Part 16: Winter on the Lootsberg Pass

The same train as the one in Part 14 Photo 70, taken in the Winter of 1973.

On 24th December 2005 swaer Trevor was heading for Plettenberg Bay to spend Christmas with his in-laws. When he got to the Lootsberg Pass he was delayed by graders clearing snow and kids were chucking snowballs at the cars. Along here, snow in December happens because summer is when this part of the Karoo desert gets rain, such as it is. Middelburg, the nearest town, averages 230mm/year, the bulk of which falls in summer. Winter months have the lowest precipitation: collectively June, July and August average less than 5mm/annum.

Peter's portrayal of 1300-up, the Mossel Bay-Johannesburg Express vigorously setting off from the water stop at Koloniesplaas, makes an apt introduction to our chapter about wintertime on this crazy railway through the mountains. Apt, because even in winter it is much more common to see snow on the peaks of the Sneeuberg than down on the track.

For convenience Bruno's map of the route over the pass and the gradient profile are reproduced again:

Note that Koloniesplaas is just off the bottom edge of this map.

We'll start out of Rosmead with photos left over from the previous chapter which will bring us gradually through autumn into winter:

1. In the previous chapter we told how Mr Harris, the Loco Foreman at Rosmead, swapped 6A 454 for the class 24 that was diagrammed to doublehead 367-down T&P to Bethesda Road. Here she is, getting out of Rosmead in style with 19B 1406 on a fine May morning in 1969. Note the full array of semaphore home signals: three-poster for the main line and splitting home for the Klipplaat road.

2. Ten years later, GMA 4051 was working 367-down in the final days of steam over the Lootsberg. Dick's photo shows the junction clearly in relation to the loco shed; and observe the mechanical signalling has all been replaced by centrally-controlled, route-indicating colour lights.

3. Shown here well on its way between Rosmead and Middelburg, 373-down performed the opposite function to 360-up, i.e. it conveyed the thrice-weekly through coach from De Aar to Mossel Bay. The engine was 19B 1412, the date May 1973. The flatness of the countryside is deceptive. After Middelburg the isolated koppies gradually merge to form the Sneeuberg and the railway begins to climb in earnest.

4. The flat section from Rosmead to Middelburg was a bit of a raceway, and here is a GMA making a roaring 35mph with 375-down goods in the autumn of 1977.

5. First crossing for 367-down T&P was at Middelburg, where it waited for a late-running 360-up whose engine, 19D 3333, would return from Rosmead later in the day with 375-down (see photo 3 of Part 15 where it is shown crossing the return working of 6A 454 at Bethesda Road).

6. A pair of 19Bs with 362-up conditional goods, conveying frozen as well as unfrozen fresh vegetables from George to the Witwatersrand, was running this day, so lowly 367-down had to sit out at Middelburg for two crossings.

7. Any normal engine would have got all steamed up about having to wait for two crossings. But seemingly unperturbed, here was 6A 454 making a dignified exit from Middelburg almost as soon as 362-up had cleared the points.

8. The 40-year reign of the hard-working, reliable 19Bs came to an end during 1975 when 19Ds released by class 35 diesels elsewhere took over. Their time at Rosmead was brief. By 1977 GMAs, also released by dieselisation, had come to supervise the final run-down of steam over Lootsberg Pass. Photos of 19Ds at work on this route are thus comparatively rare; this one by Brian of 1305-down leaving Middelburg was taken in late 1975.

9. Table Mountain is the rock that brings reassurance to Capetonians that some things never change. The same could almost be said of 19B 1412. I have known her for nigh on 60 years; repeatedly popping up in photographs. At more than 80 years of age these days she is a performer for Ceres Rail: http://www.ceresrail.co.za/

Panned between Middleburg and Erin in July 1973.

10. The sunshine is deceptive. Frost on the wagon roofs tells us the temperature was well below freezing when this 19B+19D combination was working 375-down goods in winter 1973. That's 7216ft Renosterkop in the background.

11. July 1978 was probably the last occasion that non-articulated power was used on the Mossel Bay express, 19Ds 2672 and 3340 were well into their stride approaching Dwarsvlei on the northern slopes of Lootsberg Pass. The Rodgers party had prayed for good weather and as usual God smiled on them.

12. Crossing between 375-down goods with 19BR 1410+19B 1405 and 366-up with 19B 1409 at Dwarsvlei, May 1971. Note the guard trudging along to the facing points to admit 366-up. As soon as its van has cleared the points he will throw the tumbler and show his green flag to 1410's driver.

According to the General Appendix guards were in charge, except in later years when guardless trains became common - simply because not enough whites were available for the job and engine crews would object to taking orders from a non-white one. Guards were eventually disposed of almost entirely, except on long-distance passenger trains, during the 1980s. Having taken more than 120 years to eliminate a job for someone who never really seemed to have much to do except fill in a train journal (which frequently was fudged anyway), it dawned on the powers how much time could be saved at crossings like this where the guard had to walk the length of his train and more, to admit the opposing number then operate the points, give his own driver the "right away", wait til his own train had cleared the trailing points to reset them for the main line, then remount his van. On the Lootsberg route with its short trains this process could add 15 minutes to the length of time it took to make a crossing. On the highveld, where trains were much longer, it added more than half an hour to crossing times.

13. 1305-down approaching Barendskraal with 19B 1409+19D 2714 in May 1971. Introduced during 1969, the Japanese twin diners were used intermittently on 1300/1305 for a couple of years but by the end of 1971 Day eliptical-roofed sets had come back and remained on the job fairly constantly until 1976/77.

14. 19BR 1410+19B 1405 with 375-dn goods near Barendskraal in May 1971. This is the same train featured in the crossing at Dwarsvlei in photo 12.

15. Approaching Barendskraal, 19Bs 1406+1409 with 375-down goods in February 1968.

Bright boiler bands were introduced by CME AG Watson in the '30s so the 19Bs came out with dark ones when new and most of the class retained them throughout their working lives*. The stainless-steel bands on #1409 are an indication that she was given regular engine status at some stage of her career. The scar on the hillside was due to widening works on the N9 in progress at the time.

*Thank you Les

16. Same location, better angle. Colin's take of a pair of 19Bs on 1305-down with 13 on nearing Barendskraal in August 1973.

17. As you can see, we had been chasing this train all the way from Middelburg. Here again are 1410 and 1405 with 375-down rounding the curve into Rooihoogte, May 1971.

18. And again...............

19. By the time Brian made this picture during 1976, Rooihoogte had been downgraded and staff reduced to just one official: a station foreman who was in attendance only on weekdays. The garden was still tidy but within a few months automatic van Schoor would be installed, the foreman would be removed, the garden uncared for and the buildings vandalised.

20. The legendary Tollie Nel with fireman van Rooyen* posing with GMA 4053 at Rooihoogte in July 1976. Tollie was not a Garratt fan but if the cynical Stores Department had been ordering decent quality coal at this time I think he would have thought better of them.

* Thank you Robert Kingwill for sending us his name.

21. Coming past the down side warning board for Blywend halt this pair of 19Bs was just about to enter Jagpoort with 375 goods in February 1968.

22. Unknown 19Bs blasting into Jagpoort with 1305-down in January 1969. Amongst those trees at the downstream mouth of the poort is a farm and thereby hangs a tale.

Alan Johnstone, well known to many of our readers, was a driver on the famous Puffing Billy Railway in the Dandenong Hills near Melbourne. Australian born, in 1974 he and wife Pam came to RSA to work on steam. On SAR he started on the bottom rung, eventually graduating as a driver in the mid-eighties. When steam finished Alan and Pam went back to to Aus. One day around 2007 Alan was about to work a PBR train to Gembrook when a sweet young thing came to his engine, No 8A and asked whether she could come up onto the footplate. Upon hearing her Saffa accent he replied "Met graagte dame, klim op!" (=with pleasure lady, climb up). Well, this surprised her so much she asked how he knew the language. After his (brief) explanation she asked whether he knew Pretoria, where she lived. "Union Buildings" replied Alan. She asked whether he knew Stellenbosch, where she had studied "van Zyl Slabbert" said Alan. Astounded (this was in Melbourne after all), she said well, I bet you don't know the place where I was born: Jagpoort........

Of course Alan went there many times in steam days, concentrating on making 16mm sound movies, probably the best ever made of SAR steam.

23. A bit of an indulgence but this is such a spectacular location we visited it many times. 1305 in May 1971 a bit further around the horseshoe. Both engines are 19Bs.

24. The same train going away at the same location. Jagpoort siding is barely a mile ahead.

25. The reverse curve at the entrance to the poort is on a 1-in-40 gradient that brought these 19Bs with a 13-coach 1305 down to walking pace. April 1968.

26. 19B 1407+19BR1410 bringing 375-down goods through Jagpoort in April 1968. When this photo was made every town south of here (Graaff-Reinet, Klipplaat, Willowmore, Oudtshoorn, George and Mossel Bay) as well as every locomotive depot, relied on coal. By the early eighties the towns were all connected to the national grid and steam locomotives had gone, as had more than half this train's load!

27. Somewhere in the bowels of my computer are the numbers of these two 19Bs working the Mossel Bay express through Jagpoort in May 1971. Whatever they were, they made a nice picture that would have been even better in colour.

28. A Steam Safari entering Jagpoort c 1981.

29. This man should be writing copy for "Soul of A Railway". Cleaning fire, July 1975 (while this could have been at Jagpoort, and should have been according to its position in this chapter, Dave has written to say it was actually at Koloniesplaas.

30. The water at Jagpoort was so pure the crews used to fill their waterbottles with it. Banker being serviced prior to shoving 375-down goods to the summit in April 1968.

31. The same 1305-down that Colin photographed at Barendskraal (photo 16) being banked away from Jagpoort. August 1973.

32. The 19B banker of 1305-down pushing hard in July 1962. That's Jagpoort in the background and note the immaculate track. The crooked wooden droppers on the lineside fence are made from sneezewood; very tough and nowadays much sought after for furniture.

33. By the late sixties it was rare to find main-line long-distance trains consisting of all clerestory stock. Although the roofline of this one is marred by the elliptical roof of WAJ Day's kitchen car this is offset by the fact that almost the entire consist, including the locomotives, date back to before WW2, the only exception being the penultimate vehicle, which is a C-34 if it is 1st class or E-16 if a 2nd class all-steel clerestory day/sleeper, both types built by Metro-Cammell in 1953. An interesting point here is that the kitchen car is not coupled to its own dining car but to the clerestory diner "Shashi". The story of how this came about makes interesting reading on pages 162/163 of Les's definitive "Railway Dining Cars in South Africa".

34. The same freight that we've been following all the way from Dwarsvlei on its final push to the summit with 19B 1405 in front and 19BR 1410 giving a little more pressure in the rear.

35. Almost certainly the last time non-articulated power made the climb on a regular train, 19Ds 2672 and 3340 still have about 3 miles of slogging to the summit in July 1978. Unfortunately I neglected to put Dave Rodgers' copyright and credit on his picture so would-be pirates please note this photo is copyright Dave Rodgers.

36. The Garratts arrived during 1977 by which time clerestory coaches were getting scarce in long-distance service. WAJ Day's elliptical-roofed twin-diner set stands out here. Although they look much lower than the Union Carriage & Wagon tinplate creations, they were beautifully appointed and seemed quite roomy inside.

37. Only a mile to go before they'll never have to do it again..............

38. Somehow the Garratts never seemed to fit in along here. They certainly didn't perform as well as they had on Montagu Pass, for example, but this is more than likely due to their arriving when the Cape Midland steam show was already nearing its end. The low-octane (and dirty) coal delivered during the last few years certainly didn't help.

39. With a mile to go to the summit, working hard 19B 1412 was getting a good shove from banker 19B 1401 on train 369 in October 1969.

40. And here comes the banker....................

41. He is either polishing his engine or tightening something on the regulator crank. Either way, 19B 1409 looked in pretty good nick in June 1975. And here is visual proof that the guard had the best seats in the house.

42. There was just a crack of clear sky between the horizon and a layer of mist over the Lootsberg and the rising sun just entered this space as this Special run by the SAR Publicity and Travel Department for a party of Americans climbed towards the summit in 1975.

43. The last stretch up to the summit at Lootsberg has a kind of simple beauty only found in the Great Karoo. Every one of the dozens of pictures I have taken here is different; the light moulding the hills (that's for you Geoff), the sky, the colours, the weather ranging from hot to extreme cold and the wind. It is usually clear but never the same. Unfortunately I was shooting black and white but I do remember the striking cloud patterns on a vivid blue sky with 1305's engines front and rear pouring on pre-arranged smoke.

44. Another feature of SAR in the seventies was its busyness. There was traffic everywhere, even on the lowliest branch line, and preparations for the future were in full swing, no matter the cost, as with the empty rail train in the foreground, returning to the rail-reconditioning plant at Beaconsfield. It was on its way to fetch another load of hand-me-down, long-welded 96lb/yard rails for the Klipplaat-Rosmead section. The rail mts had run into the veld to make way for 1305 blasting up to Lootsberg with 15 on (count 'em) - the heaviest I ever saw with this train. In case you are wondering how the crossing was effected please look again at Bruno's map below:

Here you can see that 1305 was coming up from Jagpoort while the rail train was standing clear on the S-shaped western leg of the triangle.

45. Yet another crossing at Lootsberg, this time involving 1305-down and an early-running 366-up T&P which it was supposed to cross at Jagpoort. The guard of 366-up seems to be having a bit of a skinder (=gossip) with the crew of the second engine. Even though they carried passengers, the T&Ps were allowed to run up to 30 minutes ahead of time - go figure!

That's the tranship porter sitting on the rail behind his van. He was conversing with the lady leaning out of the second-last window of the front coach. And while on the subject of the coaches, the first two vehicles are standard Hendrie day/sleeper saloons, which remained in production for the first 20 years of SAR, and were greatly loved by my father who used to spend most of his journeys standing on the balcony. Note that several of the windows are open: it was always my experience that many passengers loved having the windows open in spite of the cinders and smoke!

46. Included only because I like the picture is this one of 19B 1401 which, having banked 375-down goods up to the summit, has been turned and made ready to return to Rosmead but not before posing for the photographers who were standing on the domestic water tank stand. Note the perway paraphernalia scattered around, including gas bottles, sacks of track fastenings, sleepers, junction rails (96lb to 75lb) and birdcaging for temporarily supporting bridges when flood damaged.

The hut next to the engine is a rudimentary shelter that once housed Victor Hand and me shivering all day in the snow. We could only get up here by train as the old wagon road was impassable.

47. 3700, the last of the class 24s, was almost at the summit as it returned to Rosmead after working the pick-up to Bethesda Road. The effort required to achieve this is reflected in the accumulation of smoke in the valley below.

48. We've seen this train previously, 369-down goods doubling as a perway train in photo 34 in Part 15. It stopped here to allow the track gang to offload sleepers, chairs and fastenings. That white line on the right is the top edge of a retaining wall which is visible from Blouwater so I'll point it out when we get there. October 1969.

49. The Sneeuberg makes a forbidding backdrop for 367-down T&P being brought down the mountain by 19B 1405 in October 1969. That line creeping gradually uphill from right to left across the middle of the picture is the old wagon road that we have seen frequently in these pages. In latter years it was used by track gangs, the local farmer (Charles Kingwill - of which more anon) and gricers.

50. We're gradually working our way into winter as you can see from the light sprinkling of white stuff on the Sneeuberg. That's 19B 1407 bringing 375-down into Blouwater in July 1973.

51. 19B 1407 bringing 375-down into Blouwater in July 1973

52. Having enjoyed their first drink since Jagpoort those Dollies were just restarting from Blouwater with the same 1305-down featured in photos 11, 35 and 37 above.

53. 19B 1412 restarting from Blouwater with 367-down T&P in October 1969. That horizontal white smudge faintly visible on the right edge is the retaining wall referred to in caption 48.

54. The same train, going away, with disused Ganger's Cottage #54 in the background. It was from here that Charles Kingwill of Blouwater farm operated his trolley for tourists during the period the line was closed. In 2010 my family and I took a highly enjoyable ride up to Lootsberg with Charles as guide.

55. Class GMA arriving at Bethesda Road in 1976.

56. Winter has finally come! This was Bethesda Road during a blizzard on 1st June 1968 but unfortunately 367-down depicted here was the last train through that weekend.

We propose to take you a bit further south before turning around somewhere near Letskraal, after which we'll take you over the mountain in the heart of winter all the way to Rosmead.

57. We'll start at Elandskloof, where the railway is 3,500ft above sea level, and Spitskop in the background is 4,800ft. Graaff-Reinet at 2,500ft also gets snow so this was by no means a freak occurrence.

58. An unknown 19B bringing 372-up goods out of the Sundays River gorge, next stop (and a waterstop), Koloniesplaas. This is my new favourite photo depicting winter on the Lootsberg. In the background is Nadasberg, at almost 8,000 ft the second-highest peak in the Sneeuberg range.

59. From Koloniesplaas onwards snow was more common. This was 1300-up approaching its water stop in June 1975 and in the background is part of the famous farm whence the Kingwills pumped SAR's water free-of-charge for some 80 years in return for free travel.

60. On Tuesday 10 May 1977, following heavy snow the previous Sunday that closed three road passes to the north of Graaff-Reinet , viz Lootsberg, Wapadsberg (to Cradock) and Ouberg (to Murraysburg) with drifts over a metre deep in places, GMA 4068 approached Koloniesplaas northbound.

61. The same train as in photo 60 taking water and having its fire prepared at Koloniesplaas for the climb ahead, under the watchful eye of the experienced driver.

62. GMA 4068 resuming its climb towards Bethesda Road and beyond. It is not clear why GMA’s were worked bunker leading during winter months on this line, given the extreme weather conditions prevailing, while they ran boiler leading on other lines in the winter months for greater crew comfort.

63. Following the train in photo 62 GMA 4127 with train 1300, running some 5 hours late owing to a wash-away between Mossel Bay and George because of heavy rains, approaching Koloniesplaas late in the afternoon.

64. After servicing, 4127 restarting from Koloniesplaas with just minutes before sunset.

65. The last rays of sun catching 1300 as she headed for the pass and, in view of the lack of steam showing from the coaches, an unfortunate cold climb in the dark for the passengers, although the sound would be one not to be forgotten.

66. 19B 1405+19D 2644 pounding uphill to Bethesda Road in a landscape that was eerily quiet until those noisy engines came along.

67. The same train as in the previous photo, a bit closer to Bethesda Road.

68. Earlier in the day on 10 May 1977 this northbound freight approached Bethesda Road. The snow was still thick on the ground and the gravel roads impassable.

69. Looking like a scene from Dr Zhivago, the same train pulling past Bethesda Road's home signal into the station.

70. At Bethesda Road GMA 4051 had been standing patiently for some hours waiting for the northbound train. Communications were initially down, according to the station foreman on duty, so he had not even been aware of the pending arrival of 4051 from Rosmead earlier on. Note tree branches broken off.

71. The violence of the storm had stripped leaves and branches but now all was calm and bright and a winter wonderland was in sight. [OK, OK]

72. Miraculously the sun came out for a few minutes for the departure of the southbound #4051.

73. Snow as far as you can see. Later in the day Peter tells us he was able to slip and slide down to Koloniesplaas along the mud road. The twin sealed beam headlight seems skew and no doubt when switched on would give a dim and bright aspect simultaneously.

74. 19B 1405 and 19D 2644 approaching Swartvark during the final assault on the summit. Whenever I look at this picture I envy the passengers enjoying lunch in the snug Day diner while us poor photographers shivered at the lineside.

75. We're getting closer to the summit. It gets steeper up here, doesn't it...........? Not really, Briggs. It's the same old 1-in-40/45 all the way from the stone culvert at Blouwater.

76. 1300-up with a mile to go to the summit in the winter of 1973.

77. Whoops! Here's one coming the other way. Nice downhill shot of 19BR 1410 with 67-down T&P by Victor showing the Sneeuberg living up to its name.

78. Rosmead 24cl 3617 bringing 66-up T&P up the last half mile before Lootsberg in July 1971. The crew had built a snowman on the front running plate but its head fell off.

79. On a freezing but not very snowy day in June 1975, 24cl 3700 was bringing 366-up T&P up the last few yards to the summit. I remember this day for a marrow-solidifying thin wind that kept the ambient temperature below freezing throughout the day; the Jackal-proof netted fence was a tracery of ice (as Wordsworth might have said).

80. This one by the late Brian Couzens reminds us what a miserable place the summit was in these conditions.

81. Having picked up Rosmead's mobile (homemade) bunkhouse for the snow-clearance gang at Lootsberg, Tollie Nel was bringing 366-up T&P down the mountain in July 1971.

82. We haven't tackled "Winter on the Lootsberg" from the Rosmead side yet so we'll head back down there and start with this stunner by Colin showing 369-down leaving the dorp in August 1973. Note that the mechanical signalling at Rosmead was already replaced by colour lights and electric points machines as a prelude to installing CTC on the Midland main line.

83. On a cool morning in 1973 these 19Bs were working 369-down. Let Peter tell you about it in his own words:

"The promise of snow on the Lootsberg had lured several enthusiasts to Middelburg. The day started grey and it was raining. Everyone decided to return to the hotel for breakfast as the prospects for any reasonable photographs was zero. I decided to follow the train and miraculously the sun broke through an otherwise 100% cloudy sky to highlight the train approaching Rooihoogte in the rain."

84. Hard frost usually produced spectacular exhausts, emphasised here in another great one by Colin of 369-down approaching Barendskraal on a different day from photo 82.

85. In the winter of 1973 two 19B’s approach Rooihoogte. The sprinkling of snow here was an indication of what lay ahead.

86. With cold weather forecast for the week prior to photo 80, 24cl 3617 was taking the Rosmead bunkhouse to Lootsberg for the snow-clearance gang. Rooihoogte, July 1973.

87. The same train as in photo 83 but with a different photographer departs from Rooihoogte in the winter of 1973.

88. A couple of weeks before picture 86 the weather looked promising for snow but instead of snowflakes we got no flakes. This was 369-down goods leaving Jagpoort in June 1971.

89. Towards the end of July 1971 Victor Hand was photographing the Maclear line. He phoned me in Bloemfontein to say he heard the snow on Lootsberg had arrived and we both drove through the night to get to Rooihoogte at dawn. The Station Foreman told us the service was deurmekaar (= in disorder) as trains were battling to get up the pass. 371-down, due off Jagpoort at 02:46 had not left there yet but it seemed 369-down was more or less on time. Although it was barely light we charged off to Jagpoort intercept 371 and got there just as it was leaving, getting this rather gloomy photo.

90. The old wagon road from Jagpoort to Lootsberg hadn't looked passable and the train was heading into thick mist, so we gave it away and went back to Rooihoogte to meet 369-down, seen here charging through Rooihoogte. That's 19B 1409 piloting 19B 1414.

91. We followed 369 back to Jagpoort where 1409 went to the back and 1414 became the train engine. It was still snowing and the road was getting increasingly dicey so we decided to ask 1414's crew for a lift, which they obligingly granted.

Jagpoort was susceptible to cold, those gate valves occasionally froze. The roofs over the tanks were supposed to prevent the water from icing over.

92. About half way up we asked the driver if he would stop for a photo. "No worries mate" (he would have said if he was from Expurgandium). So we leapt out and he did one better: he did a runpast - completely unofficial and not quite in accordance with the local appendix.

93. We bashed through a snowdrift then a bit further on, emboldened by the first one, asked for another runpast. Unfortunately by this time the weather had completely closed in.

94. A much lighter snowfall three years later. View from the footplate of 19D 2704, June 1975. On this occasion we were banked by 19D 2714.

95. Same train, a bit further on. The road ahead from the tender of 19D 2704, June 1975.

96. The next day we followed 24cl 3700 on 367-down T&P all the way to Bethesda Road. From Jagpoort to Lootsberg the sun was fickle. We had neither Peter nor David with us.

97. 369-down with a mile to go to the summit. Winter 1973.

98. The same train depicted in 95 passing the Lootsberg warning board in June 1975.

99. On the afternoon of the same day we followed 1300-up in gloomy weather all the way from Koloniesplaas to Lootsberg the sun eventually broke through. But it stayed bitterly cold; attested by the ice-encrusted willow beneath the domestic water tanks. The train was 375-down with 19B 1413 leading and 19D 2714 banking.

100. Lootsberg. 19D 2714, the banker of the train in photo 100, about to turn on the triangle and return to Rosmead. Jun 1975.

101. Victor and I spent the whole day in the hut (see picture 47) frozen, just waiting around for a few trains. Last one was 373-down with power station and locomotive coal for the southern Cape. It was already dusk, and with no other trains expected before nightfall we hitched a ride on the banker to recover my Combi at Jagpoort.

While we're on this picture: the flat top of the hill in the middle distance is a dolerite sill, characteristic of this part of the Great Karoo. The white mountain peaking out from behind it is the eastern extremity of the Sneeuberg known as Nadasberg, almost 8,000ft above sea level and more than 40 miles away.

In closing I would like to thank the many who have made this chapter possible (in alphabetical order): Eric Conradie, Andrew Deacon, (layout man and general watchdog), Graaff-Reinet museum, the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser), Johannes Haarhoff, Geoff Hall, Victor Hand, Greg Hart (for scans of the late Brian Couzens' photographs), Chris Jeffery (language monitor), Robert Kingwill, Dick Manton, Bruno Martin, Yolanda Meyer (Transnet Heritage Library who has done so much research for SoAR), Les Pivnic, David Rodgers, Colin Schroeder and the South African Weather Service (particularly: Karin Oxley, their principal librarian and Gail Linnow, Client Liaison Officer of the Western Cape Regional Office, for information about the snow of May 1977).

That's it for now. Next chapter is Table Bay Harbour by Les Pivnic.

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 and Charlie Lewis.