Part 6 - Joubertina-Avontuur

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1. Having boarded 634-up at Joubertina where they had been shopping, this Langkloof family was about to head up the line to Krakeel. Passenger carriages on the daily Tranship and Pick-up (T&P) workings were discontinued during the seventies (a more accurate date would be appreciated) so they could be used on the Apple Express, which was rapidly gaining in popularity. Nonetheless, out of season accommodation in the V5 or V15 guards vans was as comfortable as one could hope for on a narrow-gauge mixed, which is what the T&Ps really were. Only in the season would the two compartments become crammed with pickers and packers all going to or from the farms. The type V5 and V15 vans were almost identical, with each of two compartments intended to accommodate six thin adults. During the season this could stretch to anything up to 20 occupants in each!

2. Bruno's map is repeated here for your convenience.

3. Geoff's study of NG122 class NG15 being serviced at Joubertina during his first trip over the Avontuur line in May 1973. Note the points tumbler weights being used as counterweights to the cantilevered locowater crane!

4. NGG16 No 128 taking on coal and water before resuming its journey with empty OZs for loading at Misgund. In the fruit-loading shelter on the left a farm lorry is having its cargo of packed apples transshipped by hand, a labour-intensive practice that only ended with the introduction of the pallet system in the late seventies. With that great leap forward came fork-lift trucks and concrete hardstandings. We'll take a good look at the modern methods in Part 7.

5. On a cool April morning in 1978 Geoff recorded the departing 632-up empty OZs with 146 class NG15 coming across the main road into Joubertina town. A hundred yards further on it would pass what once was one of the finest accommodations in RSA - the Kloof Hotel. Latest news on #146 is that this representative of Henschel's best 2ft-gauge product - and probably the best of all 2ft-gauge designs - is dismantled somewhere in Surrey awaiting funding for her restoration.

6. Another block of empty OZs just west of Joubertina, passing the farmhouse at Tulpieskraal which was close enough for trains to rattle the crockery.

7. Many motorists and lorry drivers have a blind spot when it comes to level crossings - especially rural narrow-gauge ones. This unprotected crossing on the R61, seven miles west of Joubertina, was notorious for near and not-so-near misses. If, God willing, the narrow gauge ever were to fulfill its potential main function - tourism - this crossing and the ones near Heights and Ongelegen would have to be protected with an array of flashing lights, half-arm barriers and rumble strips.

8. NGG16 No 109 on 634-up T&P approaching Krakeel. On my first trip the village consisted of one street at right angles to the main (dirt) road which was right next to the station. Every dwelling was a traditional thatched Cape Cottage, either stone or mudbrick, rendered and whitewashed, now hardly seen anywhere. Scuffling around the station yard was a giant mountain tortoise with registration number, CET 348 neatly painted in white on the lower back of its shell. I think Krakeelrivier may once have been a Mission village for farm labourers but would like to know for certain. By July 1973 when this photo was made, the ubiquitous corrugated iron was taking over and today I don't think there's a thatched cottage left in the place.

9. In a chilly July pre-dawn in 1981 frost lay thick on the ground as No 134 class NG15 brought a load of perway material for the relaying and strengthening program up the last few hundred yards into Louterwater - a major fruit-loading station and where the headquarters of the Deciduous Fruit Board (DFB) were located.

10. Just beyond Louterwater another load of perway material makes its way up the line, this time behind No 17, now beautifully restored and working on the Sandstone Railway.

11. The same train as in photo 9, chased for miles by Allen Jorgensen, Dick Manton and me on 31 May 1981, here about a mile before Bruinklip.

12. I can't resist showing you the lovely pictures we got that morning. 134 again, a little closer to Bruinklip. That's Thumb peak 4675ft just peeping over the shoulder of the near mountain while on the right margin is Mount Formosa (5,500ft).

13. A clearer view of Mt Formosa peering down on the beautiful countryside and orchards in Autumn garb around Bruinklip. This was 134 on the same train we've been following since before Louterwater.

14. Approaching Bruinklip with 632-up empty OZs in April 1977, this lovely scene by John Carter, Mt Formosa still prominent on the right.

15. Naas du Preez, one of the Langkloof stalwarts was at the wheel of this up perway working in April 1977. Courtesy of Naas I arranged for smoke at this point. As you can see, he had an expert fireman (unfortunately I don't have a record of his name) who cleverly managed to twirl the smoke around Mt Formosa, rather like half a handlebar mustache (no you cynics, this is not a photoshop job).

16. At last I've run out of superlatives. Better to let these magnificent photos speak for themselves. This is John's shot of an NG15 entering Nuweplaas with empty OZ wagons on their way to Misgund, the main fruit-loading station. The train being crossed is a down export fruit block.

17. A passenger alights from 634-up at Nuweplaas on Bruce's trip in October 1973, when a full array of carriages was still attached to the T&Ps. Popular among Langkloof residents who liked to do their shopping at Joubertina (the only sizable town in the 'Kloof), the train was by far the cheapest way of getting there. Until the end of 1975, 633 and its opposite number 634 crossed at Kompanjiesdrif which, for upper 'Kloof residents, allowed a comfortable three hours shopping time in Joubertina but by 1976 the crossing had been rescheduled to Joubertina itself for operating reasons - a typically cynical public-be-damned attitude adopted by SAR that unfortunately became increasingly prevalent during the seventies.

18. Geoff Hall and Peter Odell also rode the whole line in May 1973, using 634-up T&P on the 2nd day out of Humewood Road with class NG15 No 122. At Nuweplaas they crossed class NGG16 No 109 (now hopefully being restored for the WHR) on a down goods.

19. Rodgers tours are always blessed with perfect weather - sometimes quite dramatic - and the sun comes out for the runpasts. Although I prefer not to use railtour photos, it was hard to resist this rainbow shot at the crossing of the Eva Brand river just west of Nuweplaas on the 2002 tour.

20. The further west one traveled the wilder the country became while the mountains seemed to grow taller and more menacing. This empty OZ working had already dropped most of its load at Louterwater (which you can see in the far distance, down the valley) and was taking the rest to Misgund - with only about ten miles to go.

21. Dick recorded the arrival of an up goods at Misgund in April 1980. That the station was important can be seen from the fan of five tracks leading off the facing points - in fact this was the largest loading station after Louterwater, and, except for Avontuur itself, there were only minor loading sidings west of here. We'll be seeing plenty more of Misgund on our return journey from Avontuur in the next chapter.

22. We're back to more relaxed times, on my January 1959 trip, when Misgund station comprised a passing loop, a goods shed siding and a lovingly tended garden. No 114 has already taken water and had its fire cleaned as you can tell by the small heap of ash on the ground next to the firebox - those were the days before ashpits when SAR was still buying decent coal. In the left background the fireman and the guard are having mugs of tea while the driver looks as if he is discussing weighty matters (probably the cricket) with a local farmer. The goods platform is piled high with bagged wheat, that was how they did it in the days before grain silos - God knows what they would have done if it rained. Those two red vans are still behind the engine.

23. We're still at Misgund on Friday 30 January 1959 and No 114 has just shunted off some trucks for loading the bags of wheat in the previous photo. This somewhat nondescript scene was No 37 on a 36-exposure roll of Kodachrome, i.e. the very very last on the roll which was my only one - they were £2-10s or half a month's wages in those days. This photo was the one mistake I made on what had been a perfect trip until then ..................

24. Five miles west of Misgund, class NG15 No 133 on 634-up T&P approaching Gaviota private siding in July 1978

25. NGG16 No 128 on 634-up in July 1973, nearing Gaviota private siding - being out of season there wasn't much traffic so we followed this train the whole day! From here on the countryside became quite wild - with still a lot of virgin veld in those days. Unchanged, of course, is the way the Kouga range to the north and the Tsitsikammas to the south begin to close in on the valley threaded by the railway, becoming increasingly like a proper kloof.

26. The same train about three miles further on. Note the unspoilt grassveld on either side of the line and in the background on the right-hand edge you can just see the Gaviota packing shed at their private siding. Within a few years the pristine veld in this view had been replaced by orchards.

27. We're back on Geoff's 1973 trip on 634-up and that's the warning board for Ongelegen ahead of the engine.

28. The wild and unspoilt country west of Misgund as it existed in July 1973 with engine No 135 bringing 634-up mixed past the same warning board for Ongelegen siding that featured in the previous photo.

29. NGG16 No 128 on a train we've been following for mile after mile, paused for passengers at Ongelegen in July 1973. The siding is named after the farm "Ongelegen" (which is the Dutch word for "inconvenient" or "ongeleë" in Afrikaans), owned by the Kotze family who farmed here a century before the railway was even thought of.

30. This was the length gang responsible for maintaining the running top between Misgund and Avontuur, about 20 miles. A more competent and dedicated bunch of men would be hard to find - they kept the 2ft in perfect condition, during my tenure at Port Elizabeth there was not one derailment induced by a track fault. That's Williams, the length ganger on the right, he later became permanent way inspector (PWI) of the entire narrow gauge. Note the red flag tied to a long stick - they made that stick as long as possible to give loco drivers every opportunity to spot them in time. Just in case.

31. The wild country continues beyond Ongelegen and the feeling of remoteness increases as one travels westwards, with only the mission village of Haarlem to break the monotony.

32. Just out of sight on the left, behind No 634-up with an NG15, is the Kotze Bros private siding (No 929). That's the homestead nestling in the foothills of the Outeniquas. It was at their siding on my first trip that I witnessed one of those incidents that made the narrow gauge so endearing.

It was late on a warm Friday afternoon, and even the 3rd-class compartments crammed with farm labourers going home to Uniondale for the weekend, were dozily quiet. The first-class compartments also were well filled, in one of them an elderly lady with her daughter. When we left Misgund I had no film left and in any case did not know about the Kotze Bros siding. At mp 161.5 we suddenly stopped, seemingly in the middle of nowhere until I looked out the window and saw #114 uncoupled, drawing clear of facing points leading straight off the main line down to a packing shed. The guard came forward to change the points while the transship porter pulled the strings of the vacuum cylinders of those two vans I have been telling you about all the way since Humansdorp. They then uncoupled the vans and tried to push them into the siding. Nothing doing. So, they went to the engine and asked the crew to help. Even though our driver was built like a front-row forward and the fireman looked wiry and strong, those stubborn vans refused to budge. Without further ado, the guard marched back to the 3rd-class section with the injunction "Kom, stoot julle dônders!" ( = gentlemen, come push please! ). Twenty able-bodied 3rd-class patrons leapt out of their carriage amidst unsubtle references to the the guard's ancestry in Cape talk - which, for the benefit of overseas readers, is a colourful mixture of Afrikaans, English, Indonesian and Hottentot (and perhaps a few more besides). With joyful gusto and loud cheering they shoved those two wagons so hard down the slope they almost demolished the stop block, whereupon, for a moment, there was a kind of shocked silence followed by "Wô fok". That was when I heard the old lady say (in much purer Afrikaans) "daughter, don't listen to all that foul language"!

Dear reader, you are justified in asking "Where is the photo?" For fifty-plus years I have hung my head in shame. My last exposure on the roll was wasted on that 37th picture at Misgund.

33. #128 on 634-up again - we have been following them all day - climbing out of the Ongelegenrivierkloof strongly on their way to the Mission village at Haarlem (it was named after the original town in Holland, not the rather better-known one somewhere in America).

34. Half a mile beyond Haarlem station is another mid-section water tank. With track relaying nearing Avontuur and diesels imminent, Bruce organised a coach on 634-up for the RSSA's Port Elizabeth branch in the latter half of 1983. Note all the released yellowwood sleepers - much sought after by furniture makers - and the Krupp rails, they were 50lb hand-me-downs from the Selati line, laid in 1956 to replace the original 35lb material. Those Krupp rails were practically free of wear, in fact they looked new, but having been deemed too light for the class 91s they were sold for a song to the mines. The 800 cubic metre/km ballast profile looks perfectly adequate, which of course it was. Had it been adopted right through from Humewood Road this would have saved more than 100,000 cubic metres of ballast and almost 700 special train workings.

35. Haarlem being a Mission Station of the Berlin Missionary Society, it can hardly be surprising that flowing through it is the river Jordan, which 634-up is crossing in this April 1977 photo.

36. If you've ever wondered what a Krauss-Helmholz bogie looked like take a good look at the complicated linkages in this shot of the undercarriage of class NG15 No 118, conveniently provided for youse by Dave Fleming and, I almost forgot, Naas du Preez, who accidentally went straight at the Jordan River bridge one Friday afternoon in March 1982 when he was rushing back to Avontuur so that he could hurry home to his beautiful wife in PE.

37. NGG16 No 128 on 634-up, pulling out of Siesta, the last siding before Avontuur, in July 1973.

38. You may relax now, this is the last photo of #128 in this chapter, passing what was then the last orchard (travelling west) in the Langkloof, seen here in its starkly leafless winter plumage, in July 1973.

39. This one by Dick of #122 leaving Siesta with 634 T&P came in too late for posting in the initially announced version of Part 6 but it had to go in because, even though it was taken in bad weather, the colours are brilliant and it shows how immaculately most of the engines were kept in those days - April 1976.

40. A near washaway in the desolate country east of Avontuur. This was 634-up on the last furlong to the summit of the line in April 1980

41. Having dropped off most of the load with which it left Assegaaibos at various sidings en route, NG15 No 135 is not far from the summit of the line (2960ft above sea level) just under a mile from Avontuur. I think the conveyance of milk and cream in TZ vans on the narrow gauge came to an end about the same time as the use of proper carriages on the T&Ps but would be really grateful for confirmation or otherwise.

42. On their first visit to the line in April 1976 Dick Manton and John Whiteley had bad weather but they did find the redoubtable Naas du Preez on #122 on 634-up just before Avontuur.

43. And so, after a somewhat exhausting journey, we've finally arrived at Avontuur. Actually, this was the end of Geoff and Peter's May 1973 trip. Look how spic and span everything is, and it looks as if the railway still carried Avontuur's fuel supplies. There were a surprising number of private sidings and sheds adjacent to the station yard - you can see them stretching into the distance.

44. It's the end of the day for #135 and her crew, but it looks like overtime for the men who still have to load all that bagged wheat into a truck for tomorrow's train to the Bay. The ancient tractor and the trailer with its wheels akimbo look as if they've come straight from the Fiddletown and Copperopolis Railroad.

45. The weary crew of #135 kindly posed her on the triangle for a few minutes. As my erstwhile ACR colleague and co-author Jorg doubtless would testify, I'm not given to bragging (!) but this is the only photo I've seen with sunlight on the wheels (and a sliver of each axlebox!) of a NG15's tender.

The next chapter will finish the Avontuur line with the return trip from Avontuur to Assegaaibos, including the story of how, after ten years, Alfred County Railway (ACR) won back the contract with the Deciduous Fruit Board to transport the deciduous fruit to Port Elizabeth Harbour, only to lose the right to run the railway upon election of the new Government in May 1994.