Compiled by Bruno Martin

 Editorial contributors: Charlie Lewis, Charles Parry and Ashley Peter © 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS

The request for photographs taken on the Natal Two-Foot Gauge Lines generated a selection of over 700 images from our contributors. As a result, it was decided to split the chapter into seven parts following from the numerical sequence of System 6 Natal:

Part 21. Estcourt–Weenen Railway.

Part 22. Umlaas Road–Mid Illovo Railway.

Part 23. (Umzinto) Esperanza–Donnybrook (Stuartstown Railway) and Union Bridge–Madonela branch.

Part 24. Port Shepstone–Harding Railway (Alfred County Railway).

Part 25. Port Shepstone and Alfred County Railway (ACR).

Part 26. Natal Narrow-Gauge Motive Power.

Part 27. The Natal Narrow Gauge Preservation Group.

 A special thank you is extended to Leith Paxton, who generously provided us with his collection of images and placed all his information on the narrow-gauge railways at our disposal.

 Also, thank you to Peter Bagshawe for contributing his article 'Umzinto Narrow-Gauge Workings 1980-1984' and diagrams. Peter's article gives an insight into the last years of the line's operation from Umzinto to Ixopo.

 The following photographers and colleagues contributed photographs to this chapter:

Allen Jorgensen via Dick Manton; B Lewis coll via C P Lewis; Brian Couzens via Ashley Peter (RSSA Natal Branch); Bruno Martin; Charlie Lewis; Dick Manton; Don Baker via Charlie Lewis; F H Worsdolf; Garratt & Robert Bucher (R L Bucher Collection); George Bambery via Robert Kingsford-Smith; Harald Navé via Charlie Lewis (courtesy of Alfred Luft, custodian of the Navé collection); John Middleton; Leith Paxton; Les Pivnic; Peter Bagshawe; Robert Kingsford-Smith (Rags); Roger Griffiths; Terry Hutson, collection S A Rail; THL via Yolanda Meyer. 

Apologies to anyone I should have thanked but have overlooked.

MAP OF KWAZULU-NATAL SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE NARROW-GAUGE RAILWAYS

Continuing Natal's two-foot gauge railways coverage, the next chapter takes us to the Stuartstown Railway and the Madonela Branch. With an overall length of 115 miles 11 chains, this railway was the longest of Natal's narrow-gauge railways. Rolling hills and a maze of deeply incised river valleys characterise much of the countryside traversed by the Stuartstown Railway. The terrain rises abruptly from the narrow coastal plain to an elevation over 4 600ft, some 53 miles in a straight-line distance from the coast. While the alignment lacks the spirals and reverses of the Darjeeling-Himalayan, the Stuartstown Railway nevertheless has all of the characteristics of a mountain railway with its steep inclines and tight curves. The first 5 miles of the journey inland are uninspiring as the line meanders along the uMuziwezinto (Umzinto) valley through sugar cane fields before the ascent begins in earnest. Over the next 35 miles, the railway alignment is tortuous to the extreme as it climbs on an almost endless succession of tight curves from 405ft to 3 033ft on a ruling gradient of 1 in 33·3 to Hlutankungu. During the journey, the sugar cane fields give way to open farmland and timber plantations with spectacular views of the rolling hills and deep river valleys. Then, there is a brief respite to the village Highflats on 3 100ft before another incline brings the line to Glen Beulah on 3 691ft. Following the descent to Etterby, the line levels off to reach Ixopo (formerly Stuartstown), the only significant town between Umzinto and Donnybrook.

About half a mile after leaving Ixopo, the 17½-mile long branch to Madonela peels away from the 'main line' at the unattended junction named Union Bridge. It first climbs to Stainton (3 720ft), crests the summit on 4 176ft and then makes a dramatic descent into the broad Mzimkhulu Valley, descending 1 718 ft over a distance of 12½ miles.

Back on the 'main line', locomotives tackled the next 14¼ miles of continuous climbing from Vause to Mabedlana to gain   1293ft, followed by a more gradual ascent over the next 5¾ miles cresting the summit at 4 658ft above sea level about half a mile north of Eastwolds siding, the highest siding on 4 617ft. From Eastwolds, it is another 9 miles until the narrow-gauge line interlaces at Donnybrook Junction with the 3ft 6in gauge Cape-Natal Line for 2½ miles before reaching Donnybrook.

The stretch over the dual gauge to Donnybrook provides stunning views of the vast Mzimkhulu Valley. A grand vista opens up towards uKhahlamba ('Barrier of up-pointed spears'), the Drakensberg silhouetted in the background.

The Stuartstown Railway ran through spectacular scenery and remained 100 per cent steam-operated for all of its 78 years' existence. For at least 60 of those years, it was fully Garratt-operated.

An Ixopo-based engine, NG/G16 No.143, with a mixed, 'up' goods train on the dual gauge section of track between Donnybrook Junction and Donnybrook photographed on 30 August 1974. This was the last Garratt and the last steam locomotive built by Beyer Peacock in 1958 and now enjoys a second lease of life at the Welsh Highland Railway.

On 29 November 1905, Pauling & Company Ltd was awarded the contract to build the railway for a lump sum of £292 500. However, the actual work was carried out under the aegis of the Transvaal Engineering and Contracting Company Ltd. The contractors were tasked first to undertake a detailed survey of the route, and only after the preliminary plans received approval by the NGR Engineer in charge, A J Humby, to proceed with staking out the way and preparing the final working plans and sections. The lower terminus was established at Esperanza, the intermediate station on the Umzinto branch, 171ft above sea level. After a gradual climb along the Nkwifa valley to 405 ft, the line climbed rapidly on a ruling gradient of 1 in 33·3 compensated for 175ft minimum radius curves (0·4 ft per 100 ft per degree of curvature). It reached its highest elevation, 4617ft, at Eastwolds, at 89 miles 8 chains. The climb between Vause and Crystal Manor, where the line gained 755ft in 5 miles 71 chains, presented a significant challenge for the footplate crew. Though the straight-line distance between Esperanza and Donnybrook Junction was only 50 miles, the length of the railway was extended to 95 miles because the trackbed was 'draped' around the slopes in the hilly terrain to avoid excessive expenditure on earthworks, bridges, and tunnels.

Earthworks were started on the western section between Donnybrook and Kununata on 24 May 1906 and the eastern section, Esperanza to Kununata on 13 June. Heavy seasonal rains often hampered the progress of construction, which caused banks to subside and wash away the formation. An extraordinary amount of rain fell on 15 October 1906 in the Equeefa Valley, when an estimated 15 inches of rain was recorded in six hours. Another major flood event occurred in February 1907. Prisoners from the Bambatha Rebellion did the manual work of building the trackbed, working under the supervision of Italian sub-contractors. On the first 19 miles out of Esperanza, the earthworks were the heaviest, with the formation width of only 10ft having some 30 000 cubic yards of spoil removed per mile. The spoil comprised disintegrated granite, and although this generally required blasting, it was nothing like burrowing through hard rock.

With strikes in Britain delaying the delivery of the locomotives and wagon stock on order, the contractor resorted to employing in the interim a small steam locomotive from a neighbouring sugar estate and cocopans to transport ballast and permanent way material to the construction sites. Track laying started from the Esperanza end in March 1907 and from the Donnybrook end in July. Given the slow progress being made, a locomotive and six trucks were hired from the Estcourt-Weenen Railway to assist with transporting materials until two locomotives from Britain arrived in July 1907. After the rails were joined up on 19 December 1907, a considerable amount of ballasting was left to be done. In April 1908, just as the contractors were readying the railway for the final inspection, 12 inches of rain fell overnight, causing considerable damage to the track and associated works. Several large embankments failed in a way that could be best described as having 'melted away'.

Since the upper section of the line reached the Cape-Natal Railway at a point 2·59 miles from Donnybrook, a third rail was interlaced with the Cape gauge track by the NGR Maintenance Department to bring the terminus of the narrow-gauge railway into Donnybrook station. E W Hicks, the NGR superintendent overseeing the construction of the Stuartstown Railway, was a familiar figure attired with his white pith helmet seen travelling up and down the line with his low-bed trolley.

Six passing stations "with buildings similar to those for a standard gauge branch where considerable traffic was expected", a station office, shelter, goods shed, station master's house and staff quarters and 15 stopping places were set out along the line. Communication was by a single telephone line with a single needle instrument or telephone.

The line from Esperanza to Donnybrook, 96 miles 40 chains, was officially opened to traffic on 3 June 1908. Amid great pomp and ceremony, the first official train left Esperanza carrying His Excellency, the Governor of Natal, Sir Matthew Nathan, Directors of the Transvaal Engineering and Contracting Company, NGR Officials and leading politicians. The locomotive hauling the inaugural train was adorned with bunting, flowers and flags, and every siding and halt was crowded with local farmers to greet the train on its way to Stuartstown. On arrival at Stuartstown, a reception committee patiently waited to witness the Governor cutting the tape and declaring the Stuartstown Railway officially open.

 The SAR Magazine, August 1908 issue reported on the opening:

 Stuartstown Narrow Gauge 2ft Railway

His Excellency Sir Mathew Nathan opened the Stuartstown Railway, the most recent addition to the Natal Government Railways, on June 2nd. 

The line runs from Esperanza on the Umzinto branch of the South Coast Railway to Donnybrook on the Cape-Natal line, a distance of 95 miles, and was built by the Transvaal Engineering and Contracting Company, Ltd., under agreement with the Natal Government. The line has been constructed at the cost of approximately 3,200 Pounds a mile, in all just over 300,000 Pounds, including rolling stock. The scenery, especially during the first 25 miles from Esperanza, is truly magnificent; the line takes its upward course through valleys, up glens, over krantzes, until it reaches its objective. The contractors have given the colony a well-equipped line, and it remains to be seen whether the building of it may justify the construction of similar lines in other parts of Natal.

Despite the narrower gauge, the railway was built to a remarkably high standard in all respects achieved on a capital outlay of £308 427, including motive power and rolling stock.  The following are details of the permanent way material used: 35lb/yd British standard rails 30ft long, creosote or hardwood sleepers (D'jatti wood from the Dutch East Indies) 5ft 6in x 8in x 4in, laid 12 to a 30ft rail, flat sole plates on every sleeper, six-hole angle fish plates, with bolts and spring washers, 4 x ½in dog spikes, two spikes on the straight and three on curves of 300ft radius. The ballast comprised a 3in-thick layer of first-class broken stone, except on banks where sub-standard ballast was permitted.

UMZINTO – HIGHFLATS – IXOPO – DONNYBROOK

STATIONS, HALTS AND WATER STOPS

(Distances in miles and chains from Umzinto)

Only two staffed stations, Highflats and Ixopo, were provided between Esperanza and Donnybrook with station buildings, goods sheds and staff quarters. Trains crossed at these stations as well as at several unstaffed loops. ¹

Umzinto (UZO) Station, 0 miles (alt. 278ft) Third rail extension from Esperanza was opened on 27 August 1923 (given as 1 mile 16 chains in 1923)². Locomotive shed and workshop for both standard and narrow gauges.

Esperanza (EPZ) Token Station, 1 mile 25 chains (alt. 171ft), was originally the terminus and the main workshop where major re-fitting was carried out. The station was named after the Italian barque, which sank near the mouth of the Umzumbe River in 1902, carrying teak sleepers from Java to Cape Town.

Nkwifa (NQF) Token Station, (Equeefa changed to Nkwifa in 1953), 6 miles 67 chains (alt. 405ft). The distance of 6 miles 67 chains given in timetables and WTBs appears to be incorrect; the distance measured on a large scale map places the station about 5½ miles from Esperanza.

Water stop at 7 miles 45 chains.

Inverugie (IVE) Token Station, 11 miles 45 chains (alt. 1086ft).

Braemar (BMA) Token Station, 14 miles 55 chains (alt. 1 395), also a water stop.

Water stop at 15 miles 72 chains.

Water stop at 17 miles 22 chains.

Glenrosa (GRO) Token Station, (Glen Rosa in 1912, changed to Glenrosa by 1922) 20 miles 01 chains (alt. 1 957ft). Water stop

Sawoti (SOI) Token Station, (Himmelberg in 1912, changed to Sawoti by 1922) 22 miles 52 chains (alt. 1 904ft). Water stop.

Mbulula (MBU) Inter-siding/Halt, 26 miles 01 chains (alt. 2 228ft).

Dumisa (DSA) Token Station, 28 miles 14 chains (alt. 2 357ft) water stop. It was named after a Thembu chief who set up as an elephant hunter in the area. Nearby was the Natal South Coast Gold Rush scene: the Dumisa Gold Mine injected additional traffic into the railway after its opening and is reported to have recovered gold worth £3 711 between 1907 and 1909.

Kenterton (KTN) Token Station, 31 miles 48 chains (alt. 2 631ft). Water stop.

Njane (NJN) Inter-siding/Halt, (St Michael in 1912, changed to Njane by 1922) 34 miles 38 chains (alt. 2 300ft) water stop. It was initially named after St. Michael's Mission, where the NGR tasked Brother Nivard Streicher, architect, engineer, and surveyor, to survey the railway route from Esperanza to Highflats.

Jolivet (JVT) Token Station, 36 miles 58 chains (alt. 2 584ft). It was named after the bishop who came to Natal in 1874 and was the prime mover establishing Roman Catholic Missions in Natal.

Hlutankungu (HLK) Inter-siding/Halt, (Hlutankungo in 1912, changed to Hlutankungu by 1963) 40 miles 63 chains (alt. 3 033ft) Hlutankungu "the plucker of the mists" – the high hill was King Shaka's resting place on his raid down the coast against the Pondos.

Water stop at 44 miles 38 chains.

Quarry Siding (-) Token Station, 44 miles 64 chains. Water stop. The ballast for the railway was obtained from here.

Knockagh (KKH) Inter-siding/Halt, 46 miles 21 chains (alt. 3 032).

Kunata (KNA) Inter-siding/Halt (Kununata changed to Kunata in 1953), 47 miles 73 chains (alt. 3 102ft) Shortened from 'Kununata', the Zulu name for Coenraad Pieterse, one of the early Voortrekkers who settled here in 1839/40.

Highflats (HHR) Station, 51 miles 08 chains (alt. 3 100ft). A staffed station serving a large farming area. Water stop.

Rydal (RYL) Inter-siding/Halt, 55 miles 60 chains (alt. 3 494ft).

Glen Beulagh (GBH) Token Station, 58 miles 04 chains (alt. 3 691ft).

Etterby (ETB) Inter-siding/Halt³ (Thring in 1912 and 1922, changed to Etterby by 1936) 60 miles 43 chains (alt. 3 278ft). Etterby farm belonged to the Thring family. During the construction of the railway, an elephant's tusk was found while digging 'Orton's Cutting' near Etterby.

Water stop at 61 miles 59 chains.

La Trappe (LTP) Inter-siding/Halt, 65 miles 07 chains (alt. 3 257ft). Named after the Trappist Monks who started the Mariathal and St. Isidore Missions.

Ixopo (IXO) Station (Stuartstown in 1912, changed to Ixopo by 1922), 67 miles 68 chains (alt. 3 253ft) water stop. The village was initially named after the first magistrate of the district, Marthinus Stuart, but once the older generation had passed on, the name Stuartstown fell into disuse, and the village became known as Ixopo. The boggy area alongside the Ixopo River gave the village its name: Ixopo is the anglicised version of the Zulu word 'eXobha', describing the sucking noise made when the feet of the cattle are withdrawn from the marsh. As late as the 1930s, the railway was still referred to as the Stuartstown Railway.

Union Bridge Token Station, 68 miles 25 chains. Junction for the branch to Madonela (spelt 'Madonella' in the 1914 Annual Report of the General Manager of Railways.).

Vause (VAU) Inter-siding/Halt, 69 miles 35 chains (alt. 3 202ft). It was named after Colonel Robert Vause, who owned the farm Argyll.

Loch Buidhe (-) Inter-siding/Halt (Lochbuighe in 1922 changed to Loch Buidhe in 1953) (Loch Buighe) (Lochbuy in 1912) 72 miles (alt. ±3 576ft based on Google Earth Imagery). The altitude of 3 623ft given in the timetables is incorrect. It was named after Loch Buighe homestead nearby.

Water stop at 73 miles 60 chains.

Crystal Manor (CSN) Inter-siding/Halt, 75 miles 26 chains (alt. ±3838ft based on Google Earth Imagery). The altitude of 4 331ft elevation given in the timetables is incorrect. It was named by a former landowner with a sense of humour, Mr Glass.

Lufafa Road (LFA) Token Station, 79 miles 42 chains (alt. 4 230ft).

Water stop at 82 miles 52 chains.

Mabedlana (MBN)⁴ Intersiding/Halt, (Mabedhlana, changed to Mabedlana in 1953) 83 miles 60 chains (alt. 4 495ft). Zulu for "small breasts".

Maxwell (MXW) Token Station, 86 miles 73 chains (alt. 4 490ft).

Eastwolds (EWD) Intersiding/Halt, 86 miles 08 chains (alt. 4 617ft), highest siding, water stop.

Carthill (-) Inter-siding/Halt (Cart Hill appears in the 1936 TT, changed to Carthill in 1953) 93 miles (alt. 4 450ft).

Donnybrook Junction Token Station, is not a junction in the true sense of the word but the converge/divergence of two different gauges to/from a single interlaced track at 95 miles 17 chains (alt. 4 298ft).

Interlaced dual gauge section to Donnybrook 2 miles 47 chains long.

Donnybrook (DBK) Station, 97 miles 64 chains (alt. 4 480ft).

¹ WTB 221 (1974) shows ten loops where trains cross (Nkwifa, Inverugie, Glenrosa, Sawoti, Dumisa, Kenterton, Glen Beulah, Union Bridge, Lufafa Road and Maxwell).

WTB 232 (1981) shows five in the UP direction (Braemar, Glenrosa, Jolivet, Glen Beulah, Maxwell) and DOWN has six (Maxwell, Rydal, Jolivet, Dumisa, Glenrosa and Braemar).

² This represents linking up the Esperanza-Donnybrook line (2ft gauge line) with Umzinto employing a third rail on existing standard gauge track work. Included in the new works on open lines programme, the year ended 31 March 1914, submitted to Parliament under UG No.20, 1913.

³ The 1976 WTB (no.221) shows Thring's (517) at 100,24 km between Etterby and La Trappe.

⁴ The 1912 timetable shows Weathercote at 82 miles; in 1922, Mabedhlana (changed to Mabedlana in 1953) appears at this location.

The 1979 WTB shows additional sidings at:

15,66 km Reynolds (522) between Water Tank and Inverugie.

25,07 km Reynolds (582) between Braemar and Water Tank.

29,40 km Siding 263 between Water Tank and Glenrosa.

37,31 km Siding 546 between Sawoti and Mbulula.

WTBs 221, 223 & 232 no longer show Loch Buidhe and Carthill.

WTB 232 no longer shows Reynolds (522); Reynolds (582); Sidings 263 & 546.

MADONELA BRANCH

The rural setting for Alan Paton's book 'Cry the Beloved Country' was in this area, and the following passage quoted from the book describes the scenery through which one of Natal's most scenic narrow-gauge railways passes:

"The small toy train climbs up on its narrow gauge from the Umzimkulu Valley into the hills. It climbs up to Carisbrooke, and when it stops there, you may get out for a moment and look down on the great valley from which you have come. It is not likely the train will leave you, for there are few people here, and everyone will know who you are. And even if it did leave you, it would not much matter, for unless you are a cripple, or very old, you could run after it, and catch it for yourself.

If there is mist here, you will see nothing of the great valley. The mist will swirl about and below you, and the train and the people make a small world of their own. Some people do not like it and find it cold and gloomy. But others like it and find in it mystery and fascination and a prelude to adventure and an intimation of the unknown. The train passes through a world of fancy, and you can look through the misty panes at green shadowy banks of grass and bracken. Here in their season grow the blue agapanthus, the wild watsonia, and the red-hot poker, and now and then it happens that one might glimpse an arum in a dell. And always behind them the dim wall of wattles, like ghosts in the mist.

It is interesting to wait for the train at Carisbrooke while it climbs up out of the great valley. Those who know can tell you with each whistle where it is, at what road, what farm, what river". Alan Paton.

HISTORY – SURVEY AND CONSTRUCTION

In the early 1900s, agricultural produce was moved by animal-hauled wagon transport between Stuartstown and Union Bridge. However, during 1906-1908, East Coast Fever hit animal-drawn wagon transport in the Umzimkulu District particularly hard. When by 1912, animal-drawn wagon transport was still severely restricted, the farmers in the area lamented they could not afford the high road transport cost to move their produce to the nearest railhead at Stuartstown, and a case was made for a railway to be built. Following an investigation by the Railway Commissioner into the feasibility of providing a railway to a suitable site on the Natal side of Union Bridge on the Umzimkulu River, surveyors were sent into the field in October 1911 tasked with finding a route. The survey produced a line 17 miles and 54 chains long on a ruling grade of 1 in 33 compensated for curvature. It was estimated that the cost to build the line would amount to £50 000.

The junction where the branch peeled off from the main line was located half a mile north of Stuartstown. It was named Union Bridge after the road bridge over the Umzimkulu River some 13¾ miles away (by road). From here, the line first climbed to Stainton on 3 720ft, crossed the summit on c.3848ft and after that dropped 1 262ft in 13¼ miles to the terminus located about a quarter of a mile from Union Bridge.

Construction of the line was undertaken departmentally; earthworks and masonry commenced at the end of August 1912 and were completed on 25 June 1913. Track laying was started in June but progressed slowly due to the difficulty of obtaining permanent way material and the shortage of motive power. The permanent way was composed of a mix of used CGR and NGR 35lb to 45lb/yd rails laid on second-hand sleepers. For transporting officials during the construction, the locomotive foreman at Stuartstown had a motor trolley manufactured with tip-truck wheels fixed to a wooden frame and powered by a single-cylindered petrol engine removed from a French-made motorcycle. The custom-made motor trolley carried two persons and reached a speed of 25 mph.

The terminus consisted of a timber and corrugated-iron station building with an office, passenger shelter, lamp room, and goods shed. The terminus, Madonela, was spelt 'Madonella' in the 1914 Annual Report of the General Manager of Railways.

Anticipating the railway to be completed by December 1913, preparations were made for an official opening ceremony with all the usual festivity. Prominent businesspeople and farmers from across the Umzimkulu River formed a Railway Opening Committee and collected donations to fund the event. However, completion of the railway was delayed by adverse weather, and it was not until 2 February 1914 that a low-key ceremony saw the inaugural train leave Ixopo at 7:35 pm. On arrival at 9 pm at Madonela, the surveyor in charge, J Fleming and the sub-contractor, J Dunn, were the only officials on board to be greeted by the station master Mr B Morris.

The General Manager's Annual Report for 1919 notes that traffic dealt with at Madonela Station increased by 71 per cent in three years: from 3 550 tons for the year ended 30 June 1915 to 6 091 for the year ended 30 June 1918. Thus, the Railway Commissioner's initial assessment that the capital cost of building the branch would soon be repaid was not far off the mark.

STATIONS, HALTS AND WATER STOPS

MADONELA BRANCH

(Distances in miles and chains from Ixopo (Stuartstown)

Union Bridge (-) Token Station, 37 chains north (just under ½ mile) of Stuartstown (alt. 3 253 ft), is the unattended junction of the Madonela branch.

Allwoodburn (-) Inter-siding/Halt, 1 mile 17 chains (alt. 3 350ft). The siding was a later addition to accommodate stock sales at the Ixopo Stockyards. It was named after Ken Woodburn and Bernard Allwood.

Stainton (SQN) Inter-siding/Halt, 3 miles 71 chains (alt. 3 720ft). The siding with the highest elevation on the branch.

The highest elevation reached at about 5½ miles on c.3 848ft.

Carisbrooke (CSB) Inter-siding/Halt, 8 miles 9 chains (alt. 3 540ft). Alan Paton's local station.

Ncalu (NCC) Intersiding/Halt, (original spelling was Incalu) 10 miles 31 chains (alt. 3 190ft). Water stop.

Cromwell (-) Halt 16 miles (alt. 2 484ft) Altitude 2 597ft shown in the timetable is incorrect.

Madonela (MDL) Station, (Madonella) 17 miles 13 chains (alt. 2 458ft), terminus and water stop.

The name Madonela is derived from one of the early European settlers in the district, Donald Strachan: Ma Donela, meaning 'the place of Donald'.

(With acknowledgement to R Waddington, 'Narrow-gauge rail trip to Dumisa from Ixopo, 3 March 1984', Ixopo and District Historical Society. Mrs M A Mingay, the author of the 'End of the line' brochure issued by the Ixopo and District Historical Society at the closing of the Stuartstown Railway on 12 July 1986)

For historical accuracy, British imperial units of currency ₤ (pounds sterling), measurement (miles, yards (yd), chains (ch), feet (ft) and inches (in) and weight (lbs = pounds) have been retained.

MOTIVE POWER

To operate the 98-mile long Stuartstown Railway (Esperanza-Donnybrook), D A Hendrie designed a 4-6-2T engine similar to those used on the Estcourt-Weenen branch. Six 4-6-2T locomotives designated Class N by the NGR and numbered NG4 to NG9 were supplied by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. (Works numbers 2687-2692). After off-loading at Durban docks, the locomotives were assembled at the Durban Mechanical Workshops and tested under steam on a purpose-built section of 2ft gauge track before being loaded up on 'Cape' gauge wagons and transported to Esperanza. The first two engines were employed in July 1907 by the construction contractors Pauling & Co. Ltd while building the Stuartstown Railway. The balance of the order was placed in traffic in 1908. They featured outside plate frames and were fitted with Walschaert's valve gear. The engines were rated at 8 183 lbs tractive effort at 75 per cent boiler pressure and weighed 25 tons 9 cwt in full working order.

 Mixed trainloads were fixed at 70 tons gross up and down, limited to a maximum speed of 15 mph but 10 mph up the long banks. Water supplies were arranged every 10 miles. On the 'up' journey, from Esperanza to Stuartstown with a total rise of 5 000ft, five stops were made to replenish water and sometimes more in wet weather. As a result, coal consumption over 68 miles for the 'up' journey was 2.1 tons, and for the 'down' journey, 1.2 tons.

The coaching stock comprised four 1st and 2nd class composite carriages, each with seating for 14 passengers, four 3rd class carriages seating 24 passengers and five brake (guard's) vans. They are all bogie stock, 30ft overall length, 6ft 6in wide, and weighing eight tons. In addition, for the transportation of freight, there were six covered wagons convertible into 3rd class carriages, six cattle wagons and twenty-five low-sided wagons.

The Stuartstown Railway was the testbed for the first series of narrow-gauge Garratt locomotives, Class NG/G11 2-6-0+0-6-2 Nos.52 and 53, were placed in traffic during March 1920. Two years later, the class leader, NG/G11 No.51, was transferred from Humewood Road to work on the Umzinto-Donnybrook line.  No.51 appears to have remained in service here for 24 years before moving to Humewood Road in 1946. The total weight of the locomotive in working order was 44 tons 11 cwt spread out over 39ft of track (they were 44ft 7½in over the buffers). The tractive effort at 75 per cent boiler pressure was 15 876 lbs. A second series, referred to as Class 'NG/G11A', comprising two engines, was erected in April 1925 at the Durban Mechanical Workshops and carried road numbers 54 and 55.

In 1929, railcar RM501, formerly used on the Port Shepstone-Harding branch, was transferred to the Donnybrook-Ixopo section to convey milk to the South African Condensed Milk factory at Donnybrook* during the summer months. However, the railcar was withdrawn at the close of the 1930 financial year because the low traffic volume did not justify continuing the service.

* The Condensed Milk factory was opened in 1921.

For almost 50 years, the Class NG/G16 Garratts* dominated the motive power on the line. The first narrow-gauge Garratts classified as Class NG/G16, Nos.85 and 86, were placed in traffic on the Stuartstown Railway in March 1937. From the second order of NG/G16s, Nos.112, 113 and 114 were taken into service during May/June 1939. In 1951, Nos.129, 130 and 131 were added to the fleet, but No. 130's stay was short, and it was transferred in 1958 to Port Shepstone. Of the 'Tsumeb' Garratts, Nos.139 and 140 were allocated to the Umzinto-Donnybrook branch in December 1958/January 1959, respectively.

* Issue 2, 1983 of SA Rail published a document listing the classes of steam locomotives working on the various lines in South Africa from 1 January to 30 June 1940.

Umzinto-Ixopo: Classes NG/G11, 13 & 16 (no road numbers given).

Madonela-Donnybrook: Classes NG/G11, 13 & 16 (no road numbers given).

Between February and May 1968, four of the new Hunslet Taylor NG/G16s, Nos.150-153, were placed in traffic on the Umzinto-Donnybrook branch. Surprisingly, the last order of NGG16's coincided with a sharp increase in traffic, mostly timber and sugarcane. In addition, new engine sheds were built at Ixopo and Donnybrook. But sadly, it all fell away all too quickly as traffic went on to the roads.

Following the introduction in 1973 of 20 Class 91 diesel-electric locomotives on the Avontuur line, most of the remaining NG/G16 Garratts were transferred to Natal, of which No.109 was allocated to the Umzinto shed while Nos. 110, 111, 127 and 128 went to Port Shepstone.

THE STAFF AND THEIR LOCOMOTIVES

In the 'End of the Line' brochure, Mrs Mingay, the author, details the interviews she conducted with some of the footplate crews, whose years of loyal service spanned many decades. Many dedicated crews cherished their charges and took great pride in keeping their external appearance in super shine condition. Driver A B van Niekerk was teased about 'his' locomotive resembling a jewellery shop because of the bronze Mickey Mouse logo riveted above the cab plate. "It was clear, they [the footplate crews] had a love for their locomotives and loyalty for their work. Snow on the line, trees across the track, landslides, lost springs and rivets – they all know how to cope no matter what, the train had to get through. How justifiably proud they were to tell their stories, pull out their certificates and medals, show their photographs and letters from steam enthusiasts all over the world".

TRAIN OPERATION

In 1908, a mixed train ran daily in each direction between Esperanza and Ixopo, with trains crossing at Braemar. From Ixopo to Donnybrook, a mixed train in each direction ran only four days a week on the upper section. A 'mixed' train carried freight and passengers in 1st and 3rd class. The line was worked on the train staff and ticket system. The custodian of the staff was the guard. Between Esperanza and Donnybrook, there was only a station master at Stuartstown. The guard on the train dealt with traffic at the immediate halts. The 'down' train was timed to connect with the passenger train from Umzinto to Durban at Esperanza at 2:30 pm, while the 'up' train left Esperanza at about 10 am after the arrival of the morning train from Durban.

The 1912 timetable ABOVE shows a weekdays departure from Esperanza at 10:50 am, which was timed to connect to a shuttle service that arrived at 9:52 from Kelso. The narrow-gauge train arrived at Ixopo at 6:52 pm. To travel on to Donnybrook required staying overnight in Stuartstown: on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the was a service leaving Stuartstown at 6:45 am, arriving at Donnybrook at 10:10 am. From Donnybrook, the return journey operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, leaving at 2:02 pm and arriving at 5:00 pm in Stuartstown. The journey continued the following day, departing at 7:00 am and arriving at Esperanza at 1:31 pm.

The 1944 timetable advertises a daily passenger service except on Sundays from Umzinto to Ixopo shown as Train No.1176 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and as Train No.1180 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays. Departure time from Umzinto was at 10:20 am, and arrival at Ixopo at 5:25 pm but Train No.1180 arrived earlier in Ixopo at 5:07 pm – the timing from Sawoti onwards shows a speedier journey. This train then continued to Madonela at 5:25 pm and arrived at the terminus at 7:46 pm. Umzinto crews booked off at Madonela and returned on Train 1173 the next day (one mega-long shift!).  These mega-long shifts continued long after passenger services were discontinued – confirmed by two Alfred County Railway drivers who used to work this shift right into the 1970s.

A weekday passenger service from Ixopo to Donnybrook, Train No.1172, departed Ixopo at 8:30 am and arrived at Donnybrook at 12:12 pm. The weekday passenger service from Donnybrook, Train 1179, left at 1:50 pm and arrived at Ixopo at 4:59 pm. Passenger services from Ixopo to Umzinto operated from Monday to Saturday as Trains Nos.1175 and 1173. Departure for Train 1175 (Mon, Wed, Fri) from Ixopo was at 8:20 am, whereas Train No.1173 (Tues, Thurs, Sat) started from Madonela at 5:38 am, arrived at Ixopo at 7:36 and departed at 8:00 am. The arrival time at Umzinto for both train services was at 2:07 pm.

Passenger services in 1946 still had one through train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from Umzinto to Donnybrook. The return journey from Donnybrook to Umzinto was on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The 1949 Public Timetable shows that passengers between Umzinto and Ixopo were conveyed by road motor transport. There was a daily, except Sunday, mixed train (Train 1432) leaving Ixopo at 8:30 am and arriving at Donnybrook at 12:12 pm. The return journey from Donnybrook (Train 1439) left at 1:30 pm and arrived in Ixopo at 4:55 pm. All passenger services advertised between Ixopo and Madonela in the 1949 timetable were provided by road motor transport and after 1950 also between Ixopo and Donnybrook.

The locomotives allocated to the Stuartstown Railway listed in the South African Railway and Photographic Society Newsletter for March 1962:

Class NG/G16 Nos.85, 86, 112, 115, 129 and 140. 

Although officially, there was no passenger service from 1950 onwards until the closure of the railway in 1986, limited 3rd class passenger accommodation was provided in the guard's van on all goods trains; this was not advertised in any public timetables. Railway enthusiasts wanting to catch a ride in the guard's van were advised to obtain written permission from the system manager in Durban beforehand. In addition, they were required to sign an Indemnity Form before a ticket was issued by the station master or foreman of attended stations.

Generous provision was made in the late 1960s, and early 1970s with a new loco shed workshop and an elevated coaling stage at Umzinto, and the loco shed at Ixopo was rebuilt. The conversion from 45lb to 60lb long-welded rail released from Cape gauge branch lines, steel sleepers and ballast enhancing the track to almost main-line standards commenced in 1970. The project continued unabated until it was completed through to Donnybrook in 1982, after which work started on the Madonela branch – and this blindly ignoring the effect of road competition that almost overnight had removed most of the line's traffic.

Peter Bagshawe supplied the information on the April 1970 loco allocation for Umzinto shed: NG/G16 Nos.85, 86, 87, 112, 113, 114, 115, 126, 129, 131, 140, 143, 149, 150, 151, 152 and 153.

The 1976 locomotive allocation for the Umzinto-Donnybrook branch published in the June issue of SA Rail was as follows:

Umzinto: (4 April 1976)

NG/G16 Nos.86, 87, 113, 114, 115, 126, 129, 131, 149, 150 and 152. 

Ixopo: (11 April 1976) Nos. 85, 139, 143, 151 and 153.

Working on the line (not seen): NG/G16 Nos. 109, 112 and 140.

Shed distribution of SAR locomotives, published as a supplement to SA Rail, August 1977:

Umzinto: Class NGG 16: Nos.85,86,87,109,112,113,114,115,126,129,131,139,140,143,149,150,151,152 and 153.

Motive power allocation for Umzinto Shed in October 1978 (published in SA Rail/SA Spoor, April 1979):

NG/G16 Nos.86, 112, 113, 114, 126, 129, 131, 149, 152 and 153.

Train services for the Umzinto-Ixopo-Donnybrook & Ixopo-Madonela in operation from 28 August 1978.

(Published in SA Rail / SA Spoor, 1978, Vol. XVIII No.5, pp.18/19)

UMZINTO NARROW-GAUGE WORKINGS 1980 -1984

© Peter Bagshawe

Some months ago, I was looking through old documentation stored at Port Shepstone Locoshed and came across some large monthly "spreadsheets" (I don't think that word would have been used at the time we are talking about, but it is a very apt description) detailing the workings and status of the locomotive allocation on a daily basis and covering the period 1980-1984. 

However, there were two problems:

(1) Not all the locomotives seemed to be known as being allocated to Port Shepstone at the period in question.

(2) The train numbers used did not tie up with those used in later years.

Fortunately, the problem was soon solved, as Phil Girdlestone (former Mechanical Engineer at the Alfred County Railway) remembered that when the Umzinto narrow gauge system closed, a lot of documentation had been sent to Port Shepstone for safe-keeping, and what had been found related to locomotives allocated to Umzinto Locoshed.  There was now an unique opportunity to look in detail at the workings of a particular Locoshed over a period of time, and so, over the next few months, I analysed the information in these spreadsheets, and this article is the result of that analysis.

Background

The Umzinto narrow gauge system (610mm/2ft) commenced with a line known as the Stuartstown Railway, 151km (latterly 155km) in length, from Esperanza to Donnybrook, via Ixopo (originally known as Stuartstown), which was opened in 1908.  In 1914 a 28km long branch was opened from Ixopo to Madonela, and, in 1923, Esperanza was connected with Umzinto (2km) when a third rail was added to the existing 1067mm line.

Closure, due to major washaways, of the Umzinto-Highflats section (82km) seems to have taken place in May 1985 (and not January 1984 due to the cyclone Demoina, as mentioned in some sources, but which is disproved by the Umzinto records), and Ixopo-Madonela seems also to have closed by May 1985, probably for the same reasons.  Ixopo-Highflats (27km) followed in September 1985, whilst Ixopo-Donnybrook soldiered on to July 1986.  It is a pity that the Umzinto' spreadsheets" for 1985 are missing so that we don't have records for the last few working months of the Umzinto Loco shed.

Timetables & Workings

Unfortunately, I have not been able to obtain copies of most of the timetables in use over the period 1980-1984.  However, normal working in the period was for pairs of trains from Umzinto and Ixopo to cross at Highflats (some pairs actually terminated at Highflats, and there were other timetabled short workings, although not all trains shown in the Working Time-books actually ran).  According to the Working Time-books, the Umzinto crews worked Umzinto-Highflats-Umzinto, and Ixopo crews Ixopo-Highflats-Ixopo (the latter normally with another working on the Ixopo branches to make it a worthwhile day).  The journey from Umzinto to Highflats took from 5½ to 6½ hours, the return slightly less and the turn round at Highflats was normally about ½ hour, quite a long day for the crew, which I'm sure wouldn't have been allowed by TFR today!  No doubt they were very happy with all the overtime they earned!  The locomotives were also normally changed at Highflats, returning along with the crew.  There were only water facilities at Highflats, so the return trip from Umzinto to Highflats had to be done on one bunker of coal (163km).

There was an exception to locomotives being changed at Highflats.  Ixopo was a sub-shed of Umzinto, and locomotives had to return to Umzinto for washouts (scheduled every 21 days) and other servicing.  The same pair of trains were always used for this exchange, and obviously, they worked all the way through with just the crew exchanging at Highflats.

In 1980 the following trains were operating from Umzinto on a fairly regular basis (return train number in brackets): #1902 (#1903), #1904 (#1907), which were used for Ixopo locomotive exchanges, and #1912 (#1901?).  There were also a large number of additional trains (#59xx, not shown in the Working Time-books) working on a fairly regular basis.

In November 1980, there was a change with #1904 (#19??) continuing, but #1902 and #1912 being replaced by #1910 (#1911?) and #1914 (#1915), the latter now being used for the Ixopo locomotive exchanges.  Towards the end of March 1981, a further train was introduced (#1926 (#1925?)), meaning that up to four return trips a day were being worked from Umzinto on a fairly frequent basis.   However, the additional (#59xx) trains now only ran infrequently. 

The next timetable change seemed to be November 1981, when #1914 and #1926 ceased running, being replaced by #1902.  Train #1910 continued running and #1904 now returned as #1905, this latter pair being used for the Ixopo locomotive exchanges.

Another new timetable was introduced from 6 December 1982. This showed the following trains from Umzinto to Ixopo: #1906 (#1907?), #1910 (#1913?), #1912 (#1917), #1922 (#1923), #1924 (#1925) and #1926 (the latter terminated at Highflats, returning as #1901).  Trains #1906/#1910 did not seem to have balancing workings, but as they ran on a regular basis, there must have been an immediate change to the timetable.  (The timetable of 18 June 1984 did show balancing workings for them (#1907/#1913, which only worked as far as Highflats in the December 1982 schedules)).  Trains #1922/1923 were interesting in that, according to the timetable, they crossed at Highflats, although the former was there from 18:52 to 19:01 and the latter from 18:05 to 18:20!  It was probably a good job that these trains (along with #1924 and #1926), in fact, never ran!  Trains #1912/#1917 were now used for the Ixopo locomotive exchanges.  Train #1910 continued (possibly with different timings) but did not run as regularly as the others.  These workings seemed to continue until the end of 1984, although there were some minor changes in a timetable introduced from 18 June 1984.  This latter timetable did, however, change the timings of the crossing of trains #1922/1923 at Highflats to 19:07/19:16 and 18:05/18:20, so it was still a good job that these trains never ran!

A summary of the number of trains actually run per year is shown below:

It will be noted the number of trains run had reduced by about 25% from 1982, with a further reduction of about 30% in 1984.  It is presumed that this was due to less traffic because of road competition.

The load table for the NGG16 locomotive, at 30 March 1981, was as follows:

The Umzinto shunt duty was normally Mondays to Saturdays only but, from the end of July 1984, it became Mondays to Fridays only, thus accounting for the reduced number of shunts in 1984.

Umzinto Allocation

On the 1st January 1980, Umzinto had an allocation of nineteen Class NGG16 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt locomotives, of which six locomotives were sub-shedded at Ixopo.  These nineteen locomotives were:

Nos. 85/86/87/109/112/113/114/115/126/129/

131/139/140/143/149/150/151/152/153.

By the 31st December 1984, this had been reduced to the following fourteen locomotives, of which only four were sub-shedded at Ixopo:

Nos. 86/87/109/112/113/131/139/140/143/149/150/151/152/153

Details of the five locomotives which had left Umzinto are as follows:

No.114  Transferred to Port Shepstone 24th December 1980.

No.129  Transferred to Port Shepstone 16th February 1981.

No.85    On loan to Port Shepstone from 18th May 1982, transfer confirmed 1st December 1982.

No.126  On loan to Umlaas Road from 23rd July 1982, transfer confirmed 1st December 1982.

No.115  On loan to Umlaas Road from 6th August 1984.

Ixopo Sub-Shed

Unfortunately, no details are provided as to the workings of those locomotives allocated to Ixopo.  The spreadsheet shows the train worked to Ixopo; the train worked back to Umzinto and any workings, repairs etc., done at Umzinto.  However, Ixopo Locoshed covered the workings between Ixopo and Highflats, Ixopo and Donnybrook, and the branch from Ixopo to Madonela.

At the beginning of January 1980, the normal number of locomotives at Ixopo totalled six (113/139/140/143/151/153 on 1 January), and this was the norm until 10th June 1983 when 143 worked back to Umzinto without replacement.  The quantity was then normally five until 20 October 1984 when 87 returned to Umzinto, possibly being hauled dead as no train number was shown.  The normal quantity was then four to the end of 1984 (86/87/143/151 on 31 December).

As mentioned earlier, locomotives would normally return to Umzinto for a wash out once or twice a month, and it was not unusual for them to be used by Umzinto for a few days (or even longer) prior to their return to Ixopo.

Not every loco was likely to be sub-shedded at Ixopo; in fact, there seem to be three distinct groups:

Those that never worked from Ixopo Loco shed (5 Locos):

126/131/149/150/152

Those that spent the majority of their time at Ixopo Loco shed (7 locos):

86 (918/1827) / 87 (1058/1827) / 109 (1062/1827) / 139 (1069/1827) /

140 (1008/1827) / 143 (1150/1827) / 153 (1144/1827)

Those that spent some of their time at Ixopo Loco shed (7 locos):

85 (213/1065) / 112 (177/1827) / 113 (776/1827) / 114 (71/358) /

115 (594/1827) / 129 (32/412) / 151 (437/1827)

(The numbers in brackets show the number of days allocated to Ixopo, followed by the total number of days available for the period 1980-1984)

Availability

The following tables show firstly how the individual locomotives split their time over the five years in question, and secondly the totals for all locomotives on an annual basis.  The key to the codes is as follows:

A  Available for Work;   ADM/Y  Average No. of Days per Month/Year;   BI Boiler Inspection;   HR  Heavy Repairs (PMB Workshops);   I  Sub-shedded at Ixopo;   NGS  Working on Shunt;   SR  Stopped or Staged for/or under Repairs (Shed);   ST  Steam Test;   W  Working on Line Duties;   WIR  Intermediate Repairs (PMB Workshops);   WO  Wash Out;   WT  Water Treatment;   15M 15M Overhaul (Shed).

Notes:

1  85 on loan to Port Shepstone for 197 days from 18/05/1982, then permanently transferred 01/12/1982

2  112 temporarily staged from 18/10/1984 (74 days at 31/12/1984)

3  114 transferred to Port Shepstone from 24/12/1980

4  115 on loan to Umlaas Road for 148 days from 06/08/1984

5  126 on loan to Umlaas Road for 131 days from 23/07/1982, then permanently transferred 01/12/1982

6  129 transferred to Port Shepstone from 16/02/1981

7  131 temporarily staged from 24/09/1984 (99 days at 31/12/1984)

8  139 temporarily staged from 24/10/1984 (69 days at 31/12/1984)

9  140 temporarily staged from 16/10/1984 (76 days at 31/12/1984)

Some totals may not add exactly due to roundings.

In the above tables, I have excluded the time when locomotives were staged out of service or on loan to other depots, but I have included time staged for repairs.  With regard to locomotives sub-shedded at Ixopo, I have kept the column separate from the main body of information and just included the time actually at Ixopo.  Workings to and from Ixopo, repairs and servicing at Umzinto are included in the main body of the timetable under the relevant headings.

It is immediately apparent that they really had far more locomotives than were needed as they were only working on about 31% of the available days (23% line work and 8% shunts).  For nearly half the time (48%), the locomotives are shown as available.  One presumes, with the number available, that only one or two of them would actually be in steam, the rest needing to be steamed up first.  The rest of the time was taken up by repairs and servicing etc.  The figure for repairs (SR) looks rather on the high side, especially considering the low mileages run.  However, as well as casual repairs, it also includes collision and derailment repairs, and probably what takes up most of the time – waiting for the repairs (and I have also included waiting for 15M, Intermediate and Heavy repairs in this category).

Which locomotives were used the most by Umzinto?  Probably not surprisingly, three of the newest locomotives (the Hunslet Taylors, 149-153) were in the top five busiest locomotives, although in fact, Beyer Peacock 126 topped the list at 44% (although it wasn't there for five years).  The worst three performers are also shown, with 114 taking the honours at 11.5%.  It should be noted, however, that 114 was transferred to Port Shepstone before the end of 1980 (a case of getting rid of the worst locomotive, maybe?).

There did not seem to be regular shunt locomotives, with every locomotive getting a turn.  However, locomotives which spent most of their time at Ixopo obviously put in low shunt days, whilst those which spent all their time at Umzinto tended to put in the highest figures, the record being held by 149 with 218 days on shunt over the five years.  It does seem that a locomotive would be normally be put on the shunt for at least a week (sometimes longer) but could be borrowed for line duties in that period.  Locomotives coming off repairs or overhauls would spend at least two days on shunt duties, usually longer, prior to moving on to line work.

Sources

Tracks across the Veld (Boon Boonzaaier, 2008)

Private Working Time-book, Durban North & South Coast Lines & Branches, Various Issues (SAR/SATS, 1978-1984)

Load Tables for Electric, Diesel and Steam Locomotives, Natal System (SAR, 30 March 1981)

SA Rail, Various Issues (RSSA)

This has proved to be a very interesting project, albeit rather time-consuming.  I trust that the readers will also find it of interest, documenting, as it does, how a narrow-gauge railway was worked in days long gone. 

I would like to sincerely thank Phil Girdlestone, Dick Manton, Bruno Martin and John Middleton for their generous assistance.

WTB 232 - 1981

UMZINTO (UZO) – HIGHFLATS (HHR) - DONNYBROOK (DBK) /

IXOPO (IXO) - MADONELA(MDL)

CREW WORKING

UMZINTO CREWS DAILY

Link   Train No. Remarks Train No. From      To          To

      Forward                  Return

1   1900      Ex Su     1901      UZO       HHR       UZO

2   1902      Ex Su     1903      UZO       HHR       UZO

3   1904      Ex Su     1905      UZO       HHR       UZO

4   1906      Ex Sa/Su 1907      UZO       HHR       UZO

5   1908      Ex Sa     1909      UZO       HHR       UZO

6   1910      Ex Sa     1911      UZO       HHR       UZO

IXOPO CREWS DAILY

Link   Train No. Remarks Train No. From      To          To

      Forward                  Return

1   1903      Ex Su     1902      IXO        HHR       IXO

      1924      Ex Sa      1925      IXO        DBK       IXO

2   1916      Ex Su     1917      IXO        MDL       IXO

      1905      Ex Su     1904      IXO        HHR       IXO

3   1922      Daily      1923      IXO        DBK       IXO

      1907      Ex Sa/Su 1906      IXO        HHR       IXO

4   1918      Ex Sa     1919      IXO        MDL       IXO

      1928      Ex Su     1921      IXO        Maxwell     IXO

      Shunts as required

5   1909      Ex Sa     1908      IXO        HHR       IXO

6   1911      Ex Su     1910      IXO        HHR       IXO

      1901      Ex Su     1900      IXO        HHR       IXO

NOTES:

UMZINTO – IXOPO - MADONELA

UP

– 1916 Performs tranship work between Ixopo and Madonela on Wednesdays to Saturdays and Mondays out of the citrus season.

- 1904 Conveys perishables urgent traffic and mail bags and performs tranship work between Umzinto and Ixopo. Must not run more than 30 minutes ahead of time.

- 1918 Performs tranship between Ixopo and Madonela on Mondays only for the duration of the citrus season.

DOWN

– 1903 Conveys perishables urgent traffic and mail bags and performs tranship work between Ixopo and Umzinto. Must not run more than 30 minutes ahead of time.

– 1917 Performs tranship work between Madonela and Ixopo on Wednesdays to Saturdays and on Mondays out of the citrus season.

- 1919 Performs tranship between Madonela and Ixopo on Mondays only for the duration of the citrus season.

IXOPO – DONNYBROOK

- 1922  Conveys perishables urgent traffic and mail bags and performs tranship work between Ixopo and Donnybrook.

- 1924 Conveys milk, cream and general traffic to Donnybrook.

THE LAST YEARS

According to SA Rail, Issue 6 of 1983, 18 locomotives were allocated to the Umzinto shed on 31 October 1983:

NG/G16 Nos.85, 86, 87, 109, 112, 113, 114, 115, 129, 131, 139, 140, 143, 149, 150, 151, 152 and 153.

The following information regarding the locomotives assigned to the Umzinto shed was published in the 'Round and About' column in the Jan/Feb 1985 issue SA Rail:

Umzinto-Ixopo-Donnybrook-Madonela:

Allocation: NG/G16 Nos.: 86, 87, 109, 112, 113, 131, 139, 140, 143, 149-153.

Of these Nos. 112, 131, 139 & 140* are staged, although 131 is recently ex-works.

*NG/G16 No.140 was transferred to Durban for EXPO '85.

NG/G16 No.137 was transferred from Port Shepstone to Umzinto.

No trains operated over the entire system over the Christmas period from 20 December 1984 until 2 January 1985. The primary rail traffic was timber taken down to Sappi-Saiccor's paper mill* at Umkomaas, but this was lost to road transport on large articulated trucks with trailers damaging the road surfaces in the area. The time to tranship the timber at Umzinto from the 2ft-gauge to the standard gauge wagons was the most significant disadvantage for rail transport. Road transport took about a quarter of the time it took by rail to deliver a consignment of timber to Sappi-Saiccor's paper mill.

* Sappi (South African Pulp and Paper Industries Ltd) - Saiccor (South African Industrial Cellulose Corporation), a subsidiary of Britain's Courtaulds Company, produces cellulose to manufacture artificial fibres.

The 1985 service schedule:

Umzinto-Highflats: 1 train Monday to Friday, departing Umzinto at 01:53.

Ixopo-Highflats: 2 trains Mon-Fri.

Ixopo-Donnybrook: 1 train Monday to Friday.

Ixopo-Madonela: 1 train as required Monday to Friday.

The Umzinto locomotives worked up to Highflats. In addition, four locomotives were sub-shedded at Ixopo to work trains to Donnybrook, Madonela and Highflats.

FLOODS

The Natal South Coast is susceptible to heavy rainfall during the summer months triggering landslides and washaways, resulting in significant damage to the track and disrupting traffic. Flood damage often features in the General Manager's annual reports, and as mentioned in the introductory section, during the construction of the Stuartstown Railway from 1906 to 1908. The construction contractors faced continuous repairs before the railway was opened to traffic.

The heavy rains that fell on 17 October 1917 caused extensive damage to railway infrastructure up and down the Natal North and South Coasts. On the line from Esperanza to Ixopo, numerous washaways were reported between mileposts 5 and 15.

On 16 February 1920, some areas around Esperanza were submerged in water 5 to 6 feet deep. Traffic was suspended from 6 to 14 March when a 75ft wide and 60ft deep washaway occurred on the Madonela branch, and no sooner after the line was repaired, more heavy rain stopped train services again on the 16-17 March.

This was the case again on 20 March 1976 when many sections of the Natal System were affected. At km post 6 on the Umzinto-Ixopo section, a bridge was washed away, and a temporary bridge was put in place, while at km post 9, a landslip made it necessary to erect a new bridge. Rail services were restored by 14 April. However, the high cost of repairs and the drop-off in the volume of freight brought on by competition from road transport made the railway less and less profitable.

Over the years, large tracts of farming land were sold to timber companies who preferred road transport to load the timber in the plantations and deliver it directly to Sappi-Saiccor's paper mill. Farmers, too, opted to send their produce to the markets by road transport. Added to the mix was the economic downturn fuelled by the decline of industries in Donnybrook and Ixopo.

CESSATION OF SERVICES ON THE UMZINTO-HIGHFLATS SECTION

Operations on the Umzinto-Highflats section ceased after sections of the track were breached at eight locations after heavy rainfall during May 1985. SATS estimated that the overall cost of repairs to the affected sections would amount to about R300 000. No repairs would be undertaken unless a directive from the General Manager's office was received to do so. The stage was reached where closing the railway down seemed inevitable.

The service between Ixopo and Highflats, Donnybrook and Madonela was not affected and continued to operate normally.

CLOSURE OF THE HIGHFLATS-IXOPO SECTION AND THE

 MADONELA BRANCH

In the September/October 1985 issue of SA Rail, the 'Regional Roundup' column reported that SATS had called a general meeting at Highflats to discuss with farmers and organisations from the district the permanent closure of the Umzinto-Ixopo section and the proposed closing of the Highflats-Ixopo section and the Madonela branch (the date when the meeting took place was not mentioned). Although the farmers objected to closing the remaining sections, a further meeting scheduled for August did not change the railway's fate since it appeared SATS had already decided to close the loss-making railway.

On 19 September, NG/G16 No.153 took four wagons of farm supplies from Ixopo, one of which was left at Rydal and the others at Highflats. The same locomotive returned light the next day to collect the empty wagons as the last train to operate on the Ixopo-Highflats section on 20 September. (Thanks to John Middleton for supplying the information)

The last service date on the Madonela branch does not appear to have been documented.

CLOSURE OF THE IXOPO-DONNYBROOK SECTION

Services on the Ixopo-Donnybrook section laboured on with NG/G16 Nos.87, 113 and 153 with No.109, minus its cab side plates dumped at the far end of the headshunt at Donnybrook behind the wagons in the yard. The boiler certificates of the locomotives in service were to expire as follows: No.87 (6/1986), No.113 (4/1987), and No.153 (6/1986). There appeared to be no likelihood or even willingness by SATS to transfer spare locomotives from Umzinto. No.131 had not turned a wheel since being returned from overhaul in Pietermaritzburg in early 1984.  Only 50 trucks were being kept in service at Ixopo, comprising types B, G, X and V.

During the final 12 months of operation, the traffic volume was heavy at times and irregular. In the week ending 20 September 1985, two trains ran from Monday to Thursday but no trains on Friday or Saturday. The regular freight service was Train No.1904, departing 07:00 from Ixopo and returning as Train No.1919 from Donnybrook at 11:00. Train 1919 often returned early. It was run as Train No.5904, leaving at 03:00 from Ixopo and returned as Train No.5919 at 06:00 from Donnybrook when a second service was required. Train No. 1904's departure from Ixopo was delayed when the extra train operated until Train No.5919 had arrived.

A general meeting was called by SATS on 6 June 1986 at Highflats to inform the farmers and organisations from the district that the railway was no longer viable, and the last day of operation on the Ixopo-Donnybrook section was set for 30 June.

'CLOSING SPECIAL' TRAIN

Although the last revenue-earning train was run on 30 June, a symbolic closing down trip on the Ixopo-Donnybrook line was organised by the Ixopo and District Historical Society for Saturday, 12 July 1986. One-way fare was R6 with return from Donnybrook by bus, or R12 return ticket on the train. Rolling stock was in open trucks (DZs & Bs), with passengers seated on hay bales.

Departure from Ixopo at 08:00 sharp and the return journey from Donnybrook scheduled for 10:30.

Grant Miller, secretary of the Narrow-Gauge Preservation Group, reports on the 'Closing Special' (published in the Natal Newsletter, No.29, July 1986, pp.10-12).

"Although the last revenue-earning train was run on 30 June, the symbolic cessation of operations was a special service organised by the Ixopo and District Historical Society.

The 12th of July started before dawn in Durban under heavy clouds, but by 07:30, they had all but disappeared.

The special train departed Ixopo Station at 08:09 and consisted of NG/G16 No.113 with 11 'B' open trucks, two cattle trucks and a van. Loco NG/G16 No.87 was in Ixopo sheds and had initially been assigned to haul the special but had shown signs of a hot box at a late hour.

No.113 was transformed from a rusty little ol' steamer to a shining beaut (not as clean as 140 at EXPO had been, but close). Port Shepstone shop's staff had been at Ixopo the last few days and really waved a magic wand.

The first curve outside the station, a full curve 'S' bend, soon had 113 slipping despite being somewhat of a drop away. So too, for some kilometres up the mountainside, climb No.113 slipped her fore engine, for she was running chimney first to Donnybrook (a la Rhodesian style).

But the driver was a star. Despite heavy dew on the track, with no sand used, and about three hundred passengers, he controlled the slip without dropping to a walking pace.

The passengers sat on bales of hay provided in each open truck, and many stood to photograph. And the stack talk as we pounded, truly pounded, up the mountain was emotional, to say the least.

Time lost on the route was made up with fast staff changes and only one water stop. Our driver decided that as SATS VIPs were on board, he would stick to changing the staff at all halts despite having an 'A' right of way clearance.

Soon, just before Donnybrook, on top of the mountains, we were to enjoy for the last time from the 'narrow' or 2ft gauge train, the sight of a train, far away down in the valley on 3ft 6in gauge, the snow on the Drakensberg Mountains, and the experience of riding a dual-gauge track. Indeed, the last steam train to also run on 3ft 6in gauge (or partially) in Natal, too; couldn't you suggest.

We arrived at Donnybrook at 10:45 after an exhilarating experience, but boy, oh boy, was it cold!

At Donnybrook, many passengers detrained to board buses for the return trip, and those who had arrived by road eagerly claimed places on the train for the return journey.

There, however, was to be a long wait due to unknown reasons, and when the loco returned from refuelling, she coupled up, hauled the train about 10 metres and stopped. Hey, presto, to add to the memory of the occasion, a rarely ever seen wheel examiner (Tapyologist) moved along the train checking wheels and brakes. Some brake shoes were changed, and at 11:53, the train departed.

The passengers had by now started attacking the good ol' hops with gusto, and many sounds of laughter and joy soon drifted up from the train.

Many people on the train were in period dress to match the occasion, and ladies' fancy hats were soon tied down.

It is a curiosity of train travel that beer affects the consumer quite markedly because virtually at every halt, a guardsman, Napoleon, a Boer, a kilted piper and others had to carry out 'emergency actions'. But where, oh where, does one go in the middle of winter when all the forest has been felled? Enough said.

Lineside photographers and sightseers were plenty as our train galloped with some 400 passengers back to Ixopo; the road lineside was congested with racing traffic. Quite an amusing sight from the train.

Eventually, and sadly, the second to last route of 'the little trains of Natal' slowly and proudly ended with the train moving gracefully into Ixopo Station.

Later, at a function at the Ixopo town hall, speeches and toasts were the order of the day, and a lively party ensued, hopefully for all to remember.

Crew and staff on duty:

Driver: Herman H von Papendorp

Fireman: C Henry Viljoen

Guard: J J J Stander

Ixopo Station Master and Train Manager: P Pretorious.

And at the going down of the sun, we will remember them."

EPILOGUE

On 1 October 1988, a feasibility study was submitted by Charlie Lewis and Allen Jorgensen of the Port Shepstone & Alfred County Railway, trading as the Alfred County Railway (ACR), to the Ixopo community to establish whether the Umzinto-Donnybrook line would be a viable candidate for privatisation. This proposal would also have included the Kelso-Umzinto standard gauge branch, which was closed by SATS following flood damage in September 1987. The feasibility study estimated that close to R3 million would be needed to get the line into running order again. Included in this sum was the complete rebuilding of the line from Esperanza to Kelso on a higher level on 2ft gauge since some sections of the old line along the river had disappeared while road works had covered over other portions. From Kelso, the narrow-gauge timber wagons would be 'piggybacked' on standard gauge flat trucks, and a diesel locomotive would be hired for the 20 km shuttle service to Saiccor. 

A major stumbling block was convincing SATS that 'piggybacking' was a feasible solution to avoid time-consuming and costly transhipping of logs from narrow gauge to standard gauge wagons.  Later, with the backing of Helmuth Hagen, AGM Operating, the system was introduced at Port Shepstone and operated successfully for most of the ACR's ten-year haulage contract with Sappi until the agreement was terminated in favour of road transport in 1999.

An editorial comment in the 'Round and About' column in SA Rail claimed there was 'substantial interest' in reopening the railway by the farming community in the Highflats-Ixopo area, where the traffic potential was perhaps more significant than that for the Port Shepstone-Harding branch. However, the reverse grades facing Umzinto-bound loaded trains on three sections (Etterby-Glen Beulah, Njane-Kenterton and Sawoti-Glenrosa) would have seriously impeded the economic viability of the service right from the start. A down train working the reverse grade between Njane and Kenterton, where the line climbs 331 feet in 3 miles 10 chains on a ruling grade of 1 in 33·3, was restricted to 180 tons for 60 axles. Down trains, South of Glenrosa to Esperanza, were limited by braking power rather than tractive effort. Here, the gross load for down trains was 335 tons for 92 axles. Despite serving one of Natal's wealthiest timber and sugarcane cultivating regions, these uphill sections sealed the line's fate. It significantly impacted the railway's profitability to operate competitively with the opposition road transport running alongside on the paved highway.

After the closure of the Stuartstown Railway in July 1986, NG/G16 Nos. 87, 109, 113 and 153 stood out of use and unprotected at Donnybrook. In the early 1990s, all four locomotives were intended to go to the Midmar Historic Village near Howick, where a 4km long 2ft-gauge circular line was under construction. When the four Garratts stuck at Donnybrook were eventually moved, an unusual problem arose because the locomotives were abandoned in an inaccessible part of the yard and could not be moved with chains and cables. The only way out was to steam the locomotive in the best condition, NG/G16 No.153, and move the remaining three for loading onto a road trailer.

Instead of going to the Midmar Historic Village, No.109 was transferred to the Springs depot for storage. It was subsequently purchased by the Stirland Family and arrived in June 1995 at the Exmoor Steam Railway located in Bratton Fleming, Devon, England – the first NG/G16 to be returned to Britain for preservation. Likewise, No.87, which had been stripped of its copper piping and metal castings over time, did not go to Midmar but was bought by the Robin Hood's Bay Railway in Yorkshire, England. When this project fell through, the locomotive was on-sold to the Exmoor Steam Railway. A private sponsor funded its subsequent purchase and restoration, and was returned to service on Welsh Highland Railway in 2009.

The 1990 January/February issue of SA Rail reported that the station and interchange at Umzinto between the 3ft 6in and 2ft gauge was still largely intact, with the old narrow-gauge shed being used as a vehicle store for SATS permanent way teams. Narrow-gauge rolling stock marooned on site were a guard's van, a couple of narrow-gauge open bogie vans, together with five NG/G16s Nos.86, 112, 137 and 150 looking reasonably intact, but the fifth, No.152, had its cab roof removed. Although Nos.137, 150 and 152 were allocated to the ACR on a 'Lend-Lease' arrangement, they were not moved to Port Shepstone until 1998, by which time they had been extensively vandalised.

Most flood damage in 1985 was confined to the section between Esperanza and Highflats, where large portions of the formation had been washed away. At Highflats, a prominent sign advertised the proposed sale by auctioning 4.5 ha of land adjacent to the station. The station was one of the most attractive buildings on this line. Ixopo station and yard were a sad sight with most of the track removed, and it was hard to imagine this had until recently been a bustling narrow-gauge sub-shed. However, the line between Ixopo and Donnybrook appeared to be largely intact.

The 'Round & About' column of SA Rail's 1990 November/December issue reported: "Rumours abound as to various parties investigating the viability of reopening this line, particularly that section between Ixopo and Donnybrook, which is still largely intact. Motive power will, of course, be a problem with most of the locomotives either sold to the Alfred County Railway, promised to preservation groups and those remaining vandalised. Most of the flood damage on the line is restricted to that section between Highflats and Umzinto. The latest rumours are that Spoornet may seriously be considering changing the gauge to standard 3ft 6in* with diesel traction as much of the line runs through thick forests and fertile agricultural land – in other words, potential traffic is there in abundance." *One could not imagine anyone would seriously consider rebuilding the line on a broader gauge on that tortuous alignment!

The following report appeared in the September/October 1993 issue of SA Rail: "Recent reports and 'rumours' that common newshound in the railfan fraternity, have for some time tended to suggest that Spoornet might consider reopening the narrow-gauge railway between Umzinto and Donnybrook. The line was closed after heavy flood damage in 1986. Recently, a Spoornet inspection trolley went down the line from Donnybrook towards Ixopo. On 3 September, 'The Natal Mercury' reported a meeting held in Ixopo; Spoornet had asked local farmers whether they would support such a reopening. The meeting came out 'strongly' in favour of this proposal, and this will now be the subject of a feasibility study by Spoornet. However, it was evident at the meeting that for the line to be financially secure, the support of both forest owners Sappi and Mondi would have to be forthcoming. For their part, both companies indicated they would have to be confident that rail would be a cheaper and more effective means of transporting their timber to the South Coast Mills before they gave their full support. A significant problem in the past was getting timber from the field to the stations and halts.

One of the central issues which made the reopening sensible was the deterioration of the adjacent roads and the inability of the province to repair them, especially since new legislation allowed for what amounted to overloading of road transport to take place. As a result of this overloading, 20 cm (8 inches) ruts existed in places, while speed restrictions had to be enforced on some sections. In addition, level differences could be experienced where the tar road met the surface of concrete bridges resulting in unintended speed bumps. The Natal MEC in charge of roads, Mr Miller, stated that 40 per cent of all tested vehicles were overloaded and that a truck 50 per cent over the legal limit did five times the damage to the roads than a legally loaded vehicle. Estimates for road repairs came to some R65 million, all of which the taxpayer had to pay. In contrast, the cost of restoring the railway was estimated to be in the region of R10 million, including rolling stock and Spoornet would bear this cost. The railway would last 20 years before significant maintenance was required, whereas the road would need to be repaired within five. Another problem could be seen at Hlutankungu, where a farmer had, without permission, cleared the railway tracks and instituted a timber loading operation for road vehicles on the railway right of way.

It would now appear that provided Spoornet could find a way to recoup their investment (they would have to repair the line), the company would approve the reopening. Meanwhile, Natal Co-operative Timber has sent a questionnaire to the respective growers; the response so far has been firmly in favour of rail."

The 1995 October/December issue of SA Rail & Harbours reported that at a [recent] meeting of interested parties, no interest was shown in reopening the Umzinto-Donnybrook and Madonela branch narrow gauge railway. Therefore Spoornet decided that the line should be lifted. As a result, the Port Shepstone & Alfred County Railway, trading as the Alfred County Railway (ACR), which had always been interested in operating the reopened Donnybrook system, received a contract from Spoornet to lift the line, sell a portion of it and use the remainder for the much-needed rehabilitation of its line. The first shipment of rails and other equipment was despatched on 9 August 1996 from Donnybrook Station, destined for the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales for use on the Welsh Highland Extension. This contract has been of significant importance to the ACR in helping it survive in the short term. On 2 October 1996, the ACR's diesel shunter, Bagnall No.11, was loaded onto a road rig at Port Shepstone and placed on the rails at Ncalu Halt on the Madonela branch where the locomotive was used in an area inaccessible by road to recover rails. The locomotive returned to Port Shepstone on 8 November.

Some six months later, the July/August 1996 issue of SA Rail & Harbours broke the news: "The curtain has finally fallen on the closed Umzinto-Donnybrook narrow gauge railway. For some years, there were thoughts of this line being returned to service with talk about new contracts with paper/timber interests. However, these all came to nought, and the death knell has been sounded as the ACR has begun selling off track from this section. Some 20 km of the 60lb rail is being lifted near Donnybrook, and this will be exported to the Welsh Highland Railway in Wales. In addition to the rails, substantial quantities of clips and sleepers were retrieved for export to Wales. Not only will they [the WHR] be running behind ex-SAR steam locomotives, NG/G16 Nos.138 & 143, but also running over ex-SAR rails. According to a British Railway Journal, the cost of the South African narrow-gauge railway acquisitions to the Welsh Highland Railway is around £1 million."

Images were taken by Les Pivnic on 22 March 1997 of Umzinto station and yard and at Esperanza (see photos 132-136) 20 years after the closure of the railway, capture a scene of dereliction and decay of the infrastructure. The only pleasing sight is the station building at Umzinto, finding a new lease of life serving as a church. Another photograph was taken where the standard and narrow-gauge lines split (see photo 136). Les commented: "a striking example of 'Permanent Way', I never thought I would live to see this same scene derelict, and I did – in March 1997".

A visit to the Natal Midland town of Donnybrook during April 1997 found the narrow-gauge track between Ixopo and Donnybrook only partially lifted but virtually lost beneath undergrowth and felled trees. Although some scrapping of rolling stock had begun at Donnybrook, many wagons, mainly of the B-type but also including DZ and V wagons, stood around in the goods yard. The roof and most fittings of the steam locomotive depot had disappeared. However, a transhipping crane appeared to be in working order and was being used to load rails from the narrow-gauge railway for shipment to Wales. Once the final delivery has been made, the WHR would have received 24 km of rails, mainly in 18 m lengths from the Umzinto-Donnybrook line. In addition, there are 12 sets of points and several tonnes of fastenings loaded inside eight abandoned DZ trucks. The gauge change from 610 mm (2ft 0in) to 597 mm (1ft 11½in) would be affected using new clips on steel sleepers.

The 'Round and About's Newsline' in the 1997 January-March issue of SA Rail reported that a third NG/G16, No.140, bought by a group of German enthusiasts several years ago, has offered the locomotive for use in Wales. In addition, mention was made that the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales considered securing NG/G16 Nos. 139 and 142 rather than one of the newer a Hunslet Taylor Garratts.

RESTORATION OF THE MADONELA BRANCH

The Madonela branch escaped relatively unscathed in the wake of the damage caused by washaways to other sections of the narrow-gauge line from Highflats to Esperanza. Local farmer, Julian Pereira, leased the disused Madonela branch in 1999 from the South African Transport Services (SATS). By 2003, the section from Allwoodburn Halt to Carisbrooke, some 7 miles in length, was restored. Operating as 'Paton's Country Narrow Gauge Railway' (PCNGR), the train was named 'Alan Paton Express' after Alan Paton, who had immortalised the railway in his book "Cry, the beloved country". A further portion, 2¼ miles long, was subsequently restored, allowing trains to operate to Ncalu Halt. Registered as a Section 21 Company (not for gain), the project was funded by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the local uBuhlebezwe Municipality and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal.

Providing motive power, NG/G11 No.55, which had been prevented from being sold to an overseas buyer in 1997 by the South African Monuments Council, was recovered in 2003 from Weenen and transported to the Bloemfontein Workshops where the Sandstone Heritage Trust team, under the supervision of Lucas Nel, restored it to working order. The locomotive was taken into service on PCNGR in August 2004.

In addition to NG/G11 No.55, two Avonside sugar cane locomotives, two Hunslet diesel shunters (former SAR ballast quarry locos previously working at the Inchanga Nursery) and since 2015, two Class 91 diesel-electric locomotives, Nos.91-006 and 91-007 have been placed in service on the PCNGR. The PCNGR's fleet of locomotives has since been joined by the historically significant NG/G16 No.156. In 2017, NG/G11 No.55 was reported standing out of service in the open at Woodburn Halt, awaiting boiler repairs.

Since the departure to Portugal of Julian Perreira, the founder of the PCNGR, Ms Hlengiwe Nkabane has taken over the marketing 'Alan Paton Express' at Ixopo and the 3ft 6in gauge operation out of Creighton. A new operator is being sought to take over the working of both railway operations. (Seen on FaceBook 5 August 2021)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References:

Colony of Natal, Natal Government Railways, Reports on the 2ft Gauge Railway from Esperanza Station, through Stuartstown to Natal-Cape Line at Cart Hill, Engineer-in-Chief and Superintending Engineer, 12 November & 14 November 1902.

Hicks, E W, 'Stuartstown Narrow-Gauge Railway', SAR Magazine, March 1909, pp.829-832.

Hicks, E W, 'Stuartstown Narrow-Gauge Railway', SAR Magazine, April 1909, pp.13-16.

Hicks, E W, 'Stuartstown Narrow-Gauge Railway', SAR Magazine, July 1909, pp.203-208.

Mellor, E, 'Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Notes', NGR Magazine, December 1906, pp.546-547.

Mingay, M A, 'End of the Line, an appreciation of the narrow-gauge line from Donnybrook to Ixopo'. Official brochure, Ixopo and District Historical Society. July 1986.

Natal Government Railways, Report dated 7th April 1904, re various Routes Surveyed between Esperanza and Dumisa in connection with the proposed Stuartstown 2ft. Gauge Railway.

Natal Government Railways. Esperanza-Stuartstown Survey. Report by the Engineer-in-Chief, 18th April 1904.

Paton, A, 'Cry, the beloved Country', Scribners (USA), 1948.

Payling, D, ‘Garratts & Kalaharis’ of the Welsh Highland Railway, Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, 2012.

Waddington, R, 'Narrow-gauge rail trip to Dumisa from Ixopo, 3 March 1984', Ixopo and District Historical Society.

Natal Branch of the RSSA Newsletters 1982-1990

Natal Province Descriptive Guide and Official Hand-Book, 1911

Newsletter of the South African Railway & Photographic Society and Railway Society of Southern Africa, various issues 1961 - 1974

SA Rail, news reports, various issues 1974 - 2020.

The South African Railway Magazine

Natal Government Railways Magazine

STUARTSTOWN RAILWAY PHOTOGRAPHS

With the photographs recording events over such a long time at so many separate locations, I thought it best to arrange them chronologically in batches at various locations. Therefore, the photographs have been purposely arranged to cover the years before 1960, then from 1960 to 1969, 1970 to 1979 and lastly, from 1980 until closure.

Motive power diagrams, giving the technical details, will feature in part 26.

THE EARLY YEARS – MOTIVE POWER

1. To operate the 98-mile long Stuartstown Railway (Esperanza-Donnybrook), D A Hendrie designed a 4-6-2T engine similar to those used on the Estcourt-Weenen branch. Six 4-6-2T locomotives designated Class N by the NGR and numbered NG4 to NG9 were supplied by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. (Works numbers 2687-2692). After off-loading at Durban docks, the locomotives were assembled at the Durban Mechanical Workshops and tested under steam on a purpose-built section of 2ft gauge track before being loaded up on 'Cape' gauge wagons and transported to Esperanza. The first two engines were employed in July 1907 by the construction contractors Pauling & Co. Ltd while building the Stuartstown Railway. The balance of the order was placed in traffic in 1908. They featured outside plate frames and were fitted with Walschaert's valve gear. The engines were rated at 8 183 lbs tractive effort at 75 per cent boiler pressure and weighed 25 tons 9 cwt in full working order.

The outward appearance was almost identical to the Estcourt-Weenen locomotives, but there are some differences, such as the lengthening of the wheelbase by nine inches between the leading bogie and the centres of the leading coupled wheels. This lengthening entails a corresponding elongation of the boiler barrel and side tanks, increasing the heating surface and tank capacity. The side tanks are also carried forward to within three inches of the smokebox front plate and increased in depth at the front end.

Following the introduction of the SAR's locomotive classification system in January 1912, only the letters NG were prefixed to their NGR numbers. However, it was not before the late 1920s that the SAR implemented a system of grouping the narrow-gauge locomotives into classes which saw the Hawthorn-Leslie side tanks designated as Class NG3.

2. Works photograph of Class leader NG/G11 No.51, built by Beyer Peacock & Co. Ltd., Gorton Foundry, Manchester, England (BP 5975/1920). No.51 was the first Garratt delivered for use on the Avontuur narrow-gauge branch. Note the Belpaire firebox, plate frame bogies and slide valves.

The three 2ft-gauge 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratts, road numbers 51, 52 and 53, were landed at Port Elizabeth during November/December 1919 and erected in March 1920 at the Uitenhage Workshops. Nos.52 and 53 were placed in traffic during March 1920 on the Stuartstown Railway. Two years later, No.51 was transferred from Humewood Road to Umzinto.

3. The location of this photograph of NG/G11 No.51 in service is unknown. No.51 entered service on the Stuartstown Railway in 1922 and appears to have remained here for 24 years before returning to Humewood Road in 1946.

4. A rare photograph of NG/G11 No.55 in a passing loop somewhere on the Stuartstown Railway. Leith's records show NG/G11 No.55 working on the Stuartstown Railway in 1927.

5. Beyer Peacock NG/G16 No.129 (delivered in 1951) at Maxwell operating from Ixopo to Donnybrook on 24 July 1952. According to Leith's records, NG/G16 No.129 entered service on the Stuartstown Railway on 27 April 1951 and worked continuously until 1980 before going to Port Shepstone. The loco returned to Umzinto for two more years during 1983/84 and transferred to Port Shepstone in 1986.

This Garratt has since found a new lease of life in Australia and now operates on the 2ft 6in gauge Puffing Billy Railway in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne. More information on photo 27.

PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ALONG THE LINE BETWEEN ESPERANZA AND DONNYBROOK BEFORE 1960

6. An unidentified NGR Class N (SAR Class NG3T) approaches the unique dual-gauge turn-out from the standard gauge line, 2 miles 47 chains from Donnybrook Station. Donnybrook Junction (also shown as Stuartstown Junction on railway maps) was not a junction in the true sense; it was the point where the dual gauge section comprising 3ft 6in and 2 ft merged or, as seen in the above image, parted company. A pointsman with a pith helmet operating the lever to switch the blade on the rail shared by both gauges. 

7. This undated photograph of an unidentified NGR Class N (SAR Class NG3T) with a short train entering a deep cutting illustrates the treacherous terrain on curved sections of the Stuartstown Railway that required extensive earthworks. During periods of heavy rain, the hillsides tended to collapse - described as having 'melted away' – disrupting traffic and needing shoring up to stabilise slopes.

ESPERANZA

EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS BEFORE 1960

The 1911 edition of Natal Province Descriptive Guide and Official Hand-Book describes Esperanza as "hollow-set and surrounded by high hills, mostly sugar bearing. The extensive sugar mill and distillery of the Esperanza Estate are here. It comprises some 15 000 acres and gives over 1 000 Indians employment. The prolific Equeefa district contributes a large quantity of cane."

A portable 20-inch gauge tramway for animal haulage was laid down in 1872/73 at the Reynold's Bros. Esperanza Estate to the old Esperanza Mill. In 1899/1900, the new Esperanza Sugar Mill was opened, followed in 1901, a steam locomotive manufactured by Avonside in Bristol was placed in service (see it in photo 9 below). The line and locomotive were re-gauged to 2ft in 1915. As late as 1968, ox-drawn 'golivans' (cane trucks) on the 'tramway' could still be encountered alongside the Umzinto-Esperanza Road. However, after the 1968/69 crushing season, the oxen were put out to pasture, and the cane went over to road haulage, resulting in the extensive sugar cane railway system being closed down and the estate's steam locomotives sold or scrapped.

8. Esperanza became a crossing station on the Umzinto branch in 1901 and was connected with a short spur to the Reynolds Brothers sugar mill. In 1908, Esperanza became the southern terminus of the 2ft gauge 'Stuartstown Railway'. The narrow-gauge engine depot and workshops were initially located at Esperanza. In 1923, a third rail was laid between the 3ft 6in 'Cape' gauge track and extended by 1¼ miles to Umzinto. It is not known whether the narrow-gauge engine depot and workshops were also moved at the same time to Umzinto. This undated photo appears to be a staged composition of the station staff, with some of the local population joining in for the occasion.

9. Esperanza Sugar Mill in October 1959 showing Ixopo-bound NG/G16 No.115 while diminutive Avonside No.4 waits at the diamond crossing. The sugar cane railway paralleled the SAR's 2ft-gauge railway to Nkwifa (Equeefa) and then continued up the uMuziwezinto (Umzinto) River Valley for a considerable distance. Consequently, it was not unusual to encounter the SAR's narrow-gauge trains and the sugar estate's tramway running side by side on adjacent tracks.

10. Photo 36 shows the unique dual-gauge level crossing of two SAR gauges from Esperanza to Umzinto and the Reynolds Brothers 2ft gauge private tramline into the Humberdale Hills. This crossing marks the start of a fierce climb of almost 500 feet from a standing start because the driver had to obtain permission to cross the SAR*. When this photo was taken in October 1959, Esperanza No. 4 was the oldest working tramway locomotive on any Natal sugar estate.  Originally Reynolds Brothers No 1, a 20-inch gauge Avonside 0-4-0T (1422 of 1901), she was converted to 2ft gauge in 1915, becoming Esperanza No 4. Upon retirement in 1968, she was plinthed at Maydon Wharf Sugar Terminal in Durban. The man on the left is at the ground frame that operated the two signals that protected the crossing.

 * See Clause 36, Part VI of the Local Appendix for the Natal System under photo 36.

11. An unidentified NG/G16 picking up a load of sugar cane at Nkwifa (Equeefa) siding, destined for the Sezela Mill in October 1959. The sugar cane railway paralleled the SAR's 2ft-gauge railway to Nkwifa and then continued up the uMuziwezinto (Umzinto) River Valley for a considerable distance. The cane was transferred to 3ft 6in gauge trucks at Esperanza.

DONNYBROOK 1958 - 1960 

12. An unidentified NG/G16 departing from old Donnybrook with a goods train for Ixopo in July 1958.

13. A scene in July 1958 depicting a Cape-gauge Class GO and a narrow-gauge NG/G16 side by side at the old Donnybrook Station.

14. Old Donnybrook Station with an unidentified NGG16 just arrived from Ixopo, July 1960.

Donnybrook Yard was remodelled from 1968 to 1971.

UMZINTO STATION AND SHED

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM 1959 TO 1969

Umzinto was first reached by the 3ft 6in gauge railway when the South Coast Railway from Durban was opened on 8 August 1900. However, it was not until a third rail was laid from Esperanza and opened on 27 August 1923 that the narrow-gauge extended to Umzinto. At the time of the opening of the Stuartstown Railway in 1908, the narrow-gauge loco shed was at Esperanza. At some stage after 1923, the narrow-gauge loco shed and workshop were moved to Umzinto.

15. Umzinto Yard and the arrival of a down goods train from Ixopo, October 1959. The narrow-gauge rolling stock possessed bell buffers and link and pin style couplings. Anyone coupling up vehicles carried a stick called a 'link lifter' to lift the link before it is inserted in the bell buffer and the pin dropped 'home'. Some shunters prided themselves in performing this feat without using a link lifter. Many of them could be identified as shunters by their missing digits. This form of coupling allowed greater flexibility on the tight curves and undulating gradients than the standard automatic coupler.

16. The basic loco shed at Umzinto, the water column and the service pit are in the foreground. This photograph was taken in February 1964.

17. An unidentified NG/G16 shunting at Umzinto Station in February 1964. It looks like the driver is calling out to the photographer.

18. The old Umzinto shed was photographed on a sultry summer morning, 28 January 1965. 

19. NG/G16 No.131 receives attention at Umzinto shed before heading out on its next assignment. This engine was the last of the order of seven Garratts delivered by Beyer Peacock in 1951. This photograph was taken on 27 January 1965.

20. The NG/G16's class leader No.85 (Cockerill WN 3265/1936) was at rest at Umzinto shed when this photo was taken on 28 January 1965.

The original twelve NG/G13s supplied by Hanomag during 1927/28 were followed by four locomotives manufactured under a license arrangement with Beyer Peacock by the Belgian Company Société Anonyme John Cockerill, Seraing. On delivery in 1937, they were allocated road numbers 85 to 88 and first classified as NG/G13s. Due to some design differences, they were reclassified as Class NG/G16; the most notable was the pony trucks at both ends of the engine units fitted with roller bearing axle boxes and having a marginally longer margin wheelbase. Class leader No.85 and stablemate No.86 were placed in traffic on the Stuartstown Railway in March 1937.

21. The old Umzinto loco shed's interior was photographed in October 1968. The servicing pit is in the foreground.

22. Spanking new arrival: NG/G16 No.150, one of a batch eight making up the last order of narrow-gauge Garratts built for the SAR, was placed in traffic in October 1968 on the Umzinto-Donnybrook line.

The final order for eight NG/G16 locomotives was placed in 1965 by the SAR. However, since Beyer Peacock & Co. was about to close down and none of the other traditional overseas manufacturers of Garratt locomotives was available to fulfil the contract, a South African company, Hunslet-Taylor Consolidated (Pty) Ltd, in collaboration with the parent company, the Hunslet Engine Co. of Leeds, England, was awarded the contract. The eight locomotives carried SAR numbers 149 to 156 (works Nos.3894-3901) and were placed in traffic between January and October 1968, of which Nos.149, 154-156 went to Port Shepstone and Nos.150-153 to Umzinto.

Generous provision was made with new sheds, workshops, and an elevated coaling plant at Umzinto, in the late '60s and early '70s. Coincidently, this happened at a time was when there had been a sharp increase in traffic, mostly timber and sugarcane. The last order of NGG16s coincided with this.

23. Umzinto Station on a dull, damp day in October 1968. Some remodelling of the yard's narrow-gauge layout appears to be in progress.

24. The first of the Hunslet Taylor NG/G16s, No.149, newly delivered in January 1968, is seen after nine years in service basking in the sun at Umzinto shed.

UMZINTO YARD AND SHED

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM 1970 TO 1979

25. Umzinto shed on a quiet Easter Sunday afternoon 31 March 1975. On the right is NG/G16 No.152; unfortunately, my record noting the road numbers of the other locomotives on site has been lost. How tidy the whole place looks.

26. There was no staff on duty at the Umzinto loco shed when this photo was taken of NG/G16 No.140 in super shine condition on a quiet Easter Sunday afternoon, 31 March 1975.  This Garratt was one of four new 'Tsumeb' locomotives (T.C. Nos.6 to 9), allocated to Natal in November 1958, initially fitted with a brass side-cab plate displaying E 140 (Electric). Later, the 'E' plates were replaced, showing just 140, and subsequently, another set of plates was cast, reading NG 140.

NGG16 No.140 provided the motive power for hauling the 'Smartie Express', a rake of carriages decorated with images of Smarties, during Durban EXPO from October to December 1985 and for a few more trips from January to May 1986 on a specially laid, 2-kilometre-long, loop line at the old Railway Mechanical Workshops in Durban's CBD.

27. NG/G16 No.129 at Umzinto shed, c.1977, was one of seven locomotives delivered in 1951 by Beyer Peacock, given road numbers 125 to 131 (works Nos.7426-7432). Many significant improvements to the earlier pre-war batches were incorporated, including attaching the sandboxes to the front of the water tank and the rear of the bunker.

In May 1996, NG/G16 No.129 was sold to Puffing Billy Railway, Australia, by the Port Shepstone & Alfred County Railway. Puffing Billy Preservation Society is Australia's premier preserved steam railway operating on a 25 km long stretch of 2ft 6in (762 mm) gauge track from Belgrave to Gembrook east of Melbourne. The loco arrived in Belgrave in August 1996. It stayed there for 15 years while fund-raising continued to build until the estimated AUD 2.4 million (about R24 million) was reached.

After an extensive 8-year long overhaul (reconstruction would be a better word, including fitting an all-welded steel boiler) in the PBR workshops, this gauge-converted Garratt was finally placed back in revenue-earning service on 18 December 2019.

28. Rebuilt Umzinto shed, c. 1977, with a solitary locomotive in the drop-pit shelter on the right and three locomotives whiling the time away in the shed. The shed's motto on the wall reads "UMZINTO LOCO – OUR MOTTO SAFETY & ACHIEVEMENT".

29. Umzinto shed, April 1979. A line-up of Garratts with their coal bunkers filled to the brim, awaiting their next call of duty.

For some of these engines, that call would never come, for the effect of the Road Transportation Act of 1977 was almost instantaneous as the big timber plantation monopolies practically fell over themselves to switch to lorries.

30. Mid-afternoon on a Saturday at Umzinto shed c.1979. An unidentified NG/G16 arrived to drop off its load and then retreated to the loco shed.

31. NG/G16 No.113's fuel supply is being replenished at the Umzinto high-level coaling stage. A system of cocopans operates up a ramp to discharge the coal into the bunker. The state-of-the-art coaling stage was part of the early 1970s refurbishment of the loco shed and workshop.

32. Another view of the servicing facilities at Umzinto with the water column and the high-level coal stage with NG/G16 No.113 getting its bunker topped up and an unidentified NG/G16 standing in a dead-end spur.

33. NG/G16 No.E86 was seen at Umzinto on 9 June 1979 at the end of its shift; after dropping off its load in the yard, it is preparing to head to the shed. This engine is the second of four manufactured under a license arrangement with Beyer Peacock by the Belgian Company Société Anonyme John Cockerill, Seraing. It took to the rails on the Umzinto-Donnybrook line in March 1937. Except for 1948, when E86 was rostered on the Port Shepstone-Harding branch, this Garratt remained allocated to the Umzinto shed until withdrawn from service in 1985. It was sold to Century City, Cape Town. This Garratt is currently stored at the Sandstone Heritage Estate.

34. A close-up shot of the unusual brass side-cab plate displaying E 86 – this one of four Garratts built under a license arrangement with Beyer Peacock by the Belgian Company Société Anonyme John Cockerill, Seraing, Belgium in 1936.

When 'Tsumeb' NG/G16s, 137 to 140, were allocated to Natal, they too first displayed side-cab plates with an 'E' prefix. Likewise, one of the Hanomag NG/G13s was supplied with an E50 cab plate to replace its original casting, which had 'Suid-Afrikanse Spoorweë' misspelt.

(Information sourced from Cab-side plates of the SAR essay by W. Garratt Bucher and Robert L. Bucher III) 

35. Three weeks out of the box, Taylor Hunslet NG/G16 No.152 heads down to Esperanza, where it will pick up empty narrow-gauge 'B' bogies for loading at the various sidings en route (its complete train can be seen in photos 39 & 41). October 1968.

ESPERANZA

Photographs from 1960 to 1969

36. A unique piece of trackwork at Esperanza in 1965: The dual-gauge SAR lines crossed over a narrow-gauge sugar line near Esperanza Station. The Reynolds Bros' tramway system operated the latter (see photo 10).  The signal was one of two protecting the SAR at this crossing, and in belt-and-braces fashion, the point rodding on the right operated a derailer on the Reynolds Bros' line.  There was one to the left.

Ashley Peter, our Operating Department man in Durban, has kindly provided the following extract covering the movement of the Reynolds Brothers trains over this crossing:

* Clause 36, Part VI of the Local Appendix for the Natal System:

ESPERANZA: CANE-LINE CROSSING

(1)    Reynolds Bros. Sugar Estate cane line intersects the dual gauge line inside the warning board on the Umzinto side of Esperanza station and is used for the conveyance of sugar cane.

(2)    The cane line is provided with derails which must be set and locked in the normal position.  The derails are locked by means of a special lock, the key of which must be kept in safe custody by the station master at Esperanza.

(3)    The Station Master, Esperanza, or in his absence, the operator on duty, must personally authorise all movements of cane vehicles over the crossing.  All such movements over the crossing must be confined to daylight only.

(4)    Up and down signals, interlocked with the cane line derails, are erected alongside the dual gauge track, approximately 100 feet on either side of the cane line crossing.  These signals, which are operated from ground frames situated at the intersection of the cane and dual gauge lines, are normally at "all right".

(5)    The ground frames, referred to in the preceding sub-paragraph (4), are locked in the normal position by special keys, which must be kept in safe custody by the station master at Esperanza.

(6)    When cane vehicles require to proceed over the crossing, they must be brought to a standstill clear of the derail.  Thereafter the servant in charge of the movement must advise the station master at Esperanza or in his absence, the operator on duty, accordingly, who must ensure that the section between Esperanza and Umzinto is clear of all trains and will be kept clear until the movement over the crossing is completed.  Thereafter he must unlock the derails and ground frame, place the signals at "danger", and orally authorise the movement of the cane vehicles over the crossing.

(7)    Immediately the cane vehicles have passed over the crossing and are clear of the derail, the station master or in his absence, the operator on duty, must replace and lock the derails in the normal position.  He must then return the signals to "all right" and lock the ground frames in the normal position.

37. The split of the gauges at Esperanza – the outer rail of the 3ft 6in gauge served both gauges. To Kelso (junction with the Durban-Port Shepstone line) straight on and 2ft-gauge to the right to Highflats, Ixopo and Donnybrook. The original NGR Esperanza Station building is seen in the background.

38. In the foreground is the van of a narrow-gauge goods train from Umzinto, leaving the dual-gauge section bound for Highflats and Ixopo. Waiting at the platform of Esperanza Station for the line to clear is a GCA having come up from Kelso.

39. Merging of the 2ft and 3ft 6in gauges at Esperanza. Four years have elapsed between this photo and the previous one. During that time, Esperanza has been completely remodelled. The historic old station building (photo above) has been demolished and replaced by ugly modern face-brick buildings on the east side of the tracks; the 3ft 6in gauge sidings capacity has trebled (in time for the Road Transportation Act of 1977); likewise, the 2ft-gauge sidings.  The confluence of the two SAR lines has been shifted closer to Umzinto, and Reynold Bros' main line to Humberdale now must cross two separate tracks. A GCA is about to join the Donnybrook line with just over a mile to go to Umzinto. 

40. Scene at Esperanza on 27 January 1965 with NG/G16 No.131 turning out from the dual-gauge section hauling a goods train for Highflats, Ixopo and Donnybrook. Note the colourful garden on Esperanza Station's platform on the right and the neat permanent way camp on the left, complete with a trolley shed and an interleading piece of track.

Over the 96 miles from Umzinto to Donnybrook, the Stuartstown Railway operates from the humid sub-tropical coast, rising from 171ft, its lowest point at Esperanza, to 4 617 feet above sea level, near Eastwolds, where a train may encounter snow during the winter months.

41. The same train as above alongside the platform of Esperanza Station on 27 January 1965 at the start of the long climb inland. The footplate crew usually sit outside on a swinging seat because of the restricted space and heat in the cab of these diminutive Garratts.

42. Also photographed on 27 January 1965 at Esperanza Yard is NG/G16 No.112 departing for Highflats. Running chimney-first inland and returning bunker-first - 'backwards' - towards the coast was the order of the day.

43. SAR narrow-gauge inspection trolley No. RT1334 at Esperanza Station.

ESPERANZA – IXOPO

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM 1960 TO 1969

The tortuous alignment between Nkwifa and Braemar where the line gains 302 metres in height over a distance of 15 kilometres. 

44. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.152, just three weeks old, in charge of a goods train for Ixopo approaching Nkwifa (Equeefa)* siding, October 1968.

(*Spelling of Equeefa changed to Nkwifa in 1953)

45. Almost brand-new Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.152 tackling the start of the 1 in 33.3 grade out of Nkwifa siding towards Inverugie.

The first 5 miles of the journey inland are uninspiring as the line meanders along the uMuziwezinto (Umzinto) River Valley passing sugar cane fields before the ascent begins in earnest.

46. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.152 on the continuous 1 in 33·3 gradient from Nkwifa towards Inverugie in October 1968.  Note the conspicuous contouring cut into the hillsides of the canefields in the background.  Each one was occupied either by portable tramway track panels or permanent track, and the sight of one of the cane locomotives perched impossibly high up on these hills was something to behold.

47. A goods train between Inverugie and Braemar, steadily gaining altitude in the hilly terrain and already almost 1395ft above sea level less than 14 miles from Esperanza, the lowest point on the line.

48. NG/G16 No.149, photographed on 8 July 1974, arrives at Braemar with a load of timber destined for the Sappi-Saiccor paper mill at Umkomaas. After arrival at Umzinto Yard, the wood gets transferred to the 3ft 6in gauge wagons at the siding equipped with an overhead gantry crane. Next, it was taken by the electrified railway to Kelso and then on to Umkomaas and lastly, along 3 km long siding to the paper mill. 

49. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.150 stopped at Braemar on 9 June 1979 with an inland goods train for Ixopo. Revds. Charles Parry and the late Jim Barrow are on the left of the photograph.

50. A close-up view of the front engine unit of Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.150 at Braemar on 9 June 1979. 

51. Beyer Peacock NG/G16 No.114 (1939) at Glenrosa with a perway train heading for Donnybrook, photographed on 6 September 1978. While the loco tank is filling up with water, the loco receives some attention. Take note of the generous layer of fresh ballast spread out along the sidings. This thick layer of new ballast was also evident all along the line, and the high standard of the work led to the train crews dubbing it "die teerpad" [the tar road].

At this point, it is perhaps appropriate to mention that relaying of the line, including its conversion from 45lb to 60lb long-welded rail, steel sleepers and ballast almost to main-line standards, had commenced in 1970. The project continued unabated until it was completed through to Donnybrook in 1982, after which work started on the Madonela branch – and this blindly ignoring the effect of road competition that almost overnight had removed most of the line's traffic.

52. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.150 at Glenrosa on 9 June 1979. Glenrosa is 20 miles by rail from Umzinto and is 1957 feet above sea level – compared to the road distance, which is just 12 miles! The WTB schedule is 2 hours for the train.

The motion receives attention from the driver's grease gun before continuing the journey. Note how neatly the ballast is spread along the sidings compared to the previous image taken almost a year earlier.

Hard to believe the sight captured in photo 131 with the rusty rails and how quickly the weeds spread just a year after the closure of this section of the railway.

53. View from the guard's van of Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.150 at the head of the goods train making its way up from Glenrosa towards Sawoti on 9 June 1979.

54. View from the rear of the guard's van of the upgraded narrow-gauge track almost to main line standard between Glenrosa and Sawoti.

55. Beyer Peacock NG/G16 No.113 entering the forest-like setting of Sawoti siding with an Umzinto – Ixopo goods on 31 March 1980.

56. Beyer Peacock NG/G16 No.113 with its short load drifting past Sawoti and is now picking up pace as it continues to Mbubula siding.

57. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.149 lifting a load of timber heading towards the coast on 8 July 1974. It is the same train seen in photo 48, photographed between Sawoti (1904ft) and Glenrosa (1957ft), where the line rises 53ft over 2½ miles – one of three sections on the coastwards journey from Ixopo, which involves an ascent. Although this reverse grade is not as significant as those between Etterby and Glen Beulah and from Njane to Kenterton, it nevertheless restricts the load to 140 tons for 44 axles throughout from Ixopo to Glenrosa.

58. An unidentified NG/G16 bowling past Mbulula Siding loaded to the hilt with the staple traffic of the line – timber – bound for Umzinto.

59. High up in the hills, Beyer-Peacock NG/G16 No.114 is approaching Dumisa with a perway train loaded with rails on 6 September 1978.

60. Two trains – perway train headed by NG/G16 No.114 and a goods train hauled by NG/G16 No.153 – jostling for position of who should leave first — photographed at Dumisa on 6 September 1978.

61. It appears NG/G16 No.153 with the up goods train is cleared to leave Dumisa first and wastes no time getting started to be on its way. 

62. A coast-bound train loaded with timber leaving Kenterton. Having reached the top of the reverse grade (2631ft), it's all downhill for 8 miles 32 chains to Sawoti (1904ft).

63. A down train is working upgrade between Njane (2300ft) and Kenterton (2631ft), where the line climbs 301 feet in 2 miles 70 chains on a ruling grade of 1 in 33·3 against coast-bound trains.  In the end, it was this hill that sealed the fate of a line that served one of the richest timber and sugarcane cultivating regions in Natal. Whereas the gross load for down trains is 335 tons for 92 axles south of Glenrosa, the maximum up this 1 in 33·3 bank is 180 tons for 60 axles. This significantly impacted the economics of operating the line, which rendered it unable to compete with road transport on the parallel paved highway after the Road Transportation Act of 1977.

64. Looking from a vantage point on the main road opens a panoramic view of the attractive countryside of rolling hills; the down goods train hauled by NG/G16 No.149 comes into sight as it skirts around a hillside.

65. The same down goods train as in photo 64 rounding a curve below some traditional Zulu thatched-roofed rondawels.

66. A coastwards train cautiously approaches a 175ft curve on its descent between Jolivet and Njane. Don Baker's evocative photo perfectly captures the hilly terrain and the spectacular rural setting of the Umzinto-Donnybrook railway. While the alignment lacks the spirals and reverses of the Darjeeling-Himalayan, the Stuartstown Railway nevertheless has all the characteristics of a mountain railway with its steep inclines and tight curves.

67. Another gem from Don captures a down train descending the tortuous alignment between Jolivet and Njane. 

68. An up goods train stopped at Jolivet. The people on the platform may be waiting to catch a ride to Ixopo. Although passenger services were discontinued in 1950, limited seating was available in the guard's van.

69. NG/G16 No.153 entering Hlutankungu* with a light load in April 1979. This siding is at the climb's summit from Njane to Hlutankungu, where the line gains 733ft in 6 miles 25 chains.

*The spelling of this siding has several variations: Hlutankungo (1912, 1922, 1936, 1944, 1949 TT and 1963 TT; the November 1956 WTB uses the spelling Hlutangkungo; the 1972 TT Hlutankungu; 1975 SAR diagram Hlatankungu; the spelling on the signboard at the siding should settle it.

70. NG/G16 No. 114's driver has a siesta at Hlutankungu while the loco's tank is filled up after the 6¼-mile climb from Njane on 2300ft to the summit here on 3033ft.

71. NG/G16 No.140 with a mixed load for Umzinto photographed on 7 January 1970 approaching Kunata. The bridge over the Mtwalume River is just visible behind the curve.

72. On 2 September 1972, NG/G16 No.87 derailed on a sharp left-hand curve near Highflats, coming to rest lying on its right side on the top of the embankment. In this photograph, the locomotive is in the process of being jacked up to the upright position for re-railing. Thanks to Peter Bagshawe for supplying the picture.

73. Highflats Station was a hive of activity when this photo was taken of a goods train arriving from Umzinto. The sidings were occupied with trucks stacked with timber ready to be taken down to Umzinto.

Note the thick layer of crushed stone ballast, splashed around by SAR as if it cost nothing.  This beautifully laid out yard saw less than five years of intensive use before the lorries took over.

74. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.152 pulled up at the water tank at Highflats. Locomotives were serviced here and handed over to another crew.  According to the WTB, the Umzinto crews worked Umzinto-Highflats-Umzinto, and Ixopo crews Ixopo-Highflats-Ixopo (the latter generally with another working on the Ixopo branches to make it a worthwhile day).  The journey from Umzinto to Highflats took from 5½ to 6½ hours, the return slightly less, and then turn round at Highflats was typically about ½ hour, quite a long day for the crew. Furthermore, there were only water facilities at Highflats, so the return trip from Umzinto to Highflats had to be done on one bunker of coal (102 miles).

75. The covered platform provided shelter from the sun or inclement weather for unloading goods into the shed. The neat ballast is a notable feature at the tidy narrow-gauge stations along the Stuartstown Railway. The station staff took great pride in keeping the yard in immaculate condition.

76. An unidentified NG/G16 on a perway train approaching Ixopo on 14 April 1974. Rails and sleepers can be seen laying next to the track as the line's rehabilitation is being carried out.

77. Having cleared the R56 Main Road (Richmond-Kokstad) overpass near Ixopo, NGG16 No.143 headed to Highflats on 22 October 1976.

78. On a short, straight stretch of neatly ballasted track at the edge of a forest plantation is Hunslet Taylor NGG16 No.153, nearing Ixopo on 22 October 1976.

Interestingly, this is an up train, so timber is not going to Saiccor but most likely the Lion Match Factory in Durban (see photo 98). The guard or station staff would have had to decide which way to send goods traffic from various points along the line.

79. NG/G16 No.153 from Highflats emerging from the R56 Main Road (Richmond-Kokstad) underpass approaching Ixopo Station on 22 October 1976.

80. The old corrugated-iron and timber loco shed at Ixopo with NG/G16 No.143 on the left, but the road number of the Garratt in the centre is too difficult to make out. A new shed was built here in the late 1960s, and the track layout remodelled, which coincided at a time when there had been a sharp increase in traffic, mostly timber and sugarcane.

81. Line-up of NG/G16s standing outside the rebuilt Ixopo shed April 1970. Harald did not provide the loco's road numbers.

82. A general view of Ixopo's well-equipped loco shed, rebuilt in the late 1960s, including an elevated coal stage just out of sight on this image. No loco running numbers were supplied with this photo by Allen.

83. Ixopo shed, 22 October 1976, from left to right NG/G16 Nos.153, 129, 151 (part) and 113. The line-up represents three generations of Garratts: starting with No.113 (Beyer Peacock, 1939), No.129 (Beyer Peacock, 1951) and Nos.151 and 153 (Hunslet Taylor, 1967/1968). The elevated coal stage appears in the background on the right-hand side.

84. The turntable, a relic from the early years of the railway, was used for turning the NG3 tank locomotives around.

85. Ixopo Station and goods shed on the left in the background with NG/G16 No.143 with a guard's van on the 'main line'.

86. NG/G16 No.143, seen in the previous photo hauling a guard's van, passes the loco shed. As part of the late 1960s rebuild of the loco shed, the rails previously ending at stop blocks were extended and joined up to a siding seen in the background. Branching off from the siding, a steeply inclined spur leads up to the coal stage.

87. Another view of the loco shed on a quiet day photographed c.1977 shows the elevated coal stage and the extended track layout at the rear. Ixopo was a sub-shed of Umzinto, so locomotives had to return to Umzinto for washouts (scheduled every 21 days) and other servicing.

88. NG/G16 No. 87 photographed on 25 September 1976 taking a break at Ixopo shed. Together with sister engines No.85, 86 and 88, No.87 was built under a license arrangement with Beyer Peacock by the Belgian Company Société Anonyme John Cockerill, Seraing, Belgium, in 1936, and placed in traffic by the SAR during March/April 1937. Although the detailed allocation history for the years spanning from 1937 to 1967 is a blank page, it appears No.87 worked on the Port Shepstone-Harding line until 1968 before joining sister engines 85 and 86 on the Stuartstown Railway.

The observant reader may spot the long bolt protruding from the cab plate's left bolt hole, which served as a footrest for the driver when his seat was swung out.

89. Hunslet Taylor NG/G16 No.151 photographed at Ixopo shed on 22 October 1976.

90. An undated photograph of Ixopo Station on a quiet, sunny afternoon. The station is 67 miles 68 chains from Umzinto and 24 miles 54 chains from Donnybrook Junction, located 3253 ft above sea level. Ixopo is the only town of significance between Umzinto and Donnybrook.

91. Catching the first rays of the morning sun,  NGG16 No.153 charges out of Ixopo Station at 05:00 with Train No.1713 to Highflats on 22 October 1976.

IXOPO - DONNYBROOK 1970 – 1979

92. NG/G16 No.143 in the morning sunlight traversing the level crossing at Ixopo Station at 06:00 with Train 1756 en route to Donnybrook on 22 October 1976.

93. After leaving Ixopo, we catch up with NG/G16 No.143 with Train 1756 on its ascent between Crystal Manor and Lufafa Road through the green hills of Natal on 22 October 1976.

94. Photographed from a great vantage point about 2 km north of Eastwolds, where the undulating track curves away from the R612 main road, is NG/G16 No.143 at the head of a mixed goods train travelling towards Donnybrook Junction on 30 August 1974.

95. After taking the long way around a knoll between Eastwolds and Carthill, NG/G16 No.143 comes closer to the R612 again, heading for Donnybrook Junction on 30 August 1974. The extensive plantations in the background provided much of the traffic until the mid-1970s, but then sadly, it all fell away as the transportation of timber took to the roads. 

96. One more photo of NG/G16 No.143 on the sinuous alignment between Eastwolds, at 4 617ft, the highest elevation on the line, and Carthill, 4 450ft, on the way down to Donnybrook Junction on 30 August 1974. The consignment of timber probably heading to the Lion Match Factory in Durban.

97. An unidentified NG/G16 approaching-Donnybrook Junction with a heavy load of timber harvested from the plantations seen in the background, April 1979.

DONNYBROOK JUNCTION

98. The simple but effective splitting of the gauges at Donnybrook Junction. There are no moving parts.  The tumbler and switchblades are for the timber-loading siding on the right. Note the different speed limits for the two types of rolling stock.

99. It wasn't easy to get 3ft 6in 'Cape' gauge and 2ft narrow-gauge trains posing alongside each other at the junction, here made possible only because the NG/G16 was at the head of a perway train onto which material for the relaying of the narrow-gauge was being loaded. Hard to believe, the SAR undertook the colossal project of upgrading the narrow-gauge railway during the nineteen seventies and into the early nineteen eighties, only to close it down in 1986! Those poplar logs being loaded into the 3ft 6in gauge wagon are for delivery to the Lion Match Factory's private siding at their factory in Durban. The photo was taken in August 1973. 

100. Charlie's picture was so rare that Rags also decided to get in on the act. NG/G16 No.153 sits at Donnybrook Junction with a 2ft gauge perway train. The NG/G16, a sprightly juvenile next to Class GMA No.4071 (delivered by Henschel & Sohn in 1954) arriving with 1212-up, the Franklin – Pietermaritzburg passenger, 8 June 1974.

101. A jumble of assorted pieces of rail, steel and timber sleepers lay dumped next to the narrow-gauge track at Donnybrook Junction on 8 July 1974. The narrow-gauge railway was upgraded with 60lb rails released from Cape gauge branch lines during the seventies. The conversion from 45lb to 60lb long-welded rail, steel sleepers and ballast almost to main-line standards had commenced in 1970. The project continued unabated until it was completed through to Donnybrook in 1982, after which work started on the Madonela branch – and this blindly ignoring the effect of road competition that almost overnight had removed most of the line's traffic.

DONNYBROOK JUNCTION -DONNYBROOK

                                                     1970-1980 

102. An unidentified NG/G16 with a block-load of fertiliser was on its way from Donnybrook to Ixopo in July 1973.

103. An encore – I make no apologies for repeating this splendid photograph taken on 30 August 1974 by Rags of NGG16 No. 143, at the head of a mixed goods on the dual gauge section between Donnybrook Junction and Donnybrook. 

104. Another encore! NG/G16 No.143 becoming something of a celebrity - this time photographed in super-shine condition at Porthmadog working on the Welsh Highland Railway in June 2016.  

IXOPO – DONNYBROOK 1985

Photographs by John Middleton

105: On the gorgeous spring morning of 18 September 1985, John chased NGG16 No.153, hauling Train 1904 from Ixopo to Donnybrook, followed by its return working Train 1919. Here we catch No.153 as it leaves Ixopo station just after sunrise.

106: On leaving Vause at 3 202 feet altitude, trains face a stiff climb of over 1 000 feet in 10 miles to Lufafa Road, lying at  4 230 feet altitude and the first of three summits on the line. This photo shows NG/G16 No.153 working hard well into the climb approaching Loch Buidhe.

107: A little further on, NG/G16 No.153 catches some glint lighting as it approaches Crystal Manor with its train of ten empties and a van. The extensive Sutton Plantation is seen in the background.

108: By 1985, there was little, if any, traffic at the intermediate sidings, and we now see NG/G16 No.153 running through Maxwell Halt and embarking on the last leg of the climb to Eastwolds, the highest siding on the line at 4 617 feet some 2 miles and 15 chains away. 

109: Almost at the journey's end, NG/G16 No.153 is seen on the dual gauge section approaching Donnybrook with the fireman in the bunker trimming coal for the return journey.

110: NG/G16 No.153 with a southbound block-load of fertiliser departing Donnybrook for Ixopo. Fertiliser was the last regular commodity conveyed by the narrow gauge. The small locomotive shed is just to the left. The white structure between No.153 and the shed is the 2ft gauge coaling point, in which 3ft 6in gauge wagons were pushed up a ramp and discharged directly into the shute.

111: NG/G16 No.153 simmers outside Donnybrook's mini shed, serviced, topped up with coal and ready to return to Ixopo. The crew were in quite a hurry as they still had to fit in a return run from Ixopo to Highflats in the afternoon. However, the following week would be a lot quieter for them as the last train to Highflats ran just two days later, on 20 September 1985.

See Donnybrook Yard Plan after photo 114.

112. On the return trip on 18 September 1985, NG/G16 No.153 is working hard to climb 152ft from Donnybrook Junction towards Carthill with Train No.1919 from Donnybrook to Ixopo, a reasonable load of what appears to be agricultural supplies of some sort.

IXOPO – DONNYBROOK

 Photographs by Dick Manton 1986

113. Catching the first rays of the sun, NG/G16 No.87 climbs out of the thick mist enveloping Ixopo with the daily goods to Donnybrook one morning in April 1986, not long before the line closed.

114. NG/G16 No.87 passes Mabedlana on 21 March 1986 with the 06:00 train from Ixopo to Donnybrook.

115. The ingenious 'coal stage' for the narrow-gauge: standard gauge wagons pushed up a ramp and coal was supplied via two chutes. In the background, a Class 35 diesel-electric locomotive hauling a goods train on the Cape-Natal line. 

THE MADONELA BRANCH 

116. An unidentified NG3T at Madonela Station - no details are available about the occasion other than the photograph was taken c. 1923. It's open to conjecture who the gentleman in the formal attire might be and the fellow in the white suit and hat - one can speculate they are some VIPs paying a visit to the station master.

117. Photographs of trains operating on the Madonela branch are few and far between. However, this photograph captures an unidentified NG/G16 dropping down from Stainton with a loaded train for Madonela in October 1976.

118. An unidentified NG/G16 had just arrived at Madonela with a perway train from Ixopo in September 1976. 

119. The arrival at 08:39 at Ixopo of NG/G16 No.151 from Madonela with a small consignment of timber and several empty wagons on 22 October 1976.

THE LAST DAYS OF OPERATION BETWEEN HIGHFLATS AND IXOPO

18 SEPTEMBER 1985

Photographs by John Middleton

John Middleton wrote: "Now some Highflats-Ixopo photos I took on 18 September 1985; when I got there, the crew told me it was the penultimate day of operation. They told me the last revenue run would be on 19 September with four wagons for delivery, and then on 20 September, a light loco would go down to collect the last four wagons, three from Highflats and one from another siding unspecified. So, I may have been the last person to photograph steam on this line."

120: After its morning exertions and a break for servicing in Ixopo, NG/G16 No.153 set off again with four wagons and a van for Highflats, which was at the time, the furthest extent of operations on the former line down to Umzinto, the rest of which had already closed. Here she simmers at Highflats shortly after arrival in the afternoon heat.

121. NG/G16 No.153 taking water at Highflats before heading back to Ixopo, 18 September 1985. 

122: The delightful station at Highflats is clearly well cared for with new whitewash and neat ballast on 18 September 1985. However, all is not well for the line is to close but two days later. NG/G16 No.153 and its crew wait at 14:20 for the right-away with its return load of five empties and a van, the penultimate day of service on the line. The last day of revenue service would be the following day, while on Friday, 20 September, a locomotive worked in light from Ixopo to Highflats to collect the last four empties, and that was that.

There was no ceremony; a well-maintained branch line closed in the blink of an eye; one wonders whether the farmers who used the line were even consulted. The crew had only been told that week about the closure. So Highflats station was left to its fate, although much of the track is now enjoying a new lease of life in North Wales, and of course, NG/G16 No.153 survives in working order at Sandstone Heritage Estate.

123: Possibly the last photograph ever taken on the Umzinto – Highflats - Ixopo section, NG/G16 No.153 heads the return working past a farm dam on the outskirts of Highflats on the afternoon of 18 September 1985.

'CLOSING SPECIAL' TRAIN

12 JULY 1986

124. Although the last revenue-earning train was run on 30 June, a symbolic closing down trip on the Ixopo-Donnybrook line was organised by the Ixopo and District Historical Society for Saturday, 12 July 1986. One-way fare was R6 with return from Donnybrook by bus, or R12 return ticket on the train. Rolling stock was in open trucks (D.Z.s & Bs), with passengers seated on hay bales.

125. Taking on water for the return trip to Ixopo, NG/G16 No.113 stands at Donnybrook's narrow-gauge loco shed. Loco NG/G16 No.87 was initially assigned to do the honours of hauling the special, but after showing signs of a hot box at a late hour, No.113 was hurriedly transformed into super shine condition to deputise.

126. NG/G16 No.113 is about to leave the dual-gauge section at Donnybrook Junction on the return journey to Ixopo.

127. The last journey on the Stuartstown Railway ends – NG/G113 arrives at Ixopo.

"Eventually, and sadly, the second to last route of 'the little trains of Natal' slowly and proudly ended with the train moving gracefully into Ixopo Station". (Words by Grant Miller, secretary of the Narrow-Gauge Preservation Group)

Later, at a function at the Ixopo town hall, speeches and toasts were the order of the day, and a lively party ensued.

128. The cover of the brochure was issued by the Ixopo and District Historical Society on the last day of operation on 12 July 1986. Artwork by Mat Louwrens.

THE STUARTSTOWN RAILWAY AFTER ITS CLOSURE IN 1986

129. There was a line-up of five abandoned NG/G16s at the tranship shed at Umzinto on 21 March 1986. The Garratts are Nos.86, 112, 137, 150 and 152. The nearest Garratt in the line-up, No.152, has lost its cab roof, while the dome and chimney are missing.

In 1998, Garratts Nos. 86 and 112 went to Century City (Monex Leisure Industries) in Cape Town, while Nos.137, 150 and 152 were transferred to Port Shepstone, where they gradually rusted away in the salt air, with the remains finally being bought by the Sandstone Heritage Estate in the Free State.

130. the same line-up as in the previous photo but seen from the other end. The cab plates of all five locomotives have been removed.

Peter Bagshawe notes that by 31 December 1984, fourteen locomotives were working on the Umzinto-Ixopo-Donnybrook and Madonela branch, of which four were sub-shedded at Ixopo. After closure in July 1986, Ixopo-based NG/G16 Nos. 87, 109, 113 and 153 were reported stranded at Donnybrook. Both Nos.87 and 109 have since been restored and are working on the Welsh Highland Railway.

131. Glenrosa was still intact in April 1986, after the closure of the Umzinto – Ixopo section. However, the vegetation has started to encroach onto the formation.

UMZINTO AND ESPERANZA 1997

Photographs by Les Pivnic

Images of Umzinto station and yard and at Esperanza taken by Les Pivnic 10 years after the closure of the railway captured a scene of dereliction and decay of the infrastructure. The only pleasing sight was the station building at Umzinto, finding a new lease of life serving as a church. In another photograph taken by Les where the 3ft 6in and the 2ft narrow-gauge lines once split (see photo 136), Les commented: "a striking example of 'Permanent Way', I never thought I would live to see this same scene derelict, and I did – in March 1997".

132. Umzinto's derelict yard and weeds are growing over the track photographed on 22 March 1997. In the background, the overhead crane gantry for transhipping timber from the narrow-gauge wagons to the Cape gauge stock. Following what was described as the worst natural disaster in South Africa's history during the last week of September 1987, the Umzinto-Kelso branch was abandoned. It rained continuously for four days and nights, triggering 'Izikhukhula', the flood of destruction. 

133. Les comments: "In March 1997, I got another surprise: Umzinto Station was now a Seventh-Day Adventist Church! The line is closed. Rather this than derelict buildings like so many other abandoned railway stations all over South Africa".

134. Derelict narrow-gauge wagons and locomotives engulfed by vegetation at Umzinto yard photographed on 22 March 1997.

In June 1998, two Garratts in storage at Umzinto, Nos.86 and 112, were sent to Century City (Monex Leisure Industries site) near Cape Town.

135. A row of derelict narrow-gauge wagons abandoned at Esperanza was photographed on 22 March 1997.

136. Hard to believe that this is the spot where the narrow-gauge split from the Cape gauge track (see photo 39). The bare mast that carried the overhead catenary over the Cape gauge branch to Kelso and the faded Esperanza station name board in the background stand out amidst the vigorous growth of vegetation engulfing the station precinct. What an ignominious end to the Stuartstown Railway.

But before we close this chapter, the restoration of part of the Madonela Branch deserves more than a passing mention even though it falls outside the scope of the coverage of "Soul of a Railway".

RESTORATION OF PART OF THE MADONELA BRANCH

"Paton's Country Narrow-Gauge Railway"

In 2003, the section of the Madonela branch from Allwoodburn Halt to Carisbrooke, just under seven miles long, was restored under the direction of local farmer and entrepreneur, Julian Pereira. Operating as "Paton's Country Narrow Gauge Railway" (PCNGR), the train was named the 'Alan Paton Express'. A further portion, 2¼ miles long, was subsequently restored, allowing trains to operate to Ncalu Halt. Registered as a Section 21 Company (not for gain), the project was funded by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the local uBuhlebezwe Municipality and Tourism KwaZulu-Natal.

137: In May 2006, a 'Heath Robinson' turntable manufactured from old rails was installed at Allwoodburn Halt so that NGG11 No.55 could be turned for chimney-first photos to be obtained on the return climb from Nacalu and Carisbrooke. The turntable installation was the subject of a wager as to whether this could be built for less than the cost of hiring a road rig to turn the loco. The 'can do' attitude of the PCNGR meant the wager was won.

138. Providing motive power on the PCNGR is NG/G11 No.55, which the South African Monuments Council had prevented from being sold to an overseas buyer in 1997. In 2003, the locomotive was recovered by the Sandstone Heritage Trust team from Weenen and transported to the Bloemfontein Workshops, where, under the supervision of Lucas Nel, it was restored to working order. The PCNGR took the locomotive into service in August 2004.

The consist in the photograph is made up of goods trucks B, DZ, D and two passenger coaches. Of historical significance is goods truck D284 seen in front of the passenger coach; it was rescued from the defunct Estcourt-Weenen Railway. The D truck's design originates with Natal Government Railways (NGR), making it worth preserving.

In addition to NG/G11 No.55, two Avonside sugar cane locomotives, two Hunslet diesel shunters (former SAR ballast quarry locos previously working at the Inchanga Nursery) and since 2015, two Class 91 diesel-electric locomotives, Nos.91-006 and 91-007 are operating on the PCNGR. The PCNGR's fleet of locomotives has since been joined by the historically significant but static NG/G16 No.156.

In 2017, NG/G11 No.55 was reported standing out of service in the open at Woodburn Halt, awaiting boiler repairs.

139. NG/G11 is shunting the stock at Allwoodburn Halt marshalling yard for a special charter train to Carisbrooke in May 2006. On the upper line is 0-4-2 T 'Uve No.2' (Avonside 2065/1933) with two passenger coaches.

140. Sending out copious amounts of steam and a plume of smoke into the air, NG/G11 No.55 reverses its mixed train before departing Allwoodburn Halt with a charter train to Ncalu in May 2006.

141. The NG/G11 No.55 is putting on a fine show in May 2006 as it hauls the charter mixed train made up of goods trucks D284, B, B, G and a passenger coach between Stainton and Carisbrooke. 

142. The regular PCNGR Sunday run had just arrived at Carisbrooke Halt in November 2008. So, after a short break whilst the passengers detrain and savour one of the locations made famous by Alan Paton's book 'Cry the Beloved Country', NG/G11 No.55 will run around and return Allwoodburn Halt.

143. One last photograph of NG/G11 No.55 returning to Allwoodburn Halt with the same charter mixed train seen in photo 141.

Coming up:

The next SoAR Natal Narrow-Gauge chapter takes us to the Port Shepstone-Harding Railway – originally the Alfred County Railway - covering its life and times as a SAR/SATS branch.