."

25. There was always interesting activity: loading the mail for 438-up, May 1962. To the right in the background is an ex CSAR second class main line coach of type E-11 which was converted to 1st & 2nd composite of type D-27-C. The roofs of the CSAR balcony coaches differed from those of the SAR. The upper roof of the CSAR coaches curved down to the end of the lower roof in an arc while those of the SAR formed what was called a “swan neck” end, based on NGR designs under Mr Hendrie and also similar to CGR practice.

Overseeing all the to-ing and fro-ing in the station below was the SANLAM building, the top floors of which were occupied by the notorious Security Branch of the Apartheid government.

26. The late Don Baker was not a self-advertiser but he knew what was going on and, especially, he knew what to look out for. This is his take of unrebuilt 10B 752 departing for Uitenhage in the late 1950s.

27. The two unrebuilt 10Bs were withdrawn soon after the arrival of the class 10s from the Western Transvaal system in January 1960. Henceforth their duties were carried out by the older class 10s which were very similar in performance although they were not popular because they had a ‘Johnson bar’ reverse lever, no steam or screw reverse. If the driver wasn’t standing securely when notching up it could flip him across the cab! Here is a 10 with the 17:05 New Brighton in May 1962. On the right is a 10BR with the 17:10 Uitenhage.

28. Uitenhage's gun engine, 10BR 760 was withdrawn with a cracked mainframe early in 1960. She was mourned by all her regular customers, many who had been commuting behind her for years. During most of her Cape Midland career she was the pride of Uitenhage shed, cared for by a succession of exceptional railwaymen; Cliffie Brockett being the last.

10BR 759 seen above was sent to replace her and she too was kept immaculate, but somehow the aura that had built up around #760 over decades was missing. Here is #759 departing with the 17:38 Uitenhage in May 1962. Note how the engine is scrubbed clean, even under the smokebox. The 19D on the right was about to depart with the 17:43 to Swartkops.

From Peter Stow:"The first two coaches of the 17:38 are ex Cape Town type 1M 1500v EMU motor coaches, only 4 of which were converted for steam operation in PE in 1959, still with their heavy Linke Hoffman underframes, original bogies but all electrical paraphernalia removed."

29. S2 3731 backing into the harbour to pick up a transfer (hauler) to New Brighton marshalling yard. Check the gent scrambling suicidally across the tracks just after the S2 had passed - he was trying to catch the departing train to Uitenhage. He made it!

30. There was seldom a lull in activities. This was a random simultaneous departure of an S2 (No 3731) on a PE Harbour to New Brighton hauler, with 52-up, the 11:30 am erstwhile PE-Cape Town "Boat Express", hauled by 12R 1959 in May 1962. The signal arms with "O's" are starters admitting to the main line, top one on the left for the goods main to New Brighton while the second, lower one on the right is for the Passenger main to North End. Why the platform points appear to be manually operated by tumblers is a mystery but it is probably to do with the remodelling of the station.

31. This particular Saturday a month later found 242-up, the 11:45 to Uitenhage departing ahead of 12AR 2129 on 52-up the "Boat Train" which was scheduled to depart at 11:30. Not only was the latter running late; it was departing from a different platform to the one shown in photo 25. This same train is shown arriving and departing from Uitenhage in Part 13.

The manually-dug trench on the left was the first evidence that SAR really did intend to lengthen the platforms.

32. Swivelling around for the going-away shot brought the realisation that PE station without its gantry had lost a great deal of its charm. In preparation for building the new signal cabin the venerable erection had been removed and replaced by a single post splitting home (station and harbour) with illuminated route indicator which can be seen in the middle background.

33. The 08:40 mixed to Alexandria getting out of town behind its regular (by the 1950s) class 24 while a New Brighton - PE Harbour transfer freight waits at the home signals. I think four of those loafers are Post Office 'workers' waiting to offload mailbags from an incoming train (please don't tell me they were railway 'workers'.....).

34. Class 6 Belpaire 413 struggling to get under way with a heavy looking hauler to New Brighton, made up of fuel for the Little Karoo. The single ES spacer wagon was not according to the General Appendix. Those fuel trailers were an SAR Mechanical Department invention. They were designed to fit one into an ES truck or two into a DZ. Extremely successful they served platteland dorps via the Road Motor Service for decades. The Road Transportation act of 1977 took away their usefulness before management could wipe the sleep out of their eyes.

35. Haulers could be short or long depending on which customers were being served. The solitary departmental (ie yellow-painted) DZ seems to be loaded with crates of stuff being carted by 6B 538 to one of the North End private sidings. The load does not appear to be tied down at any point, making the accompanying shunters position between the boxes quite hazardous. Nowadays this certainly would be frowned upon by the Rail Safety Regulator.

36. Class 7 No 980 was making up a main-line fuel block load, a bit later to leave town behind one or two 15Fs as shown in photo 11 in Part 9. The man leaning on the signal post stay wire is my late Dad enjoying all the activity.

37. The Harbour shunt engines would gather at a sort of 'loco' near the entrance, generally the wharf shunters would be S2s or older power while haulers were handled by the 11s, but this frequently changed, particularly at the change around of engines from Sydenham.

38. Enough of departing trains. We'll have a couple of inbound ones before departing all stations to Uitenhage. This was 10BR 759 (by then a Uitenhage engine, having taken over #760's mantle) bringing in a morning load of businessmen. June 1962.

39. At the buffer stops. 10BR 753 just in from Uitenhage having a quick grease around before heading back up to the Garden City - note the fireman's leather apron. This was January 1959 and change was beginning: those plain but serviceable SAR standard buffer stops had only recently replaced the original single-post hydraulic ones.

40. We'll finish the terminus photos with an evening shot of an inbound 3rd-class-only from New Brighton in February 1964. The shell of the hideous new facebrick signal cabin is now complete and ready for equipping as soon as the relay room on this side is ready. The new station will be fully automated with all mod-cons.

41. Well, not quite finished. That's #759 again, waiting to proceed light engine to Sydenham. I confess I like this one; it shows the station pretty much as it had been since the 1920s (except for the signal gantry and the ugly modern buildings in the background). The hand digging for the foundations of the platform extensions had not begun and the place is still tidy.

42. Time to move on to North End, first station out from Port Elizabeth. This, according to EH Short, is how it looked in 1896. The engine shed is out of sight on the right. You can see what it looked like if you scroll to photo 17 in Part 1 of the Midland Main Line story.

43. Class O3 No 08 standing on the main line at North End c 1925. Whether it was coupled to a wagon is hard to distinguish so we can't tell if it is a goods train, a mixed or a light engine. These handsome 4-4-0s with their 5'-0" driving wheels and tractive effort of 18,745 lbs (85%) were designed by the CGR's CME, H M Beatty, for suburban passenger service in Cape Town and were built in two batches by Sharp Stewart in 1901 and 1903. No 08 was one of the second batch; the nought preceding its number meant it had been classified as obsolete by the newly-formed SAR in 1912. In spite of this, upon their transfer to Port Elizabeth they continued to provide satisfactory service for another 20+ years on suburban trains and fill-in local goods workings. They were described as "Cape 3rd Class" in the General Manager's annual reports which show withdrawals only beginning in 1931.

44. The names of the crew are unfortunately not known, but please note that wearing a collar and tie to your driving job was not a tradition started by electric and diesel drivers.......

45. Towards the end of the twenties train loads had began to exceed the class 03's haulage capacities so their work was taken over by the Belpaire Sixes and these more powerful 6Gs, this one, No 610 standing outside North End Shed beautifully photographed by Frank Holland c 1930. With 22,500 lbs of tractive effort the 6Gs were slightly more powerful than the Belpaire sixes with their 21,200 lbs but both types could out-perform a Cape Third Class on the Uitenhage run.

46. Approaching North End in January 1960 is what was by then a very rare machine almost at the end of its life - 10B 752, one of the last two unrebuilt 10Bs, withdrawn later that year.

The 10Bs began to arrive at Port Elizabeth upon completion of the Reef and Johannesburg-Pretoria electrification in the late 1930s. They soon took over from the sixth classes and would rule the Uitenhage run for the next three decades by which time all except two had received Watson No 1 standard boilers.

47. By 1962 the 10Bs had gone and two-tone colour schemes for the coaches were being introduced. This was probably the same working as in Les's photo, almost at the same location, drifting into North End station. The signal cabin was at the western end of North End. It looks like a temporary structure but I can't tell you anything more about it.

48. Displaced by class 33 diesels from their home shed at Queenstown, towards the end of 1965 there was an invasion of 15th classes on the Cape Midland. Among them was a rare specimen, 15A 1845, built by Beyer Peacock in 1920 and one of only six members of this 119-strong class never to receive a Watson standard boiler. The Hendrie Belpaire boiler with its combustion chamber steamed much better than the Watson No 2B standard one so, unsurprisingly, there was a scramble to have her for a regular engine when she arrived at Sydenham. Accordingly, she was allocated to Uitenhage shed thereby almost automatically becoming the regular engine of driver Laurie Wright and fireman Willie Meyer. They kept their 45-year old machine looking like a new one. As you will see, the 15As had style, the rebuilds might best be described as utilitarian.

The photo shows 1845 coming to a halt at North End with the 11:30 am 236-up PE-Uitenhage in June 1968. In the background, with a couple of cars on it, is the new freeway that effectively cut off the city from its two busiest suburban stations - the terminus and North End. In fact, after completion of the freeway North End could only be reached by railwaymen working in the vicinity. SAR never complained, they didn't mind as long as their staff could get to work.

49. An unknown and unusually unkempt 10BR restarting an Up Uitenhage from North End in July 1962. Serving as it did the adjacent suburbs and factories the station was always busy and still largely as it had been since the 19th century, the buildings were the original ones and it still had its standard lattice footbridge. To accommodate the freeway the railway was deviated here and the old station building and footbridge replaced with modern ones. After the freeway was built the station became inaccessible to pedestrians from the inland side.

50. The stretch from North End to Sydenham was a corridor through industrial sites, nearly every one served by its own private siding (all gone now). Long-distance workings usually had a wheel on their trains by here and it was a thrill to stand at the Broad Street level crossing and watch the 15F of 438 come thundering by (see Dave Parsons photo 19 in Part 9). Somewhat more mundane was this down Uitenhage-PE local, its 10BR already shut off for North End.

51. Class 10 No 743 serving the private sidings between North End and Sydenham. Old P A Hyde would not have approved but this was towards the very end of their working lives in February 1970.

52. Early in 1966, soon after her transfer from Queenstown, Leith photographed 1845 on 216-up, the 06:56 PE-Uitenhage braking to a stop in Sydenham. As you see, passenger trains were well used in those days. Note the standard SAR lattice footbridge in use before electrification precluded their use.

53. Another Anscochrome shows 10B 752 or 757 (can't tell you which one) restarting an evening local from Sydenham in July 1957. Upon restarting, each exhaust beat was like a loud canon shot. I can remember that noise as if it was yesterday.

54. Ex-works 10BR 751 accelerating away from Sydenham with an evening PE-Uitenhage local in February 1967. This may well have been the last 10BR to be shopped. A few interesting points: although she has an awful new sealed-beam headlight, she has escaped the latter-day affliction of a stove-pipe chimney - in fact it is a brand-new one to the original Watson design. Also, note the split front coupler knuckle. As late as 1967 it seems it was still thought necessary to make provision for link-and-pin couplings (or perhaps it just happened to be available in Stores). Note that American-style knuckle couplers were introduced by the CSAR in 1904.

On the left is a row of standard SAR railwayman's houses. Leith's comment: "with a steam-operated suburban main line and shunting yard on one side and a loco shed on the other it must have been a challenge to keep the washing clean".

55. From whichever angle you looked at them the 10BRs looked as if they meant business. Not long after the previous photo 10BR 758 was leaving Sydenham with a more uniform rake of steam suburban stock. Note the solid knuckle coupler!

56. Had he visited Port Elizabeth in the 1960s PA Hyde would probably have been delighted to see so many of the locomotives that he designed still at work. In July 1957 this 11th class was doing shunting and serving the private sidings based on Sydenham. It is interesting to recall that the entire class of 36 engines of 1904 survived intact into the 1970s - 35 on the SAR and one that had been bought by ISCOR some 30 years earlier. On the extreme left is the General Motors assembly plant and on the left horizon, the EP Cement works.

57. A better survivor of my flirtation with Anscochrome is this one of a class 24 drifting into Sydenham with a Swartkops-PE local, on that same visit in July 1957.

58. A down Uitenhage-PE slowing for Sydenham in June 1962. The two gents carrying their trommels are footplatemen who have just come off shift at Sydenham shed, which you can see in the background. It seemed to be the practice to walk across the tracks to get to the railway houses, which were right behind me. Taken from a footbridge that features in the next photo this is a good view of Creek Junction. The tracks in the foreground lead to major industrial sites in this part of Port Elizabeth; the left hand one went to the General Motors factory and several other businesses. The right hand one was quite long, heading for several miles via city streets to the old North End power station, as well as other industries along the way.

59. That is the footbridge I stood on for the previous photo. S2 3733 had crept up behind me and was dutifully standing here, having pushed those empty wagons as far as the board that says "STOP" and "WAIT FOR HAND SIGNAL".

60. The lines to the industrial areas were busy and quite long, as already mentioned, the right-hand one goes (went) almost all the way back to PE because it served the the old power station close to town. This S2 was backing into the sorting yard at Sydenham (on the left, known as the Creek yard - thank you Peter Odell) which as you can see was jam-packed with business, while an up PE-Swartkops charges by. Operating sensibly preferred to use class 24s on the Swartkops and New Brighton workings as there were no turntables at either place.

61. My last exposure on this roll of Anscochrome was of the train that took me back to PE arriving at Sydenham. Only just caught it too, by hurdling across the tracks. In Britain one could be jailed for trying that. On the left is the class 11 that is in photo 56, still busy sorting wagons for the industrial sites.

62. An up Uitenhage galloping along the straight alongside Sydenham loco some time in 1970, and this is the first time this chapter features a 16R, recently transferred from Greyville. The Sydenham exchange yard on the right is still crammed with traffic (note the EP Cement bulk tankers).

63. A bit further along on the same straight, a class 24 with a down Swartkops train. Not a remarkable photo but I like the way it shows how neat and tidy everything was in May 1962. You should see it now...... Pride seems to have flown out the window along with the customers. Most of these once-busy tracks have either been stolen or uplifted.

64. Reverting to Kodachrome in January 1959 resulted in problems with blurred moving trains again, this one only partially OK because the train had slowed for the signal. This was a typical formation of the fifties with two flat-sided (and narrow) CGR suburban coaches.

65. An S2 on a transfer run from PE harbour to New Brighton with a load of sawlogs destined for one of the SAR Carriage and Wagon shops. In 1962 SAR was still importing giant teak logs from Burma on a large scale, no longer for sleepers (too expensive for that) but for wooden carriages (both mainline and suburban) and for the bodies of goods vehicles such as guards vans, fruit vans, cattle trucks, reefers, and TZ cool trucks.

66. The Alexandria mixed, 08:40 off PE, with a class 24 in charge, coming past the same location.

67. 15A 1845 again on the Sydenham-New Brighton straight. Majestic is perhaps the best way to describe a Hendrie engine in full flight.

68. ..... but not after they were equipped with Watson standard boilers. "Utilitarian", I think, was the word we used. Nevertheless, 12R 1933 was ripping out the notes on its way from New Brighton to Sydenham with a down Uitenhage-PE in January 1970. Their driving wheels were only 4'-3" in diameter but they could motor along at 60mph with ease which says a lot for Hendrie's knowledge of steam circuits. The recently reballasted tracks are (from the left): Up and down (recently doubled) service lines from New Brighton marshalling yard to the Creek sorting yard, Up and down passenger mains, Up and down goods mains and two bi-directional lines that served PE Harbour and Deal Party goods shed.

69. We have elsewhere opined that the only engines that carried the Watson standard boiler well were the various class 10s (and, of course, the 5th classes 725 and 781). I'm sure it was the retention of the original cabs that had a lot to do with it. As with this view of #759 daintily wheeling down the hill to Sydenham in mid 1964. Note the New Brighton - Creek yard link on the left before it was doubled and cleaned up (previous picture).

70. We have previously described how busy the industrial private sidings were in PE and how the exchange yards were chronically congested. Until the end of the sixties the two tracks on the left that linked New Brighton marshalling yard with Sydenham's 'Creek' exchange yard were single, but the growth in the number of haulers between the yards led to its doubling in 1969 - at least the doubled link had about ten years of good use. These two tracks duck under the main line close to New Brighton - you can just see the underpass on the left-hand edge of the picture. The train, by the way is a down Swartkops heading for PE.

71. We now come to one of the anomalies of the Midland network. At Swartkops four tracks suddenly became two single-track main lines. It was common to see several trains queuing for a slot in the diagrams as in this case where the up goods main has two trains waiting for a Uitenhage local to come through (this was before the layout changes at Swartkops). The track on the right is the service line to the power station.

72. Some people had the gift of being in the right place at the right time, and Dusty Durrant was one of them. He knew what was important and where and when to go to get it, as in the case of this wonderfully executed crossing shot at the Swartkops home signals in the Spring of 1967. Once again, how dainty are those 10BRs and how impressive No 6006, the ex CSAR businessman's coach behind the engine. The train on the left is accelerating away from Swartkops towards PE and the one on the right is drifting in on a Uitenhage working.

73. Further illustrating the congestion theme is this one of a PE bound local pulling out of Swartkops while 6 Belpaire 439 and an unknown class 33 diesel wait their turn for access to the main line.

74. My first sighting ever of this magnificent machine. Not knowing it was coming I almost forgot to take the picture. 15A 1845 departing Swartkops with the morning posh commuter, 217-down 1st & 2nd-class only, 07:02 off Uitenhage, arriving in PE at 07:51. Appropriately, right behind the engine is coach 6006, the 1st-class smoker's saloon. February 1968.

75. Soon after 1845 came 221-down, the third commuter turn of the morning. The engine, 10BR 759 was every bit as cared for as 1845.

76. In between commuter runs the engines and their crews were expected to fill in with local freight turns, this was #1845 with an evening Uitenhage-New Brighton goods in June 1968.

77. Wide-cab class 6 No 429 shunting the Union Carbide factory at Swartkops, June 1968.

78. Arrival of an all third-class Swartkops turn in February 1968.

79. On Tuesday 27 April 1971 Class 16R 791 has run around train number 262, the 15:45 from PE, well within the 11 minutes allotted at Swartkops and is ready to return to PE at 16:15. Second vehicle in the consist is No 4684, an ex-CGR first class arc-roofed coach of type A6 built at Salt River and placed in service in April 1909. It was classified SAR type L6 after Union. It represented the end of CGR suburban coach development and had seven compartments. After electrification of the Cape suburban services from 1928 many older CGR coaches were scrapped but a number were given a new lease of life by fitting them with end doors and a through corridor so that they could be used with more modern stock. Alternate side doors were also closed off. Coach 4684 underwent this conversion at Salt River in February 1931. It would appear that it did service in the Durban suburban area and was converted to 1st & 2nd composite with no structural change and only one compartment kept for 1st class, becoming type M-47-C. It was transferred to PE at a date unknown and eventually scrapped at Uitenhage in April 1976. The third coach was number 6653, then third class type S-51. It was the only one of the 4 ex-type 1M motor coaches from Cape Town which had become driving trailers after conversion of the system from 1500v to 3000v in 1955, then converted for steam operation in PE in early 1959, that was not a third class and brake van.

80. Here is the other side of ex CSAR coach 6006 paused at Swartkops, still with lots of passengers. Once I rode on the back balcony all the way from PE to Uitenhage. Not very nice if the guard keeps the door to the balcony locked (which he did) you're practically committed to remain there for the duration (which I did).

81. No 273-down from Uitenhage contained a parcels van for GPO business to Port Elizabeth and beyond. Unusually hauled by a 24 class the train* is arriving at Swartkops ahead of a down block coal working behind double-headed 15Fs standing at the home signals.

* Fourth coach from the engine is unique No 5091, fully described by Peter Stow in the caption to photo 23.

82. The passenger with 10BR 756 in charge is 216-up to Uitenhage. The double-header is a combined working to save line occupation; No 100-up to Aloes. The class 24 No 3634 was on a short working to SAR's Koegakop ballast quarry and 6 Belpaire 439 was on the Coega saltpans train. It was waiting for an inbound commuter working to arrive - next picture.

83. On the right, just rolling into Swartkops, is 235-down, all 3rd class from Uitenhage. The other trains are as described in the previous picture.

84. 10BR 753 departing Swartkops with an up Uitenhage in February 1968.

85. 236-up departing Swartkops behind 15A 1845 in February 1968.

86. Class 15A 1845 blasting out of Swartkops (those are the home signals behind the train) with the early morning departure, 216-up 06:56 off PE. That the 48-year old engine was in good nick is beyond doubt, manifested by the smoke ring launching skywards.

87. Moments later she slammed onto the bridge over the Swartkops Power Station coolant race, that water vapour is a result of the high temperature of the stream. Has that engine got style or what?

88. I'm so besotted with #1845 that you might be forgiven for thinking that the 15A did most of the work on the Uitenhage line. Not so, of course. Until Hendrie's 16th classes arrived from Natal the bulk of the jobs were handled by the 10BRs, No 756 here panned over the same bridge.

89. We are extremely grateful to the Library for preserving this exceptionally rare print of a Cape 1st-class 4-4-0T standing at Redhouse c 1880. And lucky too - at least the photo has been preserved. The library seems uninterested in railway history and no description or date of what must have been a special occasion can be found.

90. E H Short's study of Redhouse station in 1896. Since all his equipment was usually in the first (4-wheeled) carriage behind the engine, one wonders if this obviously posed shot wasn't a special train for his benefit.

91. Some 30 years later Redhouse had become a posh suburb on the right bank of the Swartkops River, which served as a useful raceway for yachtsmen.

92. Pulling away from the halt at Perseverance is 10BR 756 in showroom condition. In those days (May 1962) all there was here was a platform and nameboard. No siding, no passing loop and no signals. That's my Austin A40 on the right.

93. The regal 15A 1845 hurrying 217-down and its full complement of businessmen in June 1968. Seconds later she shut off for the stop at Perseverance, seemingly too late, but the Sydenham and Uitenhage crews knew how to stop those 300-ton locals on a tickey [Saffa slang for a threepenny piece].

94. Excepting for the first two wagons, 306-up goods seems to be conveying crates of imported components from PE Harbour to the Volkswagen factory at Uitenhage. The light coloured DZs were actually yellow, which meant they were reserved for departmental and/or short-haul traffic. In the six years since photo 81 was made, Perseverance had acquired a passing loop, a goods shed and a siding to serve it.

With long-lap, long-lead, valve events in common with the class 10s, these 11s were noisy engines. Straight-ported cylinders facilitated by outside admission valves and free-flowing steam circuits put their designer, PA Hyde of the CSAR, ahead of the pack in 1904 although they really only came into their own upon being superheated some ten years later. The 11s were freight 2-8-2s with 4ft diameter drivers but they could, and did, cruise mile after mile at 60 mph as Peter Stow and I experienced when chasing a delivery run of a pair of seventy-year old 11s on their way to the OFS gold mines in 1974. Also worth mentioning is that several 11s went on to become centenarians in service.

95. By the 1960s, after more than 50 years of stopping and starting heavy trains in commuter service, the 10BRs were showing increasing signs of old age - beginning with the cracked frame of 10BR 760 in 1960. As soon as electrification of the outer-suburban commuter lines from Durban was completed, late in 1968 all 14 of Greyville Shed's class 16R/CR Pacifics were transferred to Sydenham. Being heavier and more powerful than the 10BRs, by mid 1969 they had successfully taken over the Uitenhage diagrams.

96. Particularly during 1968 the mechanical decline of the 10BRs was made increasingly clear by the frequency with which other power was substituted, in this instance a muscle-bound 12AR 1545 drawing away from Despatch with an evening run to PE in June of that year.

97. Looks like it was a quiet little place in 1896. Another wonderful freezing of time by EH Short.

98. Some 72 years after the previous photo we found 1845 crossing an unrecorded 10BR at Despatch.

99. A class 16R passes the brickworks at Despatch en-route to Uitenhage. The tall chimney is a survivor from the brickworks that once flourished here and the date of its erection, 1882, can be seen from the trains. This was once a flourishing business with its own private siding. The name of the station (and town) comes from the despatching of bricks via the railway.

100. 10BR 751 leaving Despatch with an eleven coach formation to Uitenhage in March 1966. This was before #751's heavy overhaul but you can see the engine is in good nick - no steam leaks!

101. Evening commuter run from Uitenhage to PE with 12AR 1545 in June 1968. This is the same train depicted in photo 96 above.

102. The 17:12 from Uitenhage behind a class 16R approaches the Swartkops River bridge near Despatch. Despite the 100% steam operation, coaches were kept scrupulously clean, as illustrated by the glint off the train. That's the Swartkops River in the foreground.

103. The last rays of a weak, setting sun faintly reflect off 6006 as she makes her umpteenth run to PE behind a 16R, approaching the Swartkops river near Despatch in 1969.

104. This EH Short photo of 1896 depicts the original engine shed at Uitenhage and thanks to Bruce Brinkman we are able to pinpoint its location. The track curving in from the right was the main line from Port Elizabeth. Straight ahead would have taken you to Graaff-Reinet and the dead-end Uitenhage station would be about half-a-mile behind the photographer.

105. Another angle on the engine shed from wider out.

106. We couldn't let you go without a picture of the well-known legless signalman James Wide at Uitenhage and his hard-working assistant, Jack the baboon. You can find several versions of the story of Jack the baboon on Google.

107. The original (1875) terminus in Uitenhage was a dead-end on Mark Street, right in town. We're not sure what the occasion was but this looks like an EH Short picture, probably made on his 1896 trip to the Cape Midlands.

108. About to leave for Port Elizabeth, a busy scene with driver, fireman and guard in typical railwaymen's poses.

109. This is probably an EH Short photo but the original is severely damaged so hard to tell. If it is it would be an 1896 view of Uitenhage with a Cape 3rd-class 4-4-0 (Dubs 1889), number unknown, about to depart with a commuter train to PE. Note that in CGR days all the trains on the Uitenhage run were classified as mixed, and this is borne out by the wooden four-wheeled wagon behind the engine. The Stationmaster's house is prominent above the second coach. What train the main line coaches on the left are for is not known, could be a Graaff-Reinet train?

110. Looking up Market street in 1903. Close to the town center, you can see how user-friendly the situation of the Doll's House was. We don't know for sure (yet) but this photo looks like the work of T D Ravenscroft, a superior photographer to E H Short in every way.

111. A street-side view of the station building c 1925. You can see why it was called "The Doll's House"! Judging by the position of the sun and the attire of the gentlemen coming out of the concourse, the evening businessman's express from Port Elizabeth has just arrived. Those Hansom cabs were a feature of some SAR stations, the ones in Adderley Street outside Cape Town's main station remained in use until the 1960s but I don't know when the Uitenhage one's were discontinued.

112. Trackside of the station c 1925. What with beer advertisements the place was starting to look much more welcoming!

113. Smile please! A photo from the THL archives depicting the station personnel c 1915. We don't know what the occasion was but one thing's for sure: they took their jobs seriously.... The single hydraulic buffers were similar to the ones they used to have in Port Elizabeth.

In 1951 the station was moved to its present site on Bubbs Avenue (named after a former Miss Uitenhage). During the 1970s the new workshops at Cuyler Manor were built and the old workshop site gradually abandoned. By 2019 the original Uitenhage station on Market Street complete with its museum and collection of historical locomotives and coaches had been cut off from the railway by a new shopping mall and other businesses. Thank you Bruno for annotating this Google image.

114. The 06:56 PE-Uitenhage, 216-up arriving behind 15A 1845 in June 1968. She was in a diagram that required her to be serviced and turned around in time for working 227-down back to PE less than an hour later. On the right is the Midland Mechanical Engineer's office.

115. During the course of a full-blown track occupation in 1951 the main line was switched from the original dead-end station to the new one which was not so convenient for commuters but much more convenient for through trains to Graaff-Reinet, Oudtshoorn and Cape Town (see Bruno's map). Soon after the 16R/CRs arrived at Sydenham in 1968/69 Leith found this one bringing an up train into Uitenhage.

116. Peter has provided the caption for his own picture, as usual full of detailed information:

"Morning peak at Uitenhage station. All the platforms are occupied, platforms 1 and 3 with trains for PE and platform 2 with train 208, which arrived from PE at 06:28, its brake end again No 6006, the 1903 CSAR second-class open-plan balcony coach. It has been raining, making it difficult for commuters scurrying for cover, either in the (clean!) waiting room or in the confines of the timber-bodied coaches. Unfortunately SAR did not provide steam heating in suburban sets at coastal areas, despite it being very cold at times, especially in the Cape.

Still with its cowl for operation through the tunnels on the main line, 15F 3087, [recently bumped off the main line by class 33 diesels], is ready to depart with 217-down, the 07:02 first and second class only to PE, while 16CR 834 is ready for its 07:30 departure with train 221. During the little more than a week I spent at Despatch during February 1969 #3087 worked a number of various local trains while 15F 3117 was also observed on one of the evening trains out of PE."

117. Sunday, 9 February 1969 and train 51, the once a week express from Cape Town has made its stop at Uitenhage before its 15h54 departure to PE. It is hauled by class 19D 3333. Alongside is class 24 3650 with train 415, the 16h15 to PE, which will follow hot on the heels of train 51, with possibly some passengers off 51 for intermediate stations where 51 did not stop. [Note from Charlie: that was Peter's caption but he's made no mention of the fact that he's managed to include Martie, Brandon and himself in the shot!]

118. On the left 10BR 751 was coupling up to take the afternoon stopper, 253-down, to PE. Preparatory to working through to the Bay the 19D on the right had just picked up some newly-assembled VWs and added them to the load it had brought through from Klipplaat. July 1962.

119. Class 8BW shunting Uitenhage in February 1970. The "W" indicated the engine was fitted with long-travel piston valves and superheater at the instigation of CME A G Watson. These conversions were carried out during the 1930s and resulted in greatly improved performance. The combination of Stephenson's link motion and long-travel valves produces variable lead resulting in an incredibly loud exhaust, something not appreciated by the townsfolk.

120. In June 1968 the Uitenhage yard pilot was this bulled-up S2. Thanks to Mark Ruddy we can provide you with the names of #3794's driver and fireman, they were Ruben Kemp and 'Alfie' Verkuil, who thankfully is still with us and driving for Metrorail in East London.

121. Class O3 4-4-0 No 09 on the turntable at the old Uitenhage loco. This was the occasion of the retirement of Driver Clark ("Old Till"), well known to railwaymen on the Cape Midland. He joined the service in 1885 at Cradock and in subsequent years was stationed at Noupoort, Kimberley, Rosmead and Graaff-Reinet. For his last 8 years he was on the Uitenhage-Port Elizabeth run (known by enginemen as "the old man's link") and during that period covered 250,000 miles without any serious accident. In the photograph he and his fireman are shown with their favourite engine.

122. The new Uitenhage shed (built 1950/51) was hard by the passenger station on the Klipplaat side. For nearly 30 years there was at least one, sometimes two 10BRs stationed there, each with regular crews. I kid you not, this was the condition they kept them in - always. The most famous partnership was 10BR 760 and her regular driver Cliffie Brockett. 10BR 760 sadly expired in mid-1960 but by June 1968 her successor, #759, was no longer stationed at Uitenhage, her place having been taken by #750 as shown above.

123. In June 1968 both 10BR 750 and 15A 1845 were allocated to Uitenhage. Both were immaculate.

124. Coming on shed is #1845 making an entrance like a duchess in a Bentley. In the middle is a 15F waiting for shops and one of the Uitenhage workshop S2 shunters is on the right. Being a kind of staging point for locomotives on their way to or from the Uitenhage 'shops the shed frequently had surprises. June 1968.

125. There were short distance local goods train workings on the main line, in particular to the brickworks at Couga, the ballast quarry at Koegakop near Aloes and the abattoir at Aloes. John shows 6 Belpaire 439 on the Couga run departing from Swartkops in February 1970. On the right you can see the first signs of major changes to come - the complete remodelling of Swartkops track layout to permit parallel movements of trains for the main line and the Uitenhage line, and the elimination of the level crossing seen in this picture.

126. We'll now move away from the Uitenhage line and catch a brief glimpse of local workings on the main line. These consisted of short-haul freights and branch-line workings to Kirkwood and Alexandria. After the 10s were transferred from the Witwatersrand only one or two found work on commuter runs, the rest went into local freight service of the most ordinary kind, T&Ps, yard pilots and haulers. This was a livestock hauler from New Brighton marshalling yard to the municipal abattoir at Aloes. February 1968.

127. The saltpans at Coega were served by a daily goods that until c 1970 was invariably hauled by a sixth class, frequently Belpaire 6 No 439, here taking a rush at the bank up to Aloes in June 1968.

128. To save line occupation, when there was a ballast quarry working on the same morning it usually ran combined with the salt-pan train as far as Aloes. This was the doubleheader that we saw waiting so patiently at Swartkops in photos 82 and 83 above. They finally got underway and David Rodgers must have been sitting on my shoulder because the sun miraculously came out as it tackled the 1/80 from the river to Aloes.

129. The old geyser tackling the Aloes bank with a short train of four-wheeled ES trucks that probably taxed all her strength. Less than a mile to go now.

130. Having reached her destination, Coega, 75-year old #439 was preparing to shunt the salt-pan sidings. The 11 miles she had come from New Brighton yard don't seem to have overtaxed her judging by the white feather at her safety valves.

131. Before finishing the first section of this chapter we'll take a tour of Sydenham Shed in its prime, starting in July 1956 before the 15Fs came and when the suburban service was almost entirely run by the 10B/BRs. Flanked by an S2 and a 12R, this was the afternoon line-up of passenger engines being prepared to take out the evening commuter workings. On the far side is one of the two unrebuilt 10Bs, the rest are all 10BRs. Shot on Kodachrome I before my experiments with Anscochrome.

132. Sydenham was a large shed with an allocation of more than 150 engines. This was a typical every-day view from off the coal-stage ramp. I cannot vouch for the engine at the coal chutes nor the front two engines in the foreground row, but they could be as stated, which would mean that of the 15 engines visible in this view there are 14 different classes; from the left (behind the row in the foreground): 12AR, 7, S2, 19D, 12R, 19B; then in the foreground row: GD, 8, 6, 10BR, 10, 11, 6 and 15F (at the coal chutes).

133. And this was how it looked on Christmas day 1966. No Briggs, this is NOT Touws River in 1986!

134. Incoming engines were directed straight to the ashpits. Just before this road crews would book off and the shed hostlers would take over.

135. Engines would then be coaled and watered and taken to the appropriate shed road to rest or for minor repairs and maintenance.

136. A wider view at the coal stage showing how the engines more or less came in at random: here we have 10BR, 19D, 6Belpaire and S2. The class 6 on the right was stored serviceable but I don't know if she ever ran again.

137. The driver with his trommel is a main-line man about to take out the 15F on the left. Only the passenger-link engines had regular crews so this would be a pooled engine. The older driver on the right, a Uitenhage man, is having a chat while the fireman of his regular 10BR 759 attends to the turbo-generator. Since both the engine and the crew were stationed in Uitenhage I have often wondered if this wasn't perhaps the legendary Cliffie Brockett. #759 was definitely allocated to Uitenhage after the withdrawal of #760. May 1962.

138. Everywhere your eyes took you there was another different class to be seen. From the right: s2(16), GD(4), 12R(8), 24(10) and 11(17), (Sydenham's allocations in June 1962).

139. On shed, from the right: 11(17), 10BR(12), 6(12), 19D(8) and 15F(24). We are looking east and in the background is the staging area for engines arriving from New Brighton yard.

140. 15F, 19D and 11 being ignored by the four gents taking a brief (?) rest.

141. The 15M shed was alongside the running shed and at the Port Elizabeth end of it was a small shed for intermediate repairs that took some of the load off Uitenhage. Two 15Fs, a 15AR and what looks like a Belpaire engine were receiving fairly substantial attention. This and the following two studies of Sydenham shed at night were expertly lit by Allen Jorgensen and the photos were taken by Leith Paxton.

142. Steam sheds always seemed to be more mysterious at night and Sydenham was no exception, as you can see from this scene illuminated by Allen and photographed by Leith.

143. Class 10 No 742 and 10BR 756 displaying their common ancestry.

144. Class 10 No 734, recently transferred from the Witwatersrand, one of Sydenham's two class 1s and 7BS 1032 recently ex-South West Africa on the coal stage.*

* #1032 was photographed at Ladismith in April 1962 (photo 5 in our chapter dealing with this branch) so she must have been transferred to Sydenham soon after that. It doesn't look as if her brass dome survived the move.

145. The 10Bs were small engines, especially the unreboilered ones as with #757 here, but they punched way above their weight in suburban service, handling the eleven-coach Uitenhage rakes with ease.

146. From the sixties onwards the 11s were ubiquitous around Port Elizabeth. They marshalled trains in the yards, shunted the private sidings and handled most inter-yard and dock haulers. In short they were among the most useful machines SAR ever had for this sort of work, and they were made in 1904! NOTE BELL BUFFERS

147. By 1960, 6G 612 was the only representative of its class left on the Midland. American-built 6th classes were rare, although both Alco and Baldwin had a finger in the pie, albeit only a pinkie. Eight of these 6Gs were ordered by the CGR in 1901. Designed by Alco to HM Beatty's specification, they were popular amongst footplatemen; with bar frames, comfortable American-style cabs and about half a ton more pulling power than their British-built predecessors. She was scrapped in 1960.

148. Bumped off the North and South Coast runs by electrification, Hendrie's solidly-built and dependable 16R/CR Pacifics began to arrive from Greyville in September 1968. One suspects they weren't as fast as the various tenth classes but being more powerful they could take an 11-coach set up to 60 mph between stations on the Uitenhage run - even on the stoppers.

149. Until the 6th, 7th and 8th classes had all gone nobody gave a thought as to how the coal bunkers were recharged. In the end the job was done by 16th class Pacifics (see Part 2 of this chapter) for a while and then the 15ARs. One wonders whether that trestle was designed to take an 18-ton axleload, although towards the end of steam no one seemed to care.

150. The Pacifics had all gone off to their various commuter runs and it was time for the engines of the next wave of departures to get ready. Nearest was a class 24 for the evening commuter shuttles to New Brighton. Next, a reasonably clean 12R for the 20:00 departure of 8-up, the Cape Mail. Next was another 12R for the 20:15 departure of 308-up all-stations, overnight to Graaff-Reinet. After that was an S2, getting ready for a night shift at the Harbour and last was a 19B which was to take the 23:00 all-stations overnight to Grahamstown. The weird zebra-like light effect was caused by the setting sun shining through the stanchions of Sydenhams huge steel loco-water reservoir. May 1962.

That's all for the 1st section of PE's suburban service. We'll have another selection of photos and mountains of information dealing with the service after 1970 in the next bumper issue of...................

SOUL of A RAILWAY!!!!