Embedded Files
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 and Bruno Martin.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following photographers and colleagues (in no particular order) contributed photos to this chapter – all three parts:
Peter Stow; Late Brian Couzens via Ashley Peter – RSSA Durban; Bruno Martin; THL via Greg Hart; Charles Parry; Harry Ostrofsky; Eugene Armer; the late A.E.Durrant via THL; the late D.E.Baker via Charlie Lewis; the late G.Findlay via Charlie Lewis; Local History Museum Durban via Bruno Martin; THL (some via DRISA*); Newman-Art-Publishing Co via Bruno Martin; Glen Mills; Mervyn Tunmer and Roger M.Perry via Les Pivnic; Les Pivnic – own photos; Sandy Buchanan; Peter Bagshawe and lastly thanks to Andrew Deacon for all your hard work in getting SC Part 2 ready for publication.
In the first segment of the South Coast chapter we presented Bruno's thoroughly researched history of the railway to Port Shepstone and the branch to Umzinto, so after the maps we'll move straight into the photographs.
*The DRISA project, founded by Emeritus Professor Johannes Haarhoff at Transnet Heritage Library, aims to digitise the library's quarter-million odd negatives and prints of incalculable historical importance as well as the posting and indexing of the various magazines published by the railways' publicity departments over the years, beginning with the Cape Government Railways. This service is a rich vein of source material
Bruno's meticulously detailed maps of the main river crossings on the South Coast should be studied in conjunction with the relevant photographs below, starting with the Mkumbane, Ifafa, Umtwalume and Umzimkulu crossings
1. The Umzinto River at Kelso was crossed by as typical a South Coast screw-piled bridge as could be found. From the start they had their quirks, in particular differential settlement of the piles caused an uneven running top requiring constant adjustment with shims. For this reason each of these numerous structures was subject to a permanent speed restriction.
2. Little would the official SAR photographer have known that when he captured this image in 1952 of a class GCA crossing the Umzinto River just south of Kelso that it would one day become one of the best records of such on the line. This is no doubt the 10:00 am from Durban to Port Shepstone and by this time the third class accommodation had grown to four side door suburban coaches. The first and third coaches were almost brand new, having been placed in service in 1949/1950 and were steel coaches of type S-45, 30 of the 57 built by the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Company in England originally being allocated to Natal. It is interesting to note that no suburban brake vans were built for suburban services after 1941 and increases in the suburban fleet were largely used just to lengthen sets.
3. The 3:00 pm Port Shepstone-Durban 'semi-fast', 879-down, crossing the Umzinto River and about to enter Kelso in January 1958. In typical SAR fashion 'semi-fast' was more than a euphemism; just listen to what the WTB has to say about this train: "(Weekdays) - Stops between 73¾ and 73½ miles (Umtentweni - Sea Park) and at Turton, Elysium, Wood Grange, Bazley, Umdoni Park, Pennington, Ilfracombe and Karridene, 86 and 51¼ mileposts when required to pick up or set down passengers. Stops at "Natal Mercury" Hostel, Hibberdene on request to pick up passengers and to set down schoolchildren on schooldays. Does not stop between Illovo Beach and Berea Road (except at Rossburgh). Passengers for intermediate places other than Rossburgh and Berea Road must change into 877-down at Illovo Beach." Distance: 78 miles; travelling time: 4 hours and 5 minutes, boredom factor: zero.
As far as rolling stock, locomotives and running times went, little changed south of Kelso during the fifties. The GCAs were completely in charge of passenger workings and the make up of the Port Shepstone trains changed but little except for the addition and subtraction of "Voortrekker" in 1948 and 1957 respectively.
4. Thanks to DRISA (again!) we can show you this superb study of a typical 1950s goods train crossing the Umzinto northbound by the official photographer (possibly the same chap who took photo 2).
5. In Part 18, South Coast (1), Bruno sums up the worst washaways in recent years. This is an undated THL image of damage to the main-line bridge over the Umzinto river at Kelso, quite possibly the one caused by the 500-year flood of May 1959.
6. Having just crossed the Mzinto River lagoon, the Class GCA on the August 1971 northbound test train for the RSSA special has its safety valve feathering as it trundles into Kelso, where the engine will cut off and head to the soon to be demolished loco depot for servicing.
7. A Durban bound type 4M2 set from Port Shepstone heads north from Pennington as a lone fisherman prepares his bait for some unsuspecting fish. Winter 1982.
8. Class 1E 141 with only the drivers cab modified, leads a sister similarly modified and train 755, the 12h15 from Port Shepstone, through Umdoni Park northbound in January 1971.
9. Charlie describes the recording of this scene thus: "After a day exploring the Sezela tramways with mates Vernon and Tony Wilson early in January 1958, we camped on the beach at Sezela. At that time there was a daily mixed, 742-up SuX, departing Durban at 1:00 a.m. (1:20 a.m. on Saturdays) to Port Shepstone, scheduled past Sezela at 5:16 a.m. or just after sunrise; I was duly in position when the train came through right on the advertised, crossing the Umkumbane River in somewhat watery early daylight."
Its murky image is presented here as the only photograph we have of this interesting working - an assortment of goods wagons followed by ten clerestory coaches on their leisurely amble down the coast. This train took as long to get from Durban to Sezela as Concord regularly took to cross the Atlantic! The relevant WTB notes are worth putting on record:
742-up (Weekdays): conveys a goods load and is scheduled in goods running times. Stops when required to pick up and set down passengers at Montclair, Clairwood Racecourse, Lamontville, Reunion, Doonside, St Winifreds, Karridene, Ilfracombe, Claustal, Renishaw, Pennington, Umdoni, Bazley, Ifafa Beach, Elysium, Turton and Wood Grange. Conveys mails from Durban for beyond Kelso. Mails for Port Shepstone and beyond to be put off at South Wharf. Mails for intermediate places between Kelso and Port Shepstone must be transferred to 801 at Port Shepstone. When 742 is running late, mails for places between Kelso and the crossing point must be transferred to 801. Stops at Natal Mercury Hostel and between 73½ and 73¾ miles (between Sea Park and Umtentweni) to pick up passengers.
More information yet comes from Peter Stow and Charles Parry: [742-up] used to be parked in Durban station on platform 4 to allow passengers to board from about 21:00 and sleep. (Not sure when the ticket examiner came around!). Charles Parry has described how in the '50s this train used to go via Congella yard to pick up goods wagons before proceeding south.
10. Train 748-up, the 11:55 from Durban to Port Shepstone led by class 1E 40 is already waiting patiently as 755-down from Port Shepstone arrives at Sezela’s remarkably wide platform. Note the shadow of the 3 class 1E’s hauling 755 and the hand of a smoker whose cigarette ash provided continual annoyance to the photographer. This was long before the days when smoking in public became a crime against humanity. Date: Late 1970.
11. After having spent much of the 1970 day chasing and photographing operations on the 70 year old Reynolds Brothers’ sugar tramway system inland from Sezela, the imminent closure of which had already been announced, Brian called in at Sezela station and found this 14R heading south with train 746-up, the 11.05 am daily semi-fast from Durban to Port Shepstone. Of particular interest is coach #773 immediately behind the locomotive which appears to be unoccupied and running outside the suburban set, being transferred for some reason, perhaps to connect with a Johannesburg-bound scholar special on the return journey.
What makes it unusual is the central toilet compartment, which indicates a crossover corridor in a vestibule coach – a rather rare combination. Peter Stow tells us more about this rare vehicle: "the leading coach is one of 14 Hendrie type C-16 first class balcony coaches that had the balconies enclosed forming a vestibule, as a result becoming type C-27. Twelve of them were part of the last batch of 25 C-16s to be placed in service between 1921 and 1923 and were converted in January 1940. The reason for this modification is not clear but may have been an attempt to raise the standard of the balcony coaches to be more on a par with the new vestibule coaches being built. Whatever the reason, the outbreak of WW11 no doubt put this programme on hold, never to be revived again. The vestibules were the full width of the vehicles, very similar to the Union Limited stock of 1928, unlike the Watson vestibule coaches introduced from 1933 where the vestibules were recessed. In 1969 they became 1st & 2nd composites of type D-10 as illustrated by this example. One of these coaches #750 was used on the Governor General’s train for some years before being replaced by a Day version of the closed vestibule type, while #773 was a regular performer on Port Shepstone runs in the '60s."
12. On a typically humid South Coast afternoon in 1968, Brian was a passenger in the first coach behind the Class 14R on 763-down, the 11.43am Port Shepstone – Durban daily SuX semi-fast as it rolled into Sezela for a crossing. The station foreman, sleeves rolled up and bicycle close at hand, collects the wooden train staff from the fireman.
Ashley Peter, an operating man himself, tells us more: "A classic illustration of a so-called 'bicycle station', which was a manned telegraph station equipped only with hand points but no signals, meaning that the operating attendant on duty would have to cycle (on a Railways-issued bicycle) to the facing points to admit trains when crossings were arranged. My late dad was station master at Sezela in the early 1960s, sharing trainsworking shifts with the station foreman on a regular basis. He campaigned vigorously for the busy station to be fitted with semaphore signals but by the time he was promoted to special class SM at Swakopmund (another “bicycle station”!) in 1965, he had not achieved success in these efforts, and it took a further ten years before Sezela was finally equipped with mechanical signalling – the only station south of Kelso to be so fitted. However, little more than another decade later, soon after the stations from Umbogintwini to Kelso were “upgraded” to colourlight signals, Sezela had its semaphores removed….effectively reverting to a “bicycle station”, so it was something of a short-lived victory."
Note: the access to the extremely busy Sezela Mill sidings was behind the Staff coach parked off on the left.
13. GCA 2623 heads a beautiful collection of veteran balcony coaches on the September 1971 RSSA Durban – Port Shepstone special, heading south between Sezela and Ifafa Beach.
14. Just before electric locomotives took over the Kelso – Port Shepstone service on 17 November 1970, an unidentified class 14R drifts into Bazley with 748-up from Durban, crossing 755-down on which your photographer was a passenger.
15. This view from train 755, led by class 1E 8 near Ifafa Beach, says much about the high standard of maintenance of even branch lines in SA. Note the condition of the ballast and how far the bush has been cut back to ensure crew and passenger safety. Unfortunately, these standards are no longer maintained and on some lines trains have to carve their way through bush, shrubs and trees encroaching on the right of way. Date: just after electrification reached Port Shepstone, 1970. And the cost of this wonderful day long excursion from Durban to Port Shepstone and return: R5,00 for adults and R2.50 for children (I still have my tickets).
16. By 1986 when this picture was taken, the type 4M2 stock was no longer reliable and the Port Shepstone service reverted to locomotive hauled sets. Although this was a shuttle service between Kelso and Port Shepstone linking with sliding door type 5M2A stock to and from Durban, requiring through passengers to change at Kelso, one locomotive hauled set ran through each day from Durban to Port Shepstone and return, the times on a Saturday and on a Sunday varying from each other and from those on a weekday. Here a 12-coach shuttle from Kelso to Port Shepstone, 66024-up SaO, behind a single class 5E1, approaches Ifafa Beach across the Fafa River at about 16:10 in superb afternoon lighting. Within a few months the service south of Kelso was withdrawn, ending the opportunity to enjoy this breathtaking scenery by passenger train.
17. It’s late on a hazy Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1968 as 746-up pulls in for a crossing with 763-down at Ifafa Beach. The fireman (or is it the driver?) on the class 14 is about to detrain, no doubt to impart some juicy depot-related skinder [=gossip] with the patiently waiting crew on 763’s engine.
18. The Saturdays only 775-down, the 15:05 from Port Shepstone, at Ifafa Beach behind class 14R 1916, an ex-class 14A noticeable by the absence of sand boxes on the running plate. Your photographer was a passenger on the train but the laborious train operating system required the fireman and guard to walk to the centre of the station to exchange the tokens, an operation which took a good 8 minutes or so, more than enough time to disembark on the off-side of the train for a photograph or three. Note the concrete 'biscuit' foundations offloaded in readiness for being placed in position for the electrification masts.
19. With photographers spread far and wide along the banks of the Mtwalume River estuary, the GCA on the September 1971 special to Port Shepstone has shut off for Mtwalume station after crossing the curved bridge on the “new” alignment between Elysium and Mtwalume.
20. An empty main line coach special heads south to pick up passengers returning to Johannesburg after the school holidays. It is seen here crossing the Mtwalume River and approaching Mtwalume station. The otherwise uniform rake of clerestory roofed coaches is broken by an ex-Orange Express second-class coach of type E-1 in the ninth position in the consist, having
recently been replaced by a newer vehicle of type E-2 on that train. Note the recently outshopped type A-22 dining car and AA-23 kitchen car in the 6th and 7th positions, respectively. Date: Saturday 10 April 1971
21. Early in 1968 Brian was on board 734-up, the 7.20am daily SuX Durban – Port Shepstone semi-fast, as its 14R approached Mtwalume with safety valves blowing vigorously. This train was one of several that was indicated in the public timetable as follows: “Stops if required to pick up or set down passengers at 42¾, 51¼ and 68 mile posts and at “Natal Mercury” Hostel, Hibberdene.”
22. According to the Working Time Book, train 734-up conveyed mail and parcels traffic for stations between Kelso and Port Shepstone, and here at Mtwalume we see the train’s baggage van duly being offloaded by station and Post Office staff.
23. Seeing as it had arrived at Mtwalume with time to spare for a booked crossing with 746-up, No 763 has stopped short and made use of the opportunity to top up the tender of its 14R. Having fetched his own top-up in the form of a steaming hot cup of tea from the station foreman’s office, the driver can be seen striding back, intending to pull the train up to the clearance mark just as soon as the fireman joins him on the footplate.
24. With the Mfazazana – Mtwalume wooden train staff just been dropped and rolling safely behind the station foreman’s feet, the fireman has picked up the staff for the Mtwalume – Ifafa Beach section as semi-fast Saturday afternoon passenger 773-down rapidly draws to a halt in Mtwalume. With no crossing booked it will be a brief pause for passengers and then 773 will be on its way northbound again.
25. Class 14R 1726 with train 760-up, the 13:55 from Durban, as seen from the Saturdays only 775-down, the 15:05 from Port Shepstone at their scheduled crossing place of Mtwalume. Crossings such as these seemed to arouse more than just a passing interest from the passengers as the fascination for steam could not be stifled. Date: January 1969
26. The afternoon shadows are lengthening as 883-down goods (2.34pm SuX Port Shepstone – Maydon Wharf) rumbles through Mtwalume station, examples of narrow-gauge and Cape gauge bogie tank wagons marshalled behind the 14R. The narrow-gauge wagon comes from the Harding line and is either en route to Durban Mechanical Workshops for periodic maintenance or on transfer to another narrow-gauge line. Just visible in the siding ahead of the locomotive is a tamping machine, presumably laid-up for the weekend. It looks as though the electrification poles have only recently been planted.
27. This photo of the same train No 775 illustrates just how close to the sea much of the idyllic South Coast line was built.
28. Acknowledging the guards second 'right-away', this 14R whistles away from Mfazazane, an unmanned token station, with 775-down* just after 4pm on a Saturday afternoon in 1969. Mfazazana was very much the South Coast equivalent of Shashe in Botswana, where passenger trains (which always had to stop while the train crew exchanged the wooden train staffs themselves) attracted hoards of informal traders who sold locally grown fruit, hand-made craft items and other odds and ends to passengers from the trackside.
* 3.05pm SaO semi-fast Port Shepstone – Durban
29. The special main line passenger train now heading north to Johannesburg with class 1E 63 leading, just coming through Mfazazane in the same location as the previous photo.
30. RSSA special headed by 14R 1733, waiting for a northbound train to arrive at the interloop at Mfazazana (51½ miles from Durban) en route to Port Shepstone on 31st July 1976. Beyond Kelso, the train had to stop at all unmanned token stations to allow the guard and fireman to operate the Van Schoor instrument. A few quick-thinking railfans realized that the train stopped outside the interloop for the points to be opened and on departure just outside the trailing points to be locked which presented a photo-opportunity for a few ‘action’ shots. With acknowledgement to the late Alan Clarke’s account in SA Rail titled ‘A brass dome on the South Coast’, SA Rail, August 1976, pp.5-8.
31. The northbound EMU we were waiting for appears as number 3661; it had departed Port Shepstone at 12:20 and was making its scheduled stop at Mfazazana at 13:19. This Saturday service stopped at all stations up to Umkomaas and thereafter ran non-stop to Reunion with stops at Merebank, Rossburgh, Berea Road and arriving at Durban at 15:40.
32. The RSSA special of 31 July 1976 was an emphatic curtain call to an illustrious era. The very last 14R-hauled passenger train on the South Coast draws out of the loop at Mfazazana after having crossed the northbound EMU seen in the previous photo. As this was an unmanned crossing place, the guard would have to set the trailing hand-points back to the main line (“normal”) position and lock them himself before flagging the train to proceed.
33. GCA 2623 with the northbound trial run of August 1971 crossing the Mhlungwa river just north of Hibberdene.
34. In the dying days of steam, this Port Shepstone-based 14R departs Hibberdene with a northbound passenger for Kelso, where it will hand over to an Umbilo Class 5E1. Within a few short months the power would be switched on and regular open line steam on the South Coast would become history. It is interesting to see the old water stand on the right. Hibberdene was not listed as a watering station, and this old standpipe, which looks like it was once intended for tank locos, was by this time possibly only used for filling tank wagons.
35. With tablets exchanged class 1E 63 accelerates through Hibberdene with its well-maintained garden and palm trees. The station name board is showing evidence of corrosion along its lower edge. Saturday 10 April 1971.
36. GCA 2623 “Joey” pauses at Hibberdene with the northbound (homeward) leg of Alan Clarke's September 1971 special – probably while the crew exchanged the wooden train staffs themselves, as by this time the station was normally closed for trainsworking on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
37. It was not uncommon for passenger trains to and from Port Shepstone to be triple headed by class 1E locomotives. Here train 755 is ready to depart from Hibberdene with class 1E 8 leading the pack. Date: Late 1970.
38. One can just imagine the crescendo of exhaust as this small-wheeled Class 14R rapidly accelerates northbound 775-down along the straight away from Hibberdene station in 1969 – apparently there was no request for the train to stop at the “Natal Mercury” Hostel halt! Actually, 775 was one of the few trains not booked with a “request stop” at this halt.
39. This photo first appeared on a RSSA calendar more than 50 years ago and features a particularly long 792-up, the 10:05 (at that time) from Durban, with a GCA near Wood Grange, taken in 1949. The caption read “This photograph reflects a little of the beauty of the Durban – Port Shepstone route- the South Coast Line- which, for 60 of its 78 miles, follows an alignment within a few yards of, and sometimes on the very edge of, holiday beaches and rocky stretches on the Indian Ocean. On the west, the line is bounded by rolling, sub-tropical countryside. Another feature of the line is the exceptionally close spacing of its river crossings, many involving bridges of substantial size, and most of which are situated at the mouths of the rivers. With tide in and surf heavy, it is not uncommon for surf to run under some of these bridges.”
Of interest is the first coach, #6225 of type U-9. It was part of the first batch of 60 suburban coaches ordered by the progressive CSAR from England and placed in service in 1904, the dimensions of which would become the standard for SAR timber bodied suburban coaches until the last was placed in service in the sixties. It started life as a second class, luggage and brake van but was converted in July 1917 at the Pretoria Works to a 1st & 2nd composite, luggage and brake van. It was the only van of this type to end up in Durban and by then, like all the vehicles from the 1904 batch, the side doors had been altered from opening from left to right when facing them from a platform, to opening from right to left, which also became the SAR standard. This was done as it was presumed that most station platforms were on the left hand side in the direction of travel. Thus when a train pulled away from the station, the door would tend to close if still left in the open position. Another change was the closing off of every alternate door as these coaches were built with a door to every section or compartment, despite having a central passage way. It was strange to see a brake van at the front end of this train at this time. It normally had a main line van at the back which was shunted around at the terminus, obviating the need for a suburban brake. Note the characteristic protruding vents in the fascia on the earlier suburban vehicles. This coach was scrapped in September 1957. This is also the earliest photograph known showing the elliptical roofed day saloons of the type built in the early 30’s for branch lines, three clearly visible behind the main line balcony coaches. Ten coaches can be counted in this view and presuming that the last vehicle around the curve was probably a main line van, the load could have been at least 11 coaches.
40. Woodgrange, 14R 1734 with 764-up 3:00pm daily SuX, Durban-Port Shepstone, October 1968
41. Class GCA 2623 on the trial run in August 1971 is near Wood Grange on its southbound run, Peter's effort to recreate the scene in photo 39
42. Before anybody thought of ST trucks (with side stanchions instead of gondolas), in October 1968 this 14R was coming through the Blamey Bros siding 532 just south of Hibberdene with pulpwood probably destined for the Saiccor plant at Umkomaas. This was before the transhipping gantry had been erected at Port Shepstone so you can imagine the toil, sweat and tears of manhandling each one of those heavy logs off the narrow-gauge 'B'-bogie and upwards into its broad-gauge equivalent.
43. 14R 1734 bringing 764-up across the Umzumbe river in October 1968
44. 764-up approaching Umzumbe from the north in June 1968.
45. And coming up from the south is GCA 2623 with the northbound trial run of August 1971, approaching Umzumbe with the only passenger (non-fare paying at that) on the train Geoff Gooderham soaking in as much coal dust and smoke as he could and enjoying every minute of it.
46. The same pulpwood working shown racing past Blamey Bros siding (photo 40) crossing the Ntshambili spruit south of Umzimbe.
47. 16R 800* with 767-down, 2:00pm SuO Port Shepstone-Durban, approaching Sunwich Port in August 1965. The Indian Ocean, the beach, the track, the train and the Pacific all combine to make a near perfect illustration of the last decade of steam working on the South Coast.
* upon completion of the electrification to Port Shepstone, #800 was transferred to Sydenham (Port Elizabeth) in September 1968 and allocated to driver van der Mescht who kept her immaculate for another seven years: https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/home/system-3-1/the-port-elizabeth-suburban-service-2
48. The unmistakable classic lines of the 14R, a class synonymous with the Natal system, is no more evident than here as a southbound passenger train departs from Southport with a train to Port Shepstone. The steam era seems also to be synonymous with the time when even your very young daughter was safe to walk down to the beach alone. Note the old stop sign warning of two lines. Date 1968
49. While travelling on Saturday afternoon train No 763-down in 1968, Brian was fortunate to come across this GCA heading up goods train No 880 (12.40pm SuX, Kelso - Port Shepstone) at Southport. Strengthening of the Lower South Coast Line, as the Kelso - Port Shepstone section was known, had been completed several years earlier, so with virtually any class of engine able to work to Port Shepstone the GCAs were no longer royal game along here. Peter Stow muses as follows: “One can only wonder if it was out of spite or necessity that the driver of the GCA stopped his train on the level crossing while he waited for the northbound passenger. Whatever, it was certainly a lesson in patience as far as the motorist was concerned and hopefully one where the civil engineers would not again build a road across the confines of a station, or build a crossing station across an existing road, depending, of course, which came first. Although there was a road sign warning of two lines, this was a dangerous situation should a train be standing in the loop blocking the sight of one departing in the direction of the crossing.” One can only concur with Peter about the inherent danger of such a set-up. When I was working as a “student assistant” during the varsity vacation in July 1980, early one evening we were working a train loaded with sugar cane which was brought to a halt by a red signal a short distance before Mount Edgecombe on the North Coast. Immediately before the signal was a busy level crossing and the driver thoughtfully stopped the leading Class 1E short of the crossing to allow the road traffic to proceed. However, no sooner had we stopped than the signal on the adjacent line turned green and looking back, the driver mentioned that he could already see the headlight of another train rapidly approaching in the same direction as ours – with our train effectively blocking it from view at the level crossing. We looked at the seemingly endless stream of cars passing right in front of our loco’s front buffer and then at one another….this could turn out extremely nasty! Without another thought, he began creating vacuum to release the brakes and with air horn blaring began to edge the train onto the road – some of the motorists shouting and swearing derisively at him for wilfully blocking the road when he clearly had a red signal. He had hardly managed to block both lanes when a trio of 5E1 units and a long goods train flew past on the Seaside Line – any car in the way would have been annihilated. After that the cars just had to wait…!
50. A crossing at an unmanned station was always a laborious process. The guard of the northbound train, which arrived first and has taken the loop, has walked forward to admit the southbound train into the station. As the southbound train to Port Shepstone enters Southport, the driver of the northbound train, seen hanging from the locomotive, already has had a chat to his counterpart and with the train staff in his right hand is about to step off the locomotive as it reaches his. Date: January 1969.
51. With the southbound train out of the way and the points set for the loop, the northbound train eases forward. The guard, in typical railway fashion, is glancing at his watch, no doubt wondering how much time has been lost in the crossing. Once on the main line, the train will stop while the guard resets the points before they can be on their way again. January 1969.
52. Southport, 14R 1734 with 764-up 3:00pm daily SuX, Durban-Port Shepstone, October 1968 (same train as in photo 40).
53. We don't feature pan shots frequently on SoAR so here's one of a southbound 'semi-fast' (!) ambling along near Umtentweni.
54. Accelerating away from Umtentweni across the Umtentweni river; 16CR 825 with 801-down 8:10 am daily Port Shepstone-Durban all-stations to Umkomaas and express from there to Rossburgh. January 1963.
55. On 23 April 1901, the rails reached the north bank of the Umzimkulu River. The temporary terminus of the Natal South Coast Line was named ‘North Shepstone’ when the railway was officially opened by the Governor of Natal, Sir Henry McCallum on 26 July. Regular passenger and freight services to and from Durban commenced on the following day. In addition to the passenger and freight facilities, an engine shed and turning triangle was provided together with a spur to a transit wharf and shed on the river bank. Passengers and freight were conveyed across the river from a small landing stage by a pontoon provided by the Public Works Department. A shed for freight and a cattle pen near the station were added during 1903/04.
In the background is the Umzimkulu River, largest river on the South Coast, where the construction of a sea wall, wharf and other harbour works at the river mouth were started in 1879. The grand plan was to establish a second harbour for Natal. Port Shepstone, was the name of the river port on the south bank and South Shepstone the town on the bluff founded in 1867.
Dredging the river mouth to keep it open to shipping proved too daunting and the harbour was closed after the opening of the railway to Port Shepstone. By then the railway had become established as a more efficient and reliable form of transport for conveying produce to and from Durban.
56. Northwards off the first Umzimkulu bridge the railway entered this spectacular cutting. The sun only reached the rails in the afternoon so it was the devil's own job for a GCA on a sweaty morning to make the short climb off the bridge and up to the halt at North Shepstone.
57. Driving the screw piles (1): soon after construction of the combined rail and road bridge over the Umzimkulu River began in 1906.
58. Driving the screw piles (2): the job nearly done, only the decking to come. Differential settlement of the piles meant every bridge between Durban and Port Shepstone was subject to a permanent speed restriction (see also photo 1).
59. Driving the screw piles (3): almost finished, with the main girders for the deck spans lined up ready for installing. Note the earthworks (cutting and embankment) on the far side.
60. Those piles look incredibly delicate, barely able to support the GB winding up for its climb up the short steep bank up to Port Shepstone. The train will curve around behind Spiller's Wharf, the site of Port Shepstone's first power station.
61. By the late twenties the passenger trains had graduated to GC haulage and very soon were working on a turn and turn about basis with GCAs.
In the late 20’s and early 30’s, the ex-36’6” main line stock used on the Port Shepstone trains was disposed of. In this view taken in 1938 we get a good idea of the composition of these trains immediately after this. Here a 7 coach train, either 768 or 792, with two third class suburban coaches upfront followed by what appears to be one of the 50’ arc roofed ex-CGR coaches, built in either 1893 or 1896, at this stage converted from first class to first and second composite for use by non-white passengers. The next vehicle is an ex-CSAR Limited Express second class coach of SAR type O-10, two of which were allocated to Durban, no doubt around the time of the Reef electrification. The next vehicle is a Hendrie first class main line balcony coach of type C-16, followed by a 1914 built first class type L-17 day saloon, probably the one converted to second class type O-30 in Durban in 1933 and then the main line van. This is no doubt the same set of coaches depicted in photo 3 in Part 2, the latter obviously the return working to Durban. In 1938, train 792 left Durban at 10:26 (if I were the time table boss I would want to know from the clerk what the very good reason was for that departure time and not 10:30) and stopped at all stations to Port Shepstone, arriving there at 15:34. No wonder a buffet car was later considered necessary although in practice it was not well supported (It was well supported on the six trips I made between 1952 and 1954!).
62. This THL photo shows a GCA with train 792-up, the 10am 'semi-fast' Durban to Port Shepstone with buffet car facilities, crossing the Umzimkulu River on the NGR screw-pile bridge. The 5th coach from the engine is the buffet car “Voortrekker” No.341. With the addition of the buffet car the load had now increased to 8 vehicles. Both second class type O-10 ex CSAR Limited Express day saloons allocated to Durban can be seen in positions 4 and 7 in the consist.
63. Charles Parry's beautiful photo taken in July 1958 shows 853-down – the 12.40 semi-fast from Port Shepstone to Durban, crossing the original NGR bridge over the Umzimkulu River.
Charles, who knows the Coast well, pointed out "the extra non-load bearing braced columns on the upstream side of the piers were put there to protect the main columns from damage by tree trunks carried down by floods. Another danger was from drifting vegetation and livestock which could get entangled in the piers eventually building up to the extent that the waterways could get blocked, forming a natural dam with disastrous consequences. To prevent this it had become regulation practice over the years for the PWI to send every available track gang to the bridge in time of flood to prevent the build-up of driftwood, bushes and trees from destabilising the rather flimsy structure. Apparently about six labourers armed with long wooden poles would be stationed on the cross bracings of each pier. It was their job to keep on pushing the opdrifsels clear." As Charles put it:"those labourers had a huge incentive to do a good job!"
"In February 1959, the new railway bridge and deviation at the mouth of the river was opened but the road portion was not yet complete. The old combined bridge, which had always been maintained by SAR, was handed over to the South Coast Divisional Council and the tracks removed. Unfortunately, SAR (Nat) neglected to tell the Council (UP) about the drill to be followed when the river came down in flood — whether by accident or design we shall never know — so when next the river rose in May, no one was there to push the opdrifsels* away. Soon a dam of driftwood had formed and the old cast-iron piers could no longer take the strain. When the old bridge went the road portion of the new bridge still had not been completed, so the direct road between Port Shepstone and Durban was severed for three weeks while the NPA hastily completed the earthworks to the approaches."
Strange to think that in those days they considered the rail connection to have a higher priority. Sad to think that today it would be the other way around.
* opdrifsels = floating debris
64. A rare photograph of one of the standard SAR Watson*-designed rail motor-coaches departing from Port Shepstone station in the late 1920s. The 27 000 candela Port Shepstone lighthouse, in use since 1905, is seen in the background. Note the 2ft gauge track running alongside the South Coast Line on a separate formation.
According to the 1929 General Manager’s Annual Report, RM 8, a 150hp petrol rail motor-coach, built in the SAR’s Durban mechanical workshops, was originally placed in service on the Creighton-Donnybrook section of the Cape-Natal-Line in October 1927. It was subsequently transferred to the South Coast Line for service between Umkomaas and Port Shepstone during April and November 1928. The service was so well patronized that a second motor-coach was placed in traffic from July to September. Another new motor-coach built in the SAR’s Durban mechanical workshops was pressed into service on the Umkomaas-Port Shepstone run in January 1929.
*Allen Griffiths Watson, SAR Chief Mechanical Engineer 1929-1936 and Assistant General Manager (Technical) 1934-1936.
65. This fine THL photo shows a GCA departing Port Shepstone with 801-down – the 8.05 semi-fast to Durban some time in 1952. The leading coach is a second class of type O-31, followed by a Hendrie second class balcony saloon of type E-12 and a first class day coach of type L-17. On the curve almost out of sight is an ex-CSAR Limited Express second class coach of type O-10, characterised by is lower clerestory roof. Note the 2ft gauge track leading to South Wharf with an eclectic mixture of sleepers below the train. The lighthouse was one of a large group of lighthouses that protected the entire South African coastline which were also controlled by the SAR & H Administration.
66. The South (Port) Shepstone station buildings on this photograph look remarkably similar to the ones erected at North Shepstone. On 2 September 1907, the 2½ mile extension from the north bank across the 1045ft-long combined road and rail bridge over the Umzimkulu River to South Shepstone was opened to traffic. South Shepstone was renamed Port Shepstone and a new halt, ‘South Wharf stopping place’, opened in the lower port yard with sidings and facilities to deal with river-borne traffic. Lime ore and marble blocks were quarried up-stream and ferried on flat-bottomed lighters to the lower port yard.
After passing through the yard, the railway line encountered a section graded at 1 in 40 to reach the South Shepstone station and yard. The embryo station complex at South (Port) Shepstone was equipped with the basic passenger and freight facilities, locomotive shed and triangle and was expanded over the years as the need arose.
The 2½-mile extension from North Shepstone to South Shepstone formed the first part of the 85½-mile long Alfred County Railway surveyed in 1899 to Ingeli Poort on the Natal/Cape Colony border. Construction of the earthworks and track laying of the 4-mile long stretch along the coast to Beach Terminus was carried out departmentally and handed over for maintenance on 9 December 1907. Two years later, construction of the 2ft gauge railway from Port Shepstone to Harding was underway and the short section of 3ft 6in gauge track to Beach Terminus was re-gauged to 2ft.
67. GCA 2607 departing from Port Shepstone with 877-down, the 2:22 pm SuO to Durban in January 1963. Until deep into the 1960s the terrier-like GCA's continued to dominate the lower South Coast but upon completion of the upgrading programme in 1964 their hegemony declined quite rapidly.
68. The Hendrie balcony coaches weren't to everybody's taste but they were much appreciated by this photographer and especially his father, who was wont to spend as much of his journey as possible on the balcony. The side-on view shows their elegant lines (and those of the GCA too, for that matter) to good effect.
69. Port Shepstone: arrival of 746-up from Durban, February 1964
70. In February 1964 the crescendo of SAR's traffic was still a long way off its peak but there was barely room to move in Port Shepstone as 746-up drew in. On the left a couple of RMS buses are waiting to pick up connecting passengers off 746. On the far side of the narrow-gauge/broad-gauge diamonds a rake of ng 'B' bogies is waiting for a chance to block all the broad-gauge lines while it gets shunted down to South Wharf to have its pulpwood load transshipped by hand - manual labour was cheap then. In the far-side platform road are some broad-gauge 'B' bogies already loaded and waiting to be carted off to Saiccor. The 14R of 746-up is about to enter the near-side platform and to its right are the power-station coal loads* of a long goods just in behind a GEA.
* destined for Port Shepstone's Power Station at Spillers - see photo 60)
71. A 14R brings the afternoon passenger into the final S-bend as it approaches Port Shepstone, entering the area formerly known as the Alfred County. There is plenty of history in this picture: in the foreground are the parallel narrow-and Cape-gauge tracks heading to South Wharf – these follow the original alignment which led to the old screwpile river bridge more than a mile upstream. The reference to South Wharf leads on to the maritime history of Port Shepstone – to the right of the locomotive are the remains of the harbour wall, built in 1880. Before the arrival of the railway it could take 10 to 12 days for ox-wagons to travel from Durban to the Alfred County, so most goods traffic to and from the Lower South Coast was landed or loaded here and in fact the Mzimkulu River was considered navigable by craft with a shallow draft for about 5 miles inland. However, the same problem as experienced at Durban – the ever-present sandbar at the harbour entrance – made this a treacherous port and several vessels were lost trying to cross it. The advent of the railway meant that the risks involved in having sea-going vessels navigate the ever shifting sandbar were considered unnecessary and the harbour soon fell into disuse.
72. In a photograph that induces sad memories of the glory that was the railway that served Alfred County, 14R 1734 brings 764-up into Port Shepstone in October 1968.
73. In 1964 there was no talk about the end of steam along here. The main topic was how to handle all the business. As you see, 746-up is safely parked in the main platform road and somehow GEA 4043 has snuck through all those rows of trucks and coupled onto the pulpwood loads that we see in photo 70. If the WTB is to be believed, three minutes after the arrival of 746-up, 875-down was blasting out of the station in a determined bid to escape those claustrophobic surroundings.
74. Let's get outa here! Now we're really getting a wheel on 875-down.
75. Class S2 No 3759 seems to have more than enough behind the drawbar to keep her busy this Saturday afternoon in Port Shepstone. January 1969.
76. It’s about an hour after the train in photo 71 arrived in Port Shepstone. The 14R has been to the loco to be serviced and turned and is now heading back to Durban with 775-down. Meanwhile, the resident class S2 shunter stands aside, having assisted in transferring the baggage van to the back of the train. On the road between the station and the beach RMT buses stand ready to transport passengers and mail onwards, Port Shepstone being the railhead for numerous towns en route to Pondoland and the Transkei, including Margate, Ramsgate, Uvongo, Port Edward, Redoubt, Bizana, Flagstaff, Lusikisiki, Port St. Johns, Harding, Kokstad, Umzimkulu and Mkambati.
77. Class GCA 2623 departs from Port Shepstone with the trial run test train of August 1971.
78. 742-up passenger from Durban with 1E E48 leading 1E E25 and eleven passenger vehicles, crossing the Umzimkulu River. Note that it took two class 1Es to haul the eleven coaches formerly handled by one 14R.
79. Due at 13h44, 742-up is about to enter Port Shepstone station. The train was probably late due to the relaying works encountered on its journey from Durban.
80. The driver’s assistant is looking back to ensure all is safe as class 1Es 63 and sister gently notch up as they depart from Port Shepstone en-route to Johannesburg. In the background, the 1Es off train 748 from Durban have run around the train and are waiting for the main line train to clear in order to couple to the set and return to Durban as train 755. 10 April 1971.
81. Shortly after the train in photo 71 pulled into Port Shepstone, the railway enthusiasts on board dispersed around the station, where the Class S2 was busily shunting goods wagons. In the foreground goods are being transhipped into Diamond-T and other SAR Road Motor Transport vehicles for onward transport to the Transkei and elsewhere.
82. A Class 14R, standard motive power on Port Shepstone trains since the upgrading of the Lower South Coast line was completed in the early sixties, couples up to a Durban-bound passenger train standing alongside platform 2 in 1968. A goods train appears to have recently arrived on platform 1 and awaits attention from the resident Class S2 shunting loco.
83. The late Mervyn Tunmer visited Port Shepstone Loco in the mid-1960s – actual date unknown. In this terrific line-up he found, from the left: classes 14R, S2, GCA, NGG Garratt and taking water, another GCA.
84. In later years the dual-gauge Port Shepstone shed became renowned for its interesting line-ups, in this instance 14R, GCA, NGG16 and GEA with a couple more Garratts in background.
85. A January 1963 view of the shed yard, occupied by 16CR, GCA and NGG16.
86. On the same morning as the previous photo with the same 16CR and a different GCA. In the background is a 2ft-gauge passenger coach of the Harding line (originally known as Alfred County Railway and eventually given the same name under private ownership). 1963 was the last year of regular (i.e. non-tourist/holidaymaker) passenger trains on the Harding line.
87. The back of Port Shepstone shed on the same rainy morning in January 1963. On the left is Hanomag NGG13 No 49 while on the right two of the ubiquitous GCAs.
88. Two brand-new narrow-gauge Garratts and a GCA on shed on a Sunday in October 1969. The informal naming of the NGG loco “Pondo” is perhaps worthy of comment – the Transkei area south of the Umtamvuna River (Port Edward) being known as “Pondoland”.
89. The late Don Baker found a fine line-up of broad and narrow-gauge Garratts in July 1953.
90. Another Mervyn Tunmer shot shows GCA 2200 alongside an NGG Garratt – unidentified.
91. Mervyn also got another GCA and one of the Hunslet-Taylor NGG16s alongside each other – both unidentified.
92. In January 1965, I also visited Port Shepstone Loco and found this trio alongside each other – class GCA 2612, an unidentified NGG Garratt, and a GEA towering over the little chap
93. An S2 shunter with a boiler diameter fractionally smaller than the boiler on that little NGG13 at the water column (they were both yard pilots)! The Shed catered for both SAR standard and narrow-gauge engines as can be seen in this view taken from inside the shed.
94. Yet another comparison in engine-size, from the left: GCA, NGGs and a monster GEA! Note the three track formations facing the camera: 3ft-6in; 2ft; dual gauge. A rather primitive coal-stage required the use of manual labour to get the engines coaled.
95. Portrait of GCA 2612 – the stalwart class of the Natal South Coast! I noted during this visit that all the engines were still carrying their decent headlamps – before those ugly sealed-beams replaced them. Additional note from Charlie: "the sturdy bar-framed construction of these Krupp machines was the secret of their success when compared with the earlier Beyer Peacock-built GCs. The 39 members of the class survived intact from their introduction in 1927/28 until 1965 when the first three were withdrawn. By far the majority gave over 40 years of service. In passenger service their performance was not intimidated by the tiny driving wheels (3'-6¾" diameter) and when running upwards of 50mph you could hear no beat, rather a continuous loud roar like a jet aircraft. I have a vivid memory of coming up to Durban with a down 'semi-fast' on a Saturday evening in October 1959 when we ripped through Clairwood Race Course just as the racegoers were crowding onto the platform after their day with the gee-gees. The overpowering racket of the engine chucking out char like tephra caused instant panic with everyone running for cover, or trying to protect their heads with their race-cards....."
96. Steam, diesel and electric at Port Shepstone loco in 1992: class 5E1 No 624, 36-226, 91-006 and NGG16 No 156 (Hunslet-Taylor 3901, SAR's last new steam locomotive and the last Garratt ever made).
97. Eugene comments: Passengers from the RSSA Special admiring 14R 1733 at Port Shepstone, while it gets ready for the return run to Durban on 31st July 1976. On the left is 5E 486. In the foreground there is work in progress on the 2 ft gauge track. My notes from this day tell me that class S2 3713 was also on shed at Sheppie that day, as well as at least seven narrow gauge Garratts.
98. Glen moved back to the station yard area and reports: "back in the yard we find NGG16 No 85, cab roof removed, sitting on two flat cars behind 1E E33, 1E E28 and 1E E80 which are ready with a northbound goods train towards Durban. Note that the middle locomotive has a widened cab and the third locomotive has its pantographs lowered. A departure photograph was not taken as I was at the south end of the yard photographing a narrow gauge departure on the Harding line. The train with NGG16 85 was overtaken by Train No. 785 at Umkomaas at about 2020 and not forgotten, the NGG16 was seen two days later at Napier Junction behind GMAM 4114, presumably on their way to Pietermaritzburg Workshops."
99. 14R 1729 and auxiliary water tank 30-035120 probably followed 742-up from Hibberdene after piloting it from Mtwalume. Note the lamps on the pilot. Editor’s note: Even our long-term Aussie visitor noticed the marker lamps on the front buffer beam. This practice appeared to be confined to Natal – still to be confirmed.
100. Getting a thumb up from a crew member, 1E E48 and 1E E25 are passing through the yard preparatory to hauling the coaches at left on Train No 785 to Durban. Note that both locomotives are fitted with original narrow cabs. So ended for Glen about five hours of activity at Port Shepstone with the 2ft gauge to be seen in the narrow gauge chapter.
101. The late Roger Perry took this photo on 5 September 1971 at Port Shepstone – it shows two class 1E units heading a passenger train for Durban. This was the same day that the RSSA, Durban organised the special GCA trip down to Port Shepstone on which I was a passenger. Arrangements were made for me to ride on the leading 1E No 81 that was due to depart before the special returned to Durban. So off I went on this unit-hauled train as far as Umtentweni up the line where I got off and waited for the special to arrive so that I could re-join the group. It was a short but most enjoyable experience for a bloke who knew these units well as a schoolboy living in Durban during the 2nd world war.
102. Port Shepstone is a hive of activity as 755-down prepares to return to Durban late in 1970.
103. In my introduction to this chapter, I mentioned a measure of repetition in certain cases – well here, several repetitive shots of 1E units awaiting departure from Port Shepstone have been included because each one reflects a different story. In this Glen Mills photo we see both class 1E units have been modified with widened cabs and new body-side windows. Glen takes up his story:
"Train No 734-up formed train No 755-down at 12.55 back to Durban. Here the locomotives have run around their train and are attached at the north end ready to leave for Durban. Note that both locomotives have widened cabs while the second locomotive is a 1ES whose conversion included cab widening as part of the work. Evidently the 1ES’s were altered electrically internally but retained the same speed limit as a 1E, probably why the two were able to be coupled together."
104. While Glen was waiting for 755-down to depart, S2 3759 appeared from the exchange sidings pushing a load up the hill into Port Shepstone yard. More on the 2 ft gauge joining the 3ft 6 ins follows. Port Shepstone lighthouse stands tall at the left.
105. One of the few places in Natal where two gauges met: here in Port Shepstone the 2ft gauge line from the station to South Wharf crosses over two 3ft 6in gauge lines and interlaces with the 3ft 6in gauge where the photographer is standing to form a dual gauge section thereby providing the narrow gauge line with a direct link to the wharf. Other places where the two gauges met were at Donnybrook Junction (dual gauge to Donnybrook) and Esperanza (dual gauge to Umzinto).
An unidentified Class S2 is seen simmering in the background having a quiet Saturday afternoon. According to the June 1976 issue of SA Rail Class S2 Nos. 3723 and 3759 were allocated to Port Shepstone for shunting duties.
Just peeking in on the right side of the image is Class 14R No.1733 - after moving over the inspection pit for repairs to the grease pad and repacking with grease on the leading driving wheel, she has now replenished her water and coal supplies for the return journey to Durban at 15:29 – date of the photograph is 31 July 1976.
106. What a perfect setting at Port Shepstone station on a cloudless winter’s day in Natal: waves breaking on the white sandy beaches and the deep blue Indian Ocean forming the backdrop. The most prominent feature, of course, is Class 14R No.1733, polished to perfection by her crew. With the imminent withdrawal of steam locomotives from the Durban area, this trip served as a fitting farewell to the Class 14R as well as steam traction as a whole*. The RSSA Special was made up of six round-roofed second-class mainline saloons and a first-class side door brake-end van with 175 passengers on board. A corridor catering service was provided by the SAR serving rolls, sandwiches, cool drinks, sweets, biscuits and smokes.
The location arranged for a photo run-past was misunderstood by the loco crew who thought it was to be on the Umzimkulu bridge. Instead of the train coming to a stop before the bridge to allow the photographers (including yours truly) to board the train, it picked up speed and disappeared into the distance with six photographers in hot pursuit dreading to be left behind! After the train had come to a halt some distance away from the bridge, the out of breath and tired ‘train chasers’ finally reached the brake-end van and clambered on board. One of the younger passengers was overheard commenting “Now I know what a train chaser is”.
With acknowledgement to Alan F Clarke’s account in SA Rail titled ‘A brass dome on the South Coast’, SA Rail, August 1976, pp.5-8.
*Greyville steam depot closed 15 September 1976.
107. Brian captured the “false” departure of 1733 on the RSSA special returning to Durban from the road bridge near the Port Shepstone lighthouse. There was a bit of unintentional humour here, as the loco crew apparently never got the message (or forgot!) that a photo runpast would be undertaken and merrily opened up the loco once on the river bridge. It was only when the guard caught sight of the worried passengers gesticulating from the road bridge that the emergency brake was applied and arrangements made for the train to push back and collect the wayward travellers!
108. Flat out for a GEA was around 40mph (officially 35mph with this goods train) so we had no difficulty overtaking #4023 a short distance beyond the Umzimkulu Bridge.
109. Class 5E units bringing a complete train of ACR traffic away from Port Shepstone c 1992. The first eight wagons are bogie STs loaded to the gunwales with pine logs and stretching into the distance are DZs loaded with creosoted poles from Harding Treated Timbers bound for their customers all over South Africa and Namibia. Interesting to note that many HTT consignments over the years were destined for Langkloof farms, i.e. from one narrow gauge line to another (including at least one memorable load from Harding to Avontuur).
110. Even with a gantry, transhipping of pulpwood logs was costly, laborious and time-consuming. In 1993 ACR began experimenting with piggybacking narrow-gauge trains to Saiccor. The trials were 100% successful and became standard practice for the next seven years until the pulpwood business finally succumbed to road competition. As you see, it wasn't possible to piggyback beyond Umkomaas because the narrow gauge wagons would have been away too long, so the gantry continued in use for farther destinations such as Lion Match in Umgeni and SAPPI's mill at Mandini.
111. The return trip of the 14R 1733 Bayhead special to Durban in the late afternoon, running through Melville siding, with a photographer capturing the scene on his cine camera.
112. 14R 1733 catches the last light from the setting sun just north of Hibberdene while returning to Durban with the RSSA Special day trip outing to Port Shepstone on 31 July 1976.
Google maps tells me the river in the foreground is the Mhlungwa, most likely at that time it was known as the Umhlungwa.
POST SCRIPT: LOWER SOUTH COAST LINE TRAFFIC AND RAIL OPERATIONS c.2000 – 2020 by Peter Bagshawe
Traffic on the electrified south coast line to and from Port Shepstone was dealt with by trains #1892/1893 which ran Mondays to Fridays only. The coal and clinker traffic to and from Simuma were covered by trains #1860/1861. In later years haulage could be either electric or diesel locomotives, until 2012 when the electrification south of Kelso was abandoned.
Passenger Services
The passenger service between Durban and Port Shepstone finished a number of years ago. (In April 1970 Port Shepstone was allocated five Class 14R 4-8-2 locomotives for the passenger service to Durban. By December 1970 the route was fully electrified, but in 1987 passenger services between Kelso and Port Shepstone) were abandoned.[1]
However, in November 2003 Metrorail decided to re-introduce a weekend Durban – Port Shepstone Metrorail service. All trains were extensions of existing Durban – Kelso and Kelso – Durban services as follows:
#0774 (FO) Durban 16.12 – Port Shepstone (PHR) 18.56 (return empty stock to Kelso)
#0782 (FO) Durban 17.12 – Port Shepstone (PHR) 20.10 (return empty stock to Kelso)
#0746 (SuO) Durban 10.35 – PHR 13.27. Return #0775 (SuO) PHR 13.40 – Durban 16.35
#0752 (SuO) Durban 12.35 – PHR 15.43. Return #0789 (SuO) PHR 15.53 – Durban 18.35
Due to "technical hitches" the first trains (scheduled for 21 & 23 November 2003) were replaced by buses and the rail service only commenced on 28 November 2003. The service was advertised as a pilot project running until the end of March 2004 when, if justified, a permanent service would be introduced. In fact patronage was so poor that the last trains are believed to have run on 21/12/2003.
Timber
Once the mainstay of freight traffic on the South Coast line, the timber which mainly originated from the Harding area of Natal, and travelled over the 2ft gauge line to Port Shepstone (latterly the Alfred County Railway). Traffic was hauled by 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt locomotives until 1992 when most of the traffic was taken over by hired Spoornet Class 91 diesels. This went over to road in 2001, with the last train from Harding running on 12 March 2001. After transhipment, the last timber from Port Shepstone left on 15 March 2001, comprising two piggybacks (for Saiccor) and four ST wagons (for CTC Richards Bay). In fact it was not quite the end, as a small amount of timber for CTC from the Renken/Paddock area, recommenced in November 2001, continuing until March 2004, and being hauled by the Banana Express steam locomotive to Port Shepstone where it was transhipped.
Bulk Lime (Kulubrite)
Southbound traffic comprised empty XB/XX wagons for the bulk lime traffic (Kulubrite) to Sappi Geduld (loaded at South Wharf, Port Shepstone from a silo). This traffic went over to road in March 2008, the last loads being despatched on 17 March 2008. The Kulubrite silo was noted being demolished at the end of June 2009.
Limestone
This was loaded into DJ/DZ wagons (normally about six wagons daily) at South Wharf, brought up to the Port Shepstone yard by the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive, and onwards by train #1893 to the Sappi-Saiccor plant at Umkomaas. With the end of the bulk lime traffic from South Wharf in March 2008 (see Bulk Lime (Kulubrite) above) it was intended to cancel trains #1892/#1893 with the limestone traffic going over to road in April 2008. It was suggested by Transnet staff that the loss of the limestone traffic was probably due to the fact that although the Kulubrite traffic had gone over to road, the same amount of rental (I was told R200,000 per year) would still be needed for South Wharf and would therefore have to be borne solely by the limestone traffic.
In the meantime the limestone traffic was handled by the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive which did a return trip to Saiccor as necessary (complete with the shunter wagon). However, (presumably the South Wharf rental problem had been resolved), trains #1892/#1893 were reinstated at the beginning of April 2008 (although running rather irregularly until the middle of April), and they usually took care of the limestone and sand traffic, empties and shunt locomotive exchange. However, the limestone eventually went over to road (apparently a road backhaul had been found) with Class 6E1 E1594+E1513 hauling the final train (#1893), comprising 18 wagons of limestone, on 5 July 2011.
Clinker
The other main traffic flow was clinker from NPC (Natal Portland Cement) Simuma to NPC Mount Vernon (Durban). This was served by a 14km branch (opened May 1984) which left the mainline at North Shepstone (4 km north of Port Shepstone). By 2003 these trains were comprised of 40 type DJ wagons and were normally hauled by four Class 6E1 or three Class 34-2 locomotives. Normally one train a day (except Sunday) in each direction (#1860 returning as #1861). In 2015 the vacuum braked DJ wagons were replaced by air-braked CMR wagons (originally used on manganese ore traffic), the number per train still remaining at 40. In 2011 the arrival of Class 43 diesels meant more diesel locomotives were available and a decision was made to de-electrify the line south of Kelso. The last observations of electric units in use on the clinker traffic were 1 March and 24 May 2012. Since then three Class 37 locomotives have normally handled this traffic.
Coal
On Sundays, a trainload of coal (normally 40 CAR/CFR wagons) would be run from Bayhead to Simuma in lieu of clinker empties (#1864). The locomotives normally returned light engine, the coal empties being tripped from Simuma to Port Shepstone by the latter’s Class 36-2 shunt locomotive. They would then return north on #1893. In later years the coal train tended to run midweek, with the empties returning north direct, rather than via Port Shepstone. Like the clinker traffic, three Class 37 locomotives became the norm for hauling this traffic which still runs in 2020.
Sand
Sand for Underberg was loaded at Park Rynie into DJ/DZ wagons, which for operating convenience, came south to Port Shepstone on #1892 before going north to Underberg on the return train #1893. In later years sand traffic was picked up by the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive at Park Rynie and dropped at Umkomaas for onward delivery to Underberg.
Shale
It is not known when this traffic commenced, but the shale was for the Simuma NPC plant. It was sourced along the Simuma rail line, and handled by the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive. Around March 2017 the vacuumed braked CA wagons used for this traffic were converted to air braking at Port Shepstone. However by June 2018 this traffic had gone over to road. Rather surprisingly this was not the end of the story. Apparently using road transport didn’t prove satisfactory and, on 9 September 2020, Port Shepstone became host to a Class 36-2 GM shunt locomotive again and became responsible for the shale traffic. Fortunately, despite there having been no traffic at all for some time, the station was still staffed!
Locomotive Notes Port Shepstone Traffic
Usual power for #1892/#1893 were two Class 6E1 or Class 34-2 locomotives, but other types did put in appearances, including pairs of Class 36-2 on occasions. By 2009, #1892/1893 didn’t run on a daily basis and, on occasions, the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive would do a return trip to Umkomaas to deliver the limestone. By 2011 #1892/#1893 were still running infrequently, and the Port Shepstone shunt locomotive was usually responsible for the limestone traffic to Umkomaas. Although it is believed the sand traffic at Park Rynie still existed, it was rarely seen at Port Shepstone.
Shunt Locomotives and Shunter Wagons
Port Shepstone was allocated a Class 36-2 GM shunt locomotive. This was responsible for shunting and marshalling trains, and the delivery and collection of wagons to/from South Wharf. Exchange of these locomotives for servicing in Durban normally took place on a weekly basis with dead haulage on trains (initially on #1894/1895 (Sundays only – could include empties southbound), later #1892/1893. Even after traffic at Port Shepstone Station had ceased, the shunt locomotive remained and, by early February 2010, it had been joined by a VLJ13 shunter wagon. These wagons were introduced country wide around January 2010, one reason being to reduce the number of staff on the locomotive footplate. In the case of Port Shepstone, this would provide some comfort for the shunting crews who previously had to squash themselves into the locomotive cab (or stand on the locomotive running boards). By 2017 the only work for it was the collection of shale along the Simuma line and delivering it to NPC Simuma. This traffic eventually went over to road and the shunt locomotive (36-214) returned to Durban without replacement on 4 February 2018 (the shunt wagon did not go with it and it was some time before it too returned north). Subsequently Class 36 locomotives were to visit Port Shepstone on works and special (such as the Phelophepa) trains and, rather surprisingly, from September 2020, one locomotive was stabled at Port Shepstone again to handle the reinstated shale traffic on the Simuma line.
Line Closures
The South Coast line has also suffered from washaways due to storm damage in recent years, leading to the line being closed to traffic for long periods. Details of the most recent and serious closures follow:
Mid May 2017 to early August 2017 (washaways Isipingo to Umbogintweni and Hibberdene to Umzumbe areas).
Mid October 2017 (storm damage between Durban and Umgababa, most serious between Reunion and Amanzimtoti) which was compounded by further storm damage in November 2017 (Isipingo and Amanzimtoti worst affected). The line was eventually reopened in early January 2018.
End of April 2019 (damage all along the line from Durban to Simuma due to heavy rains on 23 April). The damage included ballast washed away (Umbogintweni –Amanzimtoti), bridge aprons washed away (Ifafa and Mtwalume), washaways at Port Shepstone Station and on the Simuma line (at km 11 and between km 11 and km13). The line eventually reopened in August 2019.
Sources:
[1] “Tracks across the Veld” by Boonzaaier.
Observations PF Bagshawe
Transnet Staff, Port Shepstone (especially P Nielsen)
Transnet Working Timetables
113. Sunwich Port: 37-075+37-066+37-079 with clinker empties from Mount Vernon cement works to Simuma. November 2018.
114. Sunwich Port: 37-019+37-092 with the Phelophepa Health Train crossing the Domba River en-route to Port Shepstone, February 2019.
115. 37-095+37-025+37-060 with clinker empties bound for Simuma coming through a disgracefully unkempt Umtentweni. February 2019.
116. The Phelophepa train was one of very few successful innovations introduced by the new management. It has made medical care available to tens of thousands of impoverished citizens throughout the country and would have been able to provide even more were it not for the closure or unuseablility of so much of the country's once extensive network.
When comparing this picture to earlier ones from this popular vantage point (69, 71, 72, 74, 107) it is tempting to apply the old adage "when steam went it took the railway with it". The logic is considerable but devious. We invite you, dear reader, to contemplate how the thriving railway we have illustrated could have ended up in this state. The business is still there, in far greater quantity than ever before. But it is not on the railway.
A couple more points. When Transnet abandoned electric trains to Port Shepstone it was not because it wanted to. The overhead wires had become a reliable source of wealth for the scrap thieves of Durban. How could live high-voltage cables be stolen? Well the i.q. of a thief is practically boundless: take a hacksaw blade, tape it to a fishing rod (don't use a metal one) and saw away. Use your bakkie to move about half a mile further on and repeat, then throw a rope over the sawn bit and pull the end down. Tie the end to your bakkie and drive bumpily but happily alongside the track for another half a mile. Spend the rest of the night sawing the copper cable into loadable lengths and head back to Durban just before dawn. Oh, and come back the next night. The cops won't be there.
For this reason there are no more electric trains working on the Reef and strong rumours that the Natal Main Line could be de-electrified. Can the situation ever be rectified? Unlikely, given the loss of institutional memory; certainly not by the state. Private enterprise could possibly manage it but government constraints would probably make this unlikely too.
That cheerful note (written by Charlie) brings our coverage of the Natal System to a close except for the 2ft narrow gauge lines that will still appear as a separate chapter/s by my colleague Bruno Martin. My coverage returns to the Orange Free State and Bloemfontein in particular.
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