Oosterlyn/Eastern
Line
Ressano Garcia to Maputo
CFM Henschel Pacific No.333, heading the Up 'LM Mail' approaching Ressano Garcia, was photographed in 1965 by Victor Hand.
System 8
Eastern Transvaal
Part 5
Ressano Garcia to Lourenço Marques (Maputo)
Compiled by Charlie Lewis, Les Pivnic and Bruno Martin ©
Please note: All photographs, maps and text in Soul of a Railway are protected by copyright and may not be copied or reproduced in any way for further use without prior permission in writing from the compilers of this series, Les Pivnic, Charlie Lewis and Bruno Martin.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
The following photographers and colleagues contributed photographs to this chapter:
Charlie Lewis, Dick Manton; Les Pivnic; Late Ralph Hardy, coll. Les Pivnic; THL via Yolanda Meyer; Victor Hand.
OVERVIEW
The main line from Pretoria to Komatipoort and Lourenço Marques (now known as Maputo) was, by its very nature, the most important trunk route on the Eastern Transvaal System. Its status has resulted in a wealth of photographic material that needs to be shared with our readers. Hence, this line will be covered in three parts:
3. Pretoria to Belfast
4. Belfast to Komatipoort
5. Komatipoort to Maputo (formerly Lourenço Marques and earlier known as Delagoa Bay)
RESSANO GARCIA TO
LOURENÇO MARQUES (MAPUTO)
We start our coverage at the border station Ressano Garcia for the 55-mile/88-km stretch to Lourenço Marques (known as Maputo since 1976). Although this section of the Eastern Line falls outside South Africa's borders, it leads to the all-important seaport terminus of the line.
As mentioned in the introduction of Part 3, this extension of the Eastern Line provided the vital 'bridge' for the landlocked fledgeling Boer Republic* to gain access to a seaport that was not under British control.
* Zuid-Afrikaanische Republiek (ZAR) – the South African Republic (also referred to as the Transvaal Republic) - was proclaimed in 1852 by Boers migrating from the Cape Colony in search of territory where they could distance themselves from the British sphere of influence.
Although the customary 'cutting of the first turf' ceremony was performed at Lourenço Marques on 2 June 1886, work on the railway did not start until April 1887, when Thomas Tancred was appointed chief construction engineer. A month earlier (March 1887), Colonel Edward McMurdo, an American financier who had difficulty raising funds to build this part of the railway, used his concession to underwrite the 'Delagoa Bay and East African Railway Company' floated in London with a capital of £750 000. By 2 June, the track infrastructure was sufficiently advanced to allow the first locomotive* 'Don Luíz Filipe', named after the Prince Royal of Portugal, to be paraded before a large crowd in Lourenço Marques.
* This 4-4-0T was one of five built by Nasmyth, Wilson & Co., Patricroft, Manchester in 1887 for the New Zealand Midland Railway. The NZMR seemed in no hurry to receive its locomotives, unlike the new Delagoa Bay and East African Railway, which needed motive power in a hurry. So, two locomotives were diverted to Delagoa Bay, becoming the railway's No.1 'Don Luíz Filipe' and No.2 was named 'Paul Kruger'. (Quoted from 'The Kruger Locomotives', article by AE Durrant, published in SA RAIL, Vol.37, No.2, April/June 1997)
Construction from Lourenço Marques across the flat terrain was reasonably straightforward, with no significant engineering features. When the railhead reached the point believed to demarcate the border between the Portuguese territory and the South African Republic (ZAR) on 14 December 1887, Tancred arranged for an inaugural train to convey dignitaries and guests to the terminus to attend a picnic banquet. But not all went to plan: the train following behind was hijacked by the Irish navvies further down the line, who consumed all the food and drank the liquid refreshments intended for the official celebration! As it turned out, the celebrations were somewhat premature when it was discovered that an error in the survey* had the rails stopping some 6 miles (9,6 km) short of the actual border. Subsequently, no further work was done on the railway line after Tancred's contract ended on 25 December 1887.
* In early 1883, the Portuguese Government commissioned Joaquim José Machado, a Portuguese Army Corps of Engineers major, to survey the railway route from Lourenço Marques to Komatipoort. He later discovered he had miscalculated the distance and duly notified the Portuguese Government in early 1885, after he had completed the survey to Pretoria, that the revised length of the Lourenço Marques-Komatipoort section of the railway, instead of 81,97 km long, should be almost 10 km longer. It appears that the railway concessionaire who was awarded the contract, American financier Colonel Edward McMurdo, was not informed about the distance discrepancy, although 90 km was mentioned as the length of the Lourenço Marques-Komatipoort section in the prospectus issued in 1886.
The Transvaal surveyor-general G R von Wielligh describes in his report the sequence of events that settled the demarcation of the boundary. On 12 August 1887, the Transvaal Executive Council appointed a commission headed by the surveyor-general to send two representatives, J. Abel Erasmus and Pieter de Villiers, to Komatipoort to erect border beacons with Major Machado. Flooded rivers delayed the arrival of the Transvaal delegates, and at their first meeting, Major Machado declared that he had already carried out the survey work and could now present his impartial results to the Transvaal Commission. The document was written in French, and Von Wielligh refused to sign it because his knowledge of French was limited. Major Machado's knowledge of English was insufficient to translate the document's contents into English.
Furthermore, Von Wielligh first wanted to see the poort and visit the location of Machado's beacon. Major Machado declared his beacon was erected in the middle of the poort, but Von Wielligh disagreed and suggested the major's beacon be placed "one kilometre lower down in the poort to be in the middle of Komatie Poort". It was resolved that if the distance between Von Wielligh's suggested position and Major Machado's beacon were halved and accepted as the correct location, the so-called Von Wielligh beacon was erected 600 paces* outside the poort or 1 200 (paces) from Machado's beacon in Portuguese territory. After an exchange of letters between the two governments on the issue, an agreement was reached to recognize on 24 October 1887 Von Wielligh's beacon. In October 1888, the Portuguese Government determined that the end point of the railway's third section was at km 88,300.
*Translation of the term 'treë' used in J Ploeger's article 'Die afbakening van die grens tussen die ZAR en Mosambiek by Komatiepoort [sic] (1887)'.
(THL reference 142-0015-04)
In a rush to beat the deadline set by the Portuguese Government for completing the line by 25 December 1887, the contractor resorted to shoddy workmanship and the use of sub-standard rails. These factors contributed to the line's infrastructure failing to withstand the heavy seasonal rain undermining the formation. Consequently, by the end of 1888, the line had fallen into a state of disrepair, while the issue of who was responsible for building the missing link to the border still had not been resolved*. The Portuguese Government took the initiative to set 24 June 1889 as the completion date, and the penalty for failing to comply would result in the withdrawal of McMurdo's concession. With the deadline just seven weeks away came the news on 8 May that Edward McMurdo had died. The Portuguese Government gave McMurdo's company two days' grace after the deadline had passed before confiscating the unfinished railway. This turn of events placed the railway's ownership with the Portuguese Government, and work could finally be resumed.
* It took 12 years to resolve the issue of who was responsible for building the missing link to the border with McMurdo's 'Delagoa Bay and East African Railway Company'. Arbitrators appointed in Bern, Switzerland, settled the dispute by vesting the railway's ownership with the Portuguese Government and entitling the shareholders of McMurdo's Company to almost £1 million in compensation.
While waiting for the missing portion of the line to be completed on the Portuguese side of the border, work on the Eastern Line in the ZAR started on 1 November 1889, preparing a short piece of track bed from the state boundary to the Khomati River bridge and building the bridge abutments.
Construction of the Eastern Line finally started in earnest after the Portuguese had brought the railhead up to the ZAR border in February 1890. The first locomotive crossed the bridge over the Khomati River on 14 May 1891, and the railway opened from the Portuguese East Africa border to Komatipoort on 1 July (3 miles).
The border between South Africa (Mpumalanga Province) and Moçambique is shown on the 1:50 000 scale topographic sheet 2531BD.
By 10 March 1892, the line was in use from Komatipoort to Kaapmuiden. The malaria-infested region claimed the lives of hundreds of men constructing the railway - that there was a body for every sleeper laid might well be a gross exaggeration of the toll. While fever claimed many casualties, the heat, attacks from wild animals and dangerous reptiles also added to the death toll. The section from Kaapmuiden to Nelspruit was opened on 20 June 1892. Nelspruit remained the railhead for almost 12 months because the NZASM's financial resources had been severely depleted.
On 1 June 1893, the line was handed over to traffic from Nelspruit as far as Alkmaar and then opened in short stages until Waterval Onder was reached on 20 January 1894. To overcome a climb of 682 feet (208 metres) over a rail distance of only 4½ miles (7,2 km) to Waterval Boven required an 11 096 feet (3 382-metres) long Riggenbach ladder-type rack system on a gradient of 1 in 20. The rack-assisted section from Waterval Onder to Waterval Boven was taken into service on 20 June 1894. Construction proceeded without further engineering difficulties over the Highveld plateau, reaching its highest point near Belfast station, 6 279 feet (1 914 metres) above sea level.
During the intervening period, the line was also being extended from Pretoria to meet the railway coming from the east. The rails of the eastern and western sections were joined at Balmoral, some 90km east of Pretoria, on 20 October 1894, and at a ceremony performed at Brugspruit on 2 November, the last bolt was put in place by President Kruger. An introductory service, comprising three passenger trains a week, was inaugurated on 18 November, followed by the full service beginning on 1 January 1895. The formal opening was a lavish affair conducted in Pretoria on 8 July 1895.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF CFLM LOCOMOTIVES
Although 'Soul of a Railway' showcases the railways of South Africa, readers may be unaware of the delights which abounded across the border operating on the busy line from Komatipoort to Lourenço Marques and at the harbour.
1. A mile out of Komatipoort, this magnificent Montreal-built 4-8-2 No.702 is getting underway through the remote-controlled passing loop at Lebombo (on the RSA border) with export goods bound for the harbour at Lourenço Marques in July 1969.
2. This photo collage shows one of the beautiful CFM 700 class 4-8-2s with train 7303 at Ressano Garcia and a couple of Series 200 Baldwin 2-10-2s – one on-shed also at Ressano Garcia in the 1950s.
3. The late Ralph Hardy photographed a CFM Baldwin No.200 2-10-2 engine, probably at Ressano Garcia in the 1950s.
4. At the other end of the CFM's short (58 miles) main line from Lourenço Marques to Komatipoort, another of the magnificent Montreal 4-8-2s No. 403 was working hard out of Machava with westbound goods bound for the Republic. July 1969.
5. This photo was taken at the Lourenço Marques loco shed of what appears to be six brand new locos on display.
Source: Scan of original book from Memórias d'África e d'Oriente, Aveiro University (Mozambique in the 1920s – AFDCM-02-065)
Link: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ Copyright info Public Domain.
6. A CFLM Baldwin 2-10-2 (Nos.301-305 were delivered in 1919/1924).
7. Charlie comments: "Unfortunately, my engine numbers records were always scant, but this interior view of the roundhouse at Lourenco Marques was taken more than fifty years ago, so perhaps all but the most diligent of you might forgive me." From left to right, a Henschel 2-10-2 of 1955, then a Montreal 4-8-2 built 1948, another Henschel 2-10-2 and a beautiful Baldwin Pacific of 1919 (they looked even better without smoke deflectors).
The roundhouse at Lourenço Marques was built in the mid-1950s to house CFM's largest-ever acquisition of 33 new locomotives.
8. Shunting the extensive dockyard sidings were several ten-coupled tank engines; No.67, seen here, was one of nine locomotives supplied by Henschel 1931/1937. They were a powerful indication that the CFM were not shy of putting five axles into a rigid frame, a complex that SAR's Mechanical Department never could suppress.
9. Eight-coupled No.96 docks shunter coming off the shed at the LM roundhouse was one of six supplied by Baldwin in 1949 (road numbers 91-96).
10. This superb Prairie-type 2-6-2 No.571 was one of two supplied by H K Porter dating to 1941. They were solidly built and energetic, employed by CFM on local passenger and freight workings out of Lourenço Marques and Beira.
11. Arguably, the finest locomotives on CFLM were their 700-series 4-8-2s (road numbers 701-708), built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1948. Specifically acquired for the Lourenco Marques - Komatipoort main line, there were only eight of them, but they were superior to their SAR counterparts - class 15F. In what way, you might ask? Well, to begin with, they had cast-steel beds, a better-shaped firebox and grate that allowed them to steam better and a well-tuned, deep-throated American-sounding whistle. As you see from this portrait of No. 708 on the turntable at the LM roundhouse, they were handsome, too.
They were seen in Swaziland hauling heavy ore loads on the upper section of the railway opened in 1964 from the KaDake terminus at the Ngwenya Mine down to Sidvokodvo, the 'half-way' engine exchange point on the way to the ore-loading wharf at Entreposto da Matola in Moçambique.
12. Dainty would be a good word to describe the CFM's Baldwin Pacifics of 1919 vintage. They were almost entirely employed in passenger service on the local lines around LM. This was No.303 moving off the shed for a working to Goba - a two-hour all-stations run for the 42 miles. Nos.301-305 were delivered by Baldwin 1919/1923.
13. Santa Fe 2-10-2 No.206 working a westbound freight out of Machava, the first junction out of LM. There were eight of these doughty Baldwins, and when we visited Mocambique in 1969, they seemed to be everywhere on the LM - Komatipoort line. (Nos.200-212 were delivered by Baldwin 1915/1944 to work the LM and Beira Systems)
14. Having just departed from the Harbour at LM, Montreal 4-8-2 No.708 is entering the yard at Machava prior to launching its train of empties up the main line to Komatipoort.
15. Rumbling into Machava Yard from Swaziland, a Henschel 2-10-2 and an ex-Rhodesian Railways 11th class 4-8-2 with ore from the KaDake terminus in Swaziland. The RR 11ths (built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1919) were sold to CFM in 1966 but only just made it into the 1970s before being retired.
16. An ex-Rhodesian Railways 11th class supplied in 1919 by the Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada (sold to CFM in 1964) approaching Moamba with freight from Rhodesia in July 1969. Note the similarity between these Montreal-built locomotives and SAR's class 14C by the same builder, delivered in 1918.
17. Rhodesia had much better quality coal than the Transvaal stuff, so naturally, the CFM generally preferred it. Approaching Machava, this Henschel 2-10-2 has come in from the Moamba line with three bogies of premium cobbles from the Wankie Collieries. (Henschel 2-10-2, Nos.251-272, delivered in 1955 to CFLM & Beira)
18. When Les visited Lourenço Marques in the late 1950s, he took this photograph of CFM's majestic central station building (Estação Central dos Caminhos de Ferro). It was constructed from 1908 to 1916; its architecture is described as being in the Neoclassical Beaux-Arts style designed by architects Alfredo Augusto Lisboa de Lima, Mario Veiga and Ferreira da Costa. An informal inaugural ceremony was held on 19 March 1910; however, in a subsequent construction phase from 1913 to 1916, the building's ornamental central façade and copper-clad semispherical dome were added.
The station building doubled up as the CFM Office for the LM Division – hence the insignia on the building – “CFLM”.
Recent photographs of the building posted on Flickr show the insignia changed to CFM.
19. This THL photo speaks for itself. Note the classic American-style bell on the engine and how clean the engines all looked – those were the days when railwaymen had pride in their jobs. (Baldwin 4-6-2, Nos.301-305, 1919/1924)
20. Another shot of the CFM Central Station building in Lourenço Marques*, a THL photo taken in the 1960s. On the left edge of the photo is the 1914-1918 War Memorial.
* The capital of Moçambique (former Portuguese East Africa) was known as Lourenço Marques until 1976, when it was changed to Maputo. Lourenço Marques was a Portuguese explorer and trader who lived in East Africa and carried out commercial explorations there in the 16th century.
21. This photo was taken in the late 1950s when Les visited LM. It shows a Series 500 2-6-2 No.503 alongside the main platform. These engines were supplied by Henschel & Sohn between 1936 and 1938.
22. Another shot of Henschel 2-6-2 No.503 at LM Station was taken in the late 1950s.
23. This photo collage covers some of Les's photos of Series 700 4-8-2s engine No.705 alongside the platform at LM Station in the late 1950s. If the SAR had 15Fs built in the US or Canada, they would have looked like this. While the engine was an imposing machine, the tenders attached to this class were rather small by SAR standards – the bunker only held 9·3 tons of coal. The water capacity was more than reasonable at nearly 7 700 gallons. It could be argued that the relatively small coal capacity was more than sufficient for the 58-mile stretch of line to the border at Komatipoort when these engines were first placed in service in 1948. It would be interesting to know how they coped in later years with the longer trips into Swaziland.
24. Les comments, "I was spending time in the late 1950s with my Uncle and Aunt who lived on the Matola Shell Petrol facility outside LM – my Uncle was the Manager at the facility where I photographed this large CFM tank engine – Series 90 No.95 with its footplate crew happy to be included in the photo. These engines were supplied by Baldwin, Philadelphia, in 1949."
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS WERE PROVIDED
BY DICK MANTON
25. 4-6-2 No.331, photographed at LM roundhouse by Allen Jorgensen.
Nos.331-333 delivered by Henschel, 1955.
26. 0-10-0T No.64
Nos.61-69 delivered by Henschel, 1931/1937
27. 2-10-2 No.206. (photographed in 1970)
Nos.200-212 were delivered by Baldwin in 1915/1944
28. Ex-Rhodesia Railways 2-6-2+2-6-2 14th class Garratt No.501. (photographed in August 1972)
Nos.500-507, delivered to RR by Beyer Peacock & Co. in 1929/1930.
29. Looking towards the Eastern Line's terminus at the docks.
30. 4-6-2 No.304. (photographed in August 1972)
Nos.301-305 were delivered by Baldwin 1919/1923.
31. 2-8-2T No.96. (photographed in August 1972)
Nos.91-96 were delivered by Baldwin in 1949.
32. 2-8-2T No.84. (photographed in August 1972)
Nos.81-84 delivered by Henschel in 1955.
33. 2-8-2 No.404. (photographed in March 1970)
Nos.401-404 delivered by Baldwin, 1924/1948
34. Track maintenance in progress. Henschel 2-8-2T No.82 & Henschel 2-8-2 No.415. (photographed in September 1973)
Nos.81-84 were delivered by Henschel in 1955, and 415-416 were delivered in 1955.
35. 2-10-2 No.263
Nos.251-272 were delivered by Henschel in 1955 to LM and Beira Systems.
36. 2-8-2T No.96
Nos.91-96 were delivered by Baldwin in 1949.
37. Baldwin 4-6-2 No.304 at the LM roundhouse. (photographed in August 1972)
Nos.301-305 were delivered by Baldwin 1919/1923.
38. 4-8-2 No.702 (photographed in September 1973)
The road numbers of the locos in the background were not recorded.
Nos.701-708 were delivered by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1948.
39. Veteran ex-CFLM 4-6-0T No.9 built in 1892 by Dŭbs & Co., W/No.2760.
(photographed at the LM roundhouse in March 1970)
Currently on display in front of Maputo Central Station.
And that concludes our coverage of the Eastern Line; thank you for viewing it.
REFERENCES FOR PARTS 3, 4 & 5:
BULPIN T V., 'Lost Trails of the Transvaal', The Eastern Line. Cape Town, Howard Timmins, 1956.
De JONG R C, VAN DER WALT G M and HEYDENRYCH D H. ‘NZASM 100 1877-1899. The buildings, steam engines and structures of the Netherlands South African Railway Company'. Pretoria, Chris van Rensburg Publications, 1988.
DULEZ, J A, 'Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years – Locomotives and Trains', Vidrail Productions, 2012.
ENGELENBURG, F V, 'De Delagoabaai Spoorweg. Een Terugblik'. Photocopy. Stigting Jan van Riebeeck (Suid-Afrika), Pretoria 1987.
ESPITALIER, T J, & DAY, A J, 'The locomotive in South Africa', Chapter IV – The NZASM, SAR & H Magazine, November 1944, pp.843, 844.
HAARHOFF J, 'Conquering the Escarpment - Railway Engineering in the Elands River Valley', Civil Engineering May 2017, pp.20-30.
HAINE G S, 'Through the Transvaal's first tunnel'. South African Railways & Harbours Magazine, October 1953, pp 733-745.
HOLLAND D F, 'Steam Locomotives of the South Africa Railways'. Cape Town, Purnell, 1971, Vol. 1, 1859-1910.
JEHAN D, 'Rack Railways of Australia'. Sydney, David Jehan (Publisher), 2003.
LEWIS, C P, JORGENSEN, A A, 'The Great Steam Trek', Struik Publishers, Cape Town, 1978.
LOMBARD, W A, 'Waterval Boven 1894-1952'. Gedenkboek van die Vanriebeeckfeeskommissie/Memorial Album of the Van Riebeeck Festival Commission.
MESSERSCHMIDT W, 'Zahnradbahnen–gestern-heute - in aller Welt'. Stuttgart, Franck’hsche Verlagshandlung, 1972.
NZASM Gedenkboek: 'Opening van die Delagoabaai Spoorweg 1895'.
PLOEGER J, 'Die afbakening van die grens tussen die ZAR en Mosambiek by Komatiepoort (1887)', translated from Afrikaans and Dutch.
Report of the Departmental Senior Officers 'Enquiry Board into the circumstances attending the derailment of mixed (Natives) Train No.513 in the section Waterval Boven - Ondervalle on the 15 November 1949', pp.37-47. (Copy in THL)
Report of the General Manager of South African Railways, UG 54, 1949, pp.4 & 5.
Report of the General Manager of South African Railways, UG 59, 1965/66, p.50.
STEPHAN, H B, 'Civil Engineering Improvements prior to the electrification of the Eastern Transvaal Main Line from Witbank to Komatipoort'. The Civil Engineer in South Africa - Die Siviele Ingenieur in Suid-Afrika, June/Junie 1967.
RSSA NEWSLETTER/NUUSBRIEF, Summary of CFLM Locos, plus notes, August 1973, pp.135-136.
Dutch Footsteps web page, accessed on 16 July 2023. https://www.dutchfootsteps.co.za/Khomatiriverbridge.html