Soul of a Railway Road Transport Services Part 1

By Les Pivnic with assistance of Johannes Haarhoff and Yolanda Meyer.

South African Railways : Road Motor Services

Introduction Part 1

The Road Motor Services Division of the SAR & H is divided into two Parts with Part 1 covering the beginnings of the Service to the late-1930s and Part 2, the period from World War 2 to roughly 1990. Part 2 concludes with a brief look at Rail Trolleys and Rail Buses which also fell under the control of the Road Motor Service Division.

Thanks to the foresight of the first General Manager of Railways in South Africa, Sir William Hoy, the very first Road Motor Service began operating on the 23rd of December 1912 between Botrivier and Hermanus – only two years after the formation of the parent SAR & H itself.

In this regard, an interesting series of articles written by Frank Dutton, A.M.I.Mech.E. - entitled ‘Road and Rail Transport - Some Aspects of Empire Problems.’, commenced in the SAR & H Magazine for October 1917. This series provides an insight into the thinking of road transport being applied as an ancillary to rail as adopted by the SAR & H. The articles can be read in DRISA on https://railways.haarhoff.co.za/

Further development was hindered by World War 1 but soon moved forward with gusto after hostilities ceased in 1918 with the inauguration of a second service between Bellville and Durbanville in the Cape in 1919. This 2^nd service led to a rapid increase in new services all over the Country.

Before moving on from this early period, a particularly significant development occurred in 1918 at Canada Junction near Johannesburg. Sir William Hoy authorised a test track to be built for Frank Dutton, to test his ingenious idea of using a road tractor to haul small trucks on a 2ft gauge track with the tractor on hard rubber tyres straddling the track. For the full story, see the following links:-

https://saice.org.za/downloads/monthly_publications/2021/Civil-Engineering-August-2021.pdf (turn to page 47) for Part 1

https://saice.org.za/downloads/monthly_publications/2021/Civil-Engineering-October-2021.pdf (turn to page 43) for Part 2

Those very humble beginnings in 1912, would, over the coming decades, develop into one of the largest single road transport organisations in the world.

Mr. Dutton, who was initially Chief Signal Engineer, also looked after the interests of the Road Transport Services until 1927 when it became big enough to stand as a section on its own. Mr. J. D. White was appointed the first Manager of the stand-alone section.

By 1927 the total route mileage operated was already 4,833 miles, soon to be augmented by a further 2,528 miles increasing the total to 7,361. As a further example, within 25 years, the vehicle mileage (as opposed to route mileage) had grown to a staggering 5,245,956 miles as reported in the GM’s Report for 1935! This figure was achieved with the use of 600 vehicles made up as follows:- 59 passenger vehicles, 221 combined goods & passenger vehicles, 108 goods vehicles and 212 trailers.

The combined goods and passenger vehicle, as a distinct type, was pioneered and developed by the SAR & H to cover sparsely populated routes that did not demand dedicated vehicles of each individual type.

The official commemorative ‘Century of Transport’ book published by the Administration in 1960 provides a good pen-picture of the early years of development of the RMS contrasted with the situation in the Centenary Year as follows:-

Initially, the services were operated mainly for the conveyance of passengers and general merchandise, farming requirements and, more especially, for cream and other perishable commodities. But as the rural communities which they served began to rely on the services to an ever-increasing degree, seasonal services for the conveyance of grain and other bulk loads were started. Grain was first carried in the Orange Free State in 1929, when some 10,000 tons were transported in loads of from 10 to I 5 tons. To-day the annual tonnage of grain conveyed by road has multiplied 50 times.

The peak traffic figures reached during the war years between 1940 and 1945, have been maintained, even increased in some cases. This applies particularly to fertilisers and kraal manure, which average about 200,000 tons a year. This traffic, again in the national interest, is carried at low rates. The dairy industry is a striking example in this connection and the railways now carry more than 3,500,000 gallons of cream every year by road. Transport of livestock is another feature.

Special Vehicle Types:

Many special types of vehicles have been introduced in recent years to keep pace with demand and develop­ ment. Carrying capacity in the goods category ranges from less than two tons to 100 tons. Tourist services have received close attention and railway road transport now offers arranged tours through the interesting parts of the country. Luxury buses built to the design of the Administration have such modern features as air­ conditioning, toilet facilities and other refinements.

Meeting specialized Demands:

Considerable research has been made in the design of vehicles for the transport of abnormally heavy loads, perishable products and liquid fuel by road. Refrigerator road vehicles are now in use and railway road-tankers have become a familiar sight.

Cartage Services:

The Railway Administration also delivers goods from rail-heads in many important centres. Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, East London, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Windhoek, Mossel Bay and Luderitz are served in this way. This aspect of railway enterprise is known as "cartage services". They do not confine their activities to the delivery of goods received by rail but collect goods from commercial firms and private individuals for consignment by rail. The Railway Administration has invested £2,338,889 in cartage plant.

Research into the history of the RMS Division brought to light a very important factor which is referred to repeatedly in the early days of operating the Road Transport Service. This factor involves the roads that had to be used by the official SAR & H vehicles. Unlike the railway lines that were maintained departmentally, the road vehicles had to use public roads that the Railway Administration had no control over in terms of maintenance. In the early years and for an extended period of decades, the inter-city and rural roads left a lot to be desired – many hundreds of miles were gravel surfaces that became quagmires in rainy periods. Even in the dry seasons, the roads were often corrugated and this took a toll on the vehicles having to use them. The following photos will give the reader an idea of what the Railway Administration had to put up with.

Regarding coachwork liveries, the earliest photos indicate a single dark overall livery which was later superceded by a two-tone scheme that consisted of Battleship Grey for the upper part of the body and Crimson for the lower half. Still later, a stylised scheme was adopted using Cherry Red and Grey (see photos for examples). Eventually, post 1945, the normal two-tone colour scheme was reverted to for passenger and combination vehicles and a single Cherry Red for purely goods trucks. The Cartage Service vehicles were painted in a deep Leaf Green livery. Orange became prominent for goods vehicles in the 1970s/80s.

The preparation of this chapter for ‘Soul of a Railway’ involved the adoption of some new procedures not needed earlier for the rail-related chapters. Prominent amongst these new procedures was the procurement of photographs made-up using official SAR photographic images now under the care of the Transnet Heritage Library. In this regard, I owe Yolanda Meyer of the THL my grateful thanks for all her assistance in sourcing many of the photographs. My grateful thanks are also extended to Johannes Haarhoff for his unstinting assistance in various ways and for making it possible to access DRISA/ATOM for additional photos and SAR & H Magazines. Without the assistance of Johannes and Yolanda, this chapter would not have appeared in SoAR.

Finally, I need to indicate that the make-up of this chapter also diverges from previous practice in that a large number of pages from the SAR & H Magazines are presented in photo-format to provide historical and technical detail to the vehicle photographs. This results in some portions of text appearing in odd format and text size.

Note:

A: The bulk of the photos presented are in B&W format due to limited availability of colour images at the time of writing.

B: Due to the fair number of photographs of actual pages in the SAR & H Magazine, no captions are necessary as these pages speak for themselves.

1. This is a map showing the Road Motor Services in red in 1929. It is noteworthy how extensive the network already was after only 17 years in operation.

2. This is the photo used to illustrate the very first Road Motor Service inaugurated by Sir William Hoy between Botrivier and Hermanus on the 23^rd of December 1912. The bus is a British-made ‘Dennis’ and is shown crossing the Afdakrivier. The whole concept was to stimulate Hermanus as a holiday destination in the Cape.

4. The scene is in Braamfontein, Johannesburg and it shows Frank Dutton with pith helmet co-driving an SAR Dennis combustion tractor hauling two trailers, coming out of the subway under the main railway lines. C.1918.

5. East London, C. 1916. An SAR solid rubber-tyred, paraffin driven tractor No. R1501 with 6 trailers carrying 13 tons of wool was photographed near the Grand Hotel seen in the background. This is the actual tractor that Frank Dutton subsequently used in his ‘road-rail’ experiment at Canada Junction in 1918.

6. Tented wagons and open trailers being hauled by SAR ‘Marshall’ colonial type F traction engines.

7. This coloured B&W image gives some idea of the ‘roads’ that had to be traversed by SAR RMS vehicles in the early days.

8. A ‘Fowler’ Patent Oil Tractor is depicted heading a few wagons in this DRISA Archive photo.

9. An early ‘FWD’ (Four Wheel Drive of USA) SAR motor lorry mounted on solid rubber tyres poses for a photograph.

10. Here is sister ‘FWD’ lorry No.1057 at work carrying a variety of goods and a few ‘passengers’!

11. The ‘FWD’ lorries were obviously kept very busy carting all nature of goods for clients.

12. This is an SAR RMS ‘Albion’ chain-driven truck No.306.

13. In this rear view of No.306, the chains are visible inside the rear wheels.

14. 1923: SAR ‘Foden’ steam traction engine No.40 hauling 6 trailers, is ready to leave the Goods Yard to deliver the merchandise.

15. Four ‘Thornycroft’ steam lorries with loaded trailers for clients in Johannesburg were photographed before leaving Kazerne Goods Depot.

16. Another 1923 Johannesburg scene depicts 13 steam traction engines lined up for a photo at Kazerne. Two ‘Sentinel’ tractors on the far left – the rest are ‘Fodens’.

17. This Kazerne photo shows a ‘Fowler’ steam traction engine (looking rather weather-beaten) with two trailers carrying a 24-ton steel girder-beam for delivery.

18. Another Kazerne image: This one showing the overhead electric crane loading an 18-ton boiler onto two wagons behind ‘Fowler’ steam traction engine No.22.

19. ‘Foden’ steam traction engine with trailers of fodder for clients in Johannesburg is seen at Kazerne.

20. This rural scene depicts a ‘Foden’ type ‘E’ steam traction engine hauling three trailers of goods and an SAR 6-wheeled bus following behind, obviously waiting for an opportunity to overtake the ‘Foden’.

29. This interesting photo shows Frank Dutton at the wheel of the paraffin-powered tractor No. R 1501 which he would use for his ‘Road-Rail’ project alongside a ‘Fowler’ steam traction engine. C.1918.

30. The General Manager, Sir William Hoy (2^nd left) is seen riding on the Dutton-modified tractor at Canada Junction during the initial tests being conducted there in 1918.

31. The Railway Board photographed at Canada Junction in 1918.

32. Frank Dutton took out patents in the UK on his ‘Road-Rail’ project and exhibited his tractor haulage system at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, London, in 1924. This is the grand entrance to the Dutton exhibit at Wembley.

33. A passenger train on the Dutton system at Wembley 1924.

34. A goods train was also demonstrated at Wembley.

35. SAR lorry No.113 is receiving attention in this photo – undated and location not specified. The African huts in the background suggest somewhere in Natal.

36. This historic photo depicts two ‘Dennis’ buses on arrival in Hermanus C.1912.

37. Another Hermanus scene shows just how busy the SAR bus service was from Botrivier.

38. An SAR ‘Thornycroft’ ‘Hathi’ truck and trailer loaded with crates for delivery – no date or location available.

39. Another elderly ‘Thornycroft SAR vehicle – this photo is rather significant in that it shows an early form of combination bus/truck – a concept pioneered and perfected by the SAR.

40. RMS No.113 American ‘Reo’ lorry working on the Kokstad to Port St.Johns service in the early 1920s. Rather curious but the vehicle is carrying a Johannesburg number plate – TJ 2081.

41. Here is no.113 again – depicted at the terminus – unfortunately not specified.

43. This classic old ‘Thornycroft’ combination bus/lorry No.R18 was photographed at Kazerne Goods Depot in Johannesburg C. 1920s.

44. This photo depicting another ‘Thornycroft’ combination bus/truck shows the on-going development with these vehicles – this is no. R22 – already a noticeable improvement/development of the vehicle in the previous photo. C.1926.

45. Here is another view of R22 clearly showing the three-axle arrangement with spare wheel.

46. Here is another photo depicting the atrocious roads that had to be negotiated in the early years of the RMS services. The vehicle is a three-axle ‘Thornycroft’ combination.

47. One is inclined to ask – ‘Where is the road?’ Those ‘Thornycrofts’ must have been very robust vehicles to put up with this kind of treatment on a regular basis!

48. Further development is evident in this photo of R43 posing for the camera. The embellished livery suggests a Department that is becoming quite ‘house-proud’!

49. This photo of combination R140 reveals the dual rear tyres on the rear axle.

62. Vryburg 1923, Central Hotel: A ‘Thornycroft’ 3-axle combination is parked outside waiting for its next turn of duty.

63. Pondoland: two SAR RMS three-axle buses on the road – a ‘Thornycroft’ in front, followed by a larger/newer bus No.279 with a roof rack.

66. Another photo of the ‘Kalahari Desert Bus’ – again showing further development of the ‘combination concept’ for rural transport.

67. This photo of an American ‘White’ (the name refers to the US Company who made the chassis of the vehicle) dual-level tourist bus was taken in Hermanus in 1927.

68. Kokstad C.1930: Three SAR RMS buses heading for (L to R) – Lusikisiki, Port St.Johns and Umtata. The buses are: (L to R) ‘Thornycroft’, ‘Leyland’ and an American ‘Mack’.

69. No need for a description – the SAR bus speaks for itself!

70. 1931: An SAR RMS ‘Pullman’ bus (Mack’ chassis) for service between Durban and Pietermaritzburg with her driver standing rather proud alongside his charge!

75. Another view of an SAR RMS ‘Pullman’ bus (Mack’ chassis) for service between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

76. RMS bus No.1207 fitted-out for rural service complete with post box! The chassis is an American ‘Mack’.

104. This is a British ‘Albion’ chassis with a departmental body fitted for rural service – No. 1114.

113. A close-up of a new ‘Thornycroft’ bus with departmental body that was displayed in the S A Railway exhibit at the British Empire Exhibition, Milner Park, Johannesburg in 1936.

134. A late 1930’s ‘Thornycroft’ chassis fitted with a departmental body, is posed for the camera, showing the latest version of combination vehicle – no.420 - in use by the Administration.

135. This is another ‘Thornycroft’ chassis with a suburban service body fitted for local urban services in various South African cities.

141. Karrier ‘Cobs’ in service in Johannesburg, stationed at Kazerne Goods Depot. These British-made 3-wheelers did an amazing amount of work delivering freight to clients all over the city.

142. This photo of the little ‘Cobs’ at Kazerne typifies their busy days running around Johannesburg delivering goods to the Administration’s clients. The uniformed men with white helmets are Railway Police keeping an eye on the consignments while they await despatch.

158. This photo (C.1938) shows the stylised red & grey livery adopted by the RMS Division for their suburban bus operations.

159. This is the stylised livery as applied to the Administration's double-deck buses for suburban routes. In this instance, mounted on a British 'Leyland' chassis.