System 5, Part 1: Steamtown RSA: Bloemfontein pre-1965 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 authors.

Several years ago we set off on an ambitious project to record the glory days of the SAR. In the beginning we tended to be cautious and also were restricted mainly to our own material. Since then we have become ever more reliant on submissions from our readers and the immense resources of the THL as presented by DRISA. This first re-opening of an old chapter provides a magnificent map of the rail facilities in Bloemfontein, originally sourced by Yolanda Meyer and prepared for SoAR by Bruno Martin, and introduces a lot of my own photos that were left out of SoAR's first visit here, now some ten years ago. In addition, my thanks are due for a few photos from the Transnet Heritage Library, Victor Hand and Charlie Lewis, and most importantly, Andrew Deacon, without whom this chapter could not have been posted due to Googles new "cloud" system.

INTRODUCTION

Until the early 1970s, South Africa's judicial capital, the Provincial capital and seat of the System Manager, was a steam-locomotive enthusiast’s paradise. There were still steam-hauled suburban services to Melorane, Lynchfield, De Bloem and Kloofeind while numerous main line passenger services were arriving or departing the city every day. Add to this numerous goods trains passing through the main station especially before the goods avoiding line was completed in 1965.

The wide variety of classes stationed at Bloemfontein or working in from sister depots also added to the enjoyment of observing and photographing trains in and around the City in those years. These included classes 3R, 6 Belpaire, 8 (in several subclasses), 12R, 15A, 15AR, 15CA, 15CB, 15E, 15F, 16DA (narrow and wide firebox), 16E, 19C, 19D (MP1 and MX tenders), 23, 25 and 25NC – the latter two on turn-around from Kimberley. Occasionally exotic types such as Garratts on transfer would pass through, usually on trains to avoid congestion on the busy main lines. During 1954/5 Classes 15CA and CB as well as 15A/AR moved on to other Systems, particularly after the arrival of all 44 "Bongols" (class 15E) which had been bumped off the Cape Main Line by the Condensers. Even after this exodus the remaining variety was still exceptional.

I was just in time to see the Belpaire 6s working the local services to De Bloem and Kloofeind (which they did until the early 1950s) but the suburban diagrams to Lynchfield and Melorane were handled by narrow-firebox 16DAs. All had regular crews which resulted in plenty of polishing and competition for the cleanest loco in the depot. These men also had competition from the main line passenger-link crews. All the 16Es and some of the wide-box DAs had allocated enginemen. Again this spurred on lots of competition. Naturally, Bloemfontein Loco also had pooled engines – plenty of them (and not always so clean) – so there was much variety to be seen and photographed.

The Orange Express was the premier passenger train passing through Bloemfontein but there were other top link trains like 438, the Port Elizabeth – Johannesburg Express and its opposite numbers – 432/435. During this time the Orange Express was worked almost exclusively by wide-box DAs and 16Es to and from Kimberley - except for one occasion when I photographed the Orange leaving Bloem behind a narrow-box DA but this was already quite rare. As class 23s were released from the Cape Main Line by new 25NCs and condensers in the mid 1950s they became a common sight on the Free State Main Line, working mainly south from Bloemfontein to Noupoort and Burgersdorp. Occasionally they worked north to Kroonstad and west across to Kimberley but 15Fs generally did most of that work.

1. The honest but stately frontage of the Oranje Vrijstaat Goewerment Spoorwegen (OVGS) main station as it existed in 1960. Now more than 120 years old it survives in a rather dilapidated condition, like most South African stations.

Imagine the excitement of anticipation as one approached this entrance to a world where every few minutes a steam-hauled train would be arriving or departing or, in the case of goods workings, passing through to or from distant places.

Harder to imagine is this fact: through those portals (for that matter in most of the town) there was not one single minute of any single day when loud exhausts of hard-working locomotives were not continuously audible. At night the effect was to convince one that there was a shunting yard in the back garden. Christmas day? All right then, there was a brief lull to honour the birth of Christ. Some of the good folk of Bloemfontein called it noise pollution, we called it music. By golly, how we miss it.

The Canadian-built Brill touring coach is a reminder that SAR&H employed a large number of them during an extended era when it comprehensively covered the transport needs of an entire nation. In those days the Road Motor Services and its connections occupied equal space with trains in the official public "Railway Timetable" - a thick book of 400+ pages.

2. By the early 1920s Bloemfontein was already bustling with passenger and goods trains throughout the day.

3. In the 1950s, Bloemfontein still used veteran engines for local shunting and working short-distance suburban services. Here is the beautifully proportioned class 6J no.636 on shunt duty at the station.

4. The 6J 636 demanded further attention from my camera when her crew took a short break for a cup of tea while on shunt-duty.

5. Class 6 Belpaire 405 of CSAR lineage was seen hauling her suburban train out of the coach yard before setting back onto platform 4 for the local service to De Bloem – 4 miles to the north of the Orange Free State capital. Until the 1950s, Bloemfontein still used mechanical signalling with a multitude of semaphore signals at both ends of the station. The shortened arms with a large “O” signified access to a siding while those with an “S” indicated access for shunting. The longer plain square-ended arms controlled access to the main lines. The steel suburban coach is a type O-38 2nd class, one of a whole series of new steam-hauled stock (1st, 2nd & 3rd class) for local workings introduced in 1949/50.

6. 12.20pm offered a quiet moment to take this photo showing platforms 2 and 3. Passenger trains on the old SAR had limited accommodation for parcels and goods needed urgently by the consignee. Obviously booked on a passenger train for speedy delivery, behind the varied assortment of parcels and packages on platform 2 is another once common sight – a milk trolley loaded with cans for return to the farmer. Note also the sleeper-car bedding piled high on a porter's barrow on the left, the provision of which was once standard practice on all SAR long-distance trains.

7. Forgive the repetition but I couldn’t resist just one more shot of #636 drifting in towards platform 2 from the south end of the station. Note the old bell-buffer coupling on the front buffer-beam of 636.

8. By 1952 the 15CAs and CBs were nearing the end of their 25-year association with Bloemfontein. The 15CBs especially were starting to look neglected, as if nobody loved them anymore. Yet these robust Baldwind-designed and built machines, which looked so much like scaled-down versions of the standard USRA light 4-8-2, still had another 30+ years of useful work ahead of them. Who can forget their loud, always even, rasping bark when working hard. They never seemed to get tired – take a good look at that fat boiler.

Until mid-1958 all 12 class 15CBs were in service at Bloemfontein, working main line passenger and goods trains southwards to Noupoort, Springfontein and Burgersdorp and eastwards to Bethlehem via the foothills of the Malutis. Their work included working the “Bombelas”– trains specially run for the mines on the Witwatersrand, conveying mine-workers to and from their homes in the Eastern Cape and Transkei. The Bombela in my photo has just arrived from the south and the 15CB is waiting to ease back on the couplers to uncouple and head into the Loco Depot. Note that the radius rod is in the top half of the expansion link – indicating that the driver is about to set back to ease the couplings. Also note that even after 30 years of service this engine still is equipped with an old-fashioned bell-buffer. Those finger-smashers were only finally eradicated in the 1960s.

9. One of the two original Orange Express sets with articulated type C-22 1st-class and E-13 2nd-class main-line saloons, departing Bloemfontein in the early fifties. At Hamilton its 16DA would take the turn-out to the right and head due west towards Kimberley. I had the pleasure of a trip on this train in the 1950s from Cape Town to Durban and I can vouch for the superb service – 2nd only to the Blue Train. The cuisine in the dining car could compete favourably with a 5-star hotel – absolutely top class!

10. We should all be grateful to the SAR official photographer who was inspired to photograph the Orange Express arriving at Bloemfontein just before its semaphores were replaced by efficient but boring colour lights c 1956. As it is, the photo is a model class in semaphore signal recognition.

At the time, Bloemfontein had six platforms (later eight) of which five were on through roads. All of the latter had bi-directional signalling. The express is nearing a scissors crossing which would admit it to No. 2 road, the main passenger platform accessed by the public directly from the station concourse. The flat cross shape of the semaphore on the extreme left-hand post of the rare five-post bracket is a wrong-road signal, pulled off to indicate to the driver that he is routed into platform 2, normally used by Up trains. At night this signal would display a purple light.

The next post is quite as interesting. On it is mounted a home signal, a distant and a calling-on arm (the diamond-shaped one). The distant and the calling-on arm only applied to trains that were scheduled to run non-stop through platform three – i.e. goods trains (the bypass was only completed ten years later, so at this time all freight moved through the platform roads). Like all good intentions, a clear run through didn’t always happen and occasionally freights were brought to a halt within the station. As mentioned in the previous chapter on Bloemfontein, its station was situated on the Bloemspruit, which meant that outbound routes exited on gradients of varying severity. As far as Hamilton the south main line was steep enough to require goods trains to be banked in bad weather, this operation covered by an endorsement in the WTB. If the home signal, the distant and the calling-on arm were all off it meant that a goods train had a clear run through. If the home signal was off but the distant was on it meant that the driver must be prepared to stop at the next signal – which in fact was platform three’s starter. Rain would bring the calling-on arm into play, for its role was to admit the banking engine into a section already occupied by a stationary train in order to push it out of there. At night the calling-on arm displayed a white light.

The other three signals on this five-poster were conventional home signals giving access to platforms four, five and six.

The two-poster on the left is not a splitting signal. It guards the tracks on the left of the up and down mains (in the photo the Orange Express is still on the down main). The left hand track (adjacent to the parcels shed on the left edge of the picture) is the lead to and from the parcels shed shunting yard and icing sidings while the one second from left is the access to the up block-load yard which for some reason had twice as many tracks as the down yard on the other side of the main line and was therefore also used to accommodate down block loads. The arms with S on them were used to allow shunting movements out of these yards along the dead-end track prominent in the left foreground and those with rings allowed access onto the running lines via a crossover, more frequently from the block-load yard. I’m not sure why the parcels shed road also had a ringed signal, unless made-up parcels trains were allowed to depart direct from the parcels shed yard (I don’t recall having seen this happen although I suppose it made sense).

Also on the left is the new twin-aspect colour light signal with route indicator which soon would replace the mechanical signals. The one for the down main line is probably out of sight behind the express and the new starter for the up main would have been behind the photographer who was standing alongside the old mechanical interlocking signalbox, a traditional structure which can be seen on the left in picture 24.

11. During the semaphore signal era (which came to an end in 1956), 858 cl 16E, the "Allan G Watson", named after his designer, had just arrived on the eastbound Orange Express and the road has been set for the big Pacific to head off to loco via the aforementioned scissors crossover, visible just to the right of the old mechanically interlocked signal cabin. Note the continental-style twin wire activating system for the points and the signals. All this hardware was soon to be replaced by a very efficient pneumatic system.

12. Engine 2084 was the last of the original class 15A locomotives to be fitted with a Watson Standard boiler, thereby becoming class 15AR. Albeit a bit grubby, her classic Hendrie lines are captured to good effect in this photo at Bloemfontein in the 1950s. The five engines that remained class 15A, were numbers: 1791 (with original narrow cab), 1824, 1845, 1851 and 1970 (a Braamfontein Shed-based 15A which in later years became the well-known “Milly” in De Aar).

13. As I took this photo of 15E 2877 departing Bloemfontein in the 1950s, the fireman looked at me with an expression that said – “What are you doing taking photos of grimy steam engines?” He didn’t know that he was looking at a young man who was crazy about steam locomotives! If you look closely at the smoke deflector plate, you will see an emblem that resembles an arrow and wing. These emblems were attached to the 15Es when they were stationed a Beaufort West and De Aar on the Cape Main Line prior to 1954. These emblems were rather appropriate for the 15Es working this section of the Cape Main Line because I had some of my fastest journeys ever on the SAR, behind these locomotives on trains 202 and 203, the forerunners of the Trans Karoo express.

14. Another 15E – this time a close-up of the Rotary-cam operated poppet-valve gear and this engine (unidentified) has lost her Beaufort West emblem. She was sitting patiently waiting for the signals and right-o-way.

15. A wide-firebox class 16DA – one of 6 placed in service in 1930 for working express passenger trains like the Union Limited and Union Express between Beaufort West, Kimberley (their home shed) and Johannesburg. This class represented CME A.G.Watson’s first attempt at incorporating his ideas in a design for passenger service on SAR. By 1939, they were all stationed in Bloemfontein where they continued to work passenger trains but as time passed by they were relegated to working goods trains like the load of coal seen in this photo.

16. This 15E was working a goods load from Bloemfontein to Bethlehem – their new home from 1954/55 after being displaced on the Cape Main by condensing class 25 locomotives during that year. Our locomotives looked really good in the 1950s when they still carried decent headlamps – not the awful sealed-beam little boxes that were installed from 1964.

17. Class 16DA 870 liked to have her photo taken and I was perfectly happy to oblige! In this photo she had just arrived on duty from the Loco Depot and was ready to couple onto her local passenger train to work it to Melorane or Lynchfield – most services terminated at Lynchfield.

18. In between suburban turns this 16DA was topping up from the parachute tank alongside platform 6.

19. Most of the class 16DA locomotives stabled in Bloemfontein had regular crews and with official blessing, they could add decorative trimmings to their engines. This composite photo shows one of them – unfortunately, I omitted to note the engine’s number but the trimmings on her smokebox door are particularly decorative.

20. On one of my visits to Bloemfontein in the 1950s, I was ready at the northern end of platform 2 to photograph class 16E no.859 “City of Bloemfontein” just after she had arrived with the Orange Express from Kimberley. The train’s headboard can be seen lying on the parcels roadway in front of the engine. It would be attached to the fresh locomotive working the train forward on the next stage of its journey to Durban.

21. Not all the 16DAs had the luxury of a regular crew, here one of the less fortunate ones (pooled engine) was seen passing through the station with a goods load. Looking at the prominent semaphore signal gantry on the right, the arms from the top are: starting signal for the main line; route signal and a wrong-road shunt signal.

22. Although the 16DA class engines were used predominantly on passenger services, they did work goods traffic as well. This was engine 870 waiting on signals with her goods load alongside the platform. This particular engine had a link to the great Frank Holland, the doyen of steam locomotive experts in South Africa, who published a two-volume reference work on the steam locomotives of the SAR. The link? He was, as a young man employed in the Salt River Mechanical Workshops in Cape Town, part of the team who erected 870 when she was brand new in 1928.

23. An unidentified 15F steams slowly into Bloemfontein on a cold Winter’s day with 211-down, the Cape-bound Orange Express, at precisely 11.20am. In those days, trains of this calibre ran to time. The coaches were the magnificent steel-bodied type C-34 and E-16, 1st class and 2nd class respectively that had replaced the original type C-22 and E-13 saloons. The bloke wearing a heavy coat and walking along the platform bears evidence as to how cold Bloemfontein could get!

24. When the first serious Americans (from Baldwins) arrived in the Union in 1925 their effectiveness impressed the new CME, Colonel Collins so much that several repeat orders ensued. But even more influential were Yankee practices such as long engine runs, hard grease, fast-watering columns and, crucially, improved water treatment. Thus for many years it became the practice to re-coal at outlying stations such as Glen and Springfontein. One downside: the appearance of the engines suffered noticeably, as with this 23-class about to back down onto a special running to Orange Express timings during the school holidays of 1954. Especially noticeable was the lime-scale that dribbled down from the safety valves.

On the left a northbound freight is chugging through to the reception yards.

25. This photograph from the 1950s serves to illustrate the difference in appearance between engines with regular crews and those in the pool. The lead-engine is class 16E no.859 “City of Bloemfontein” kept immaculate by her regular crew while the trailing class 23 behind her tender, was a less-fortunate pooled engine. For obvious reasons I concentrated on the immaculate 16E! The double-header was arriving from Springfontein and Naauwpoort with a north-bound passenger train.

26. 16E 859 again, on another day in the 1950s – this time setting-back onto a passenger train for Springfontein and Naauwpoort (the name was changed to Noupoort in 1962).

27. At first glance, this photo appears to be similar to photo 18 in terms of the engine depicted – 16DA 870. Indeed it is the same engine but note the decorative trimmings on the smokebox door. Photographed on another occasion in the 1950s and again working a goods train.

28. This 16DA (unidentified) is backing onto the Orange Express which she will work across to Kimberley – 106 miles to the west. Although the semaphore signals were still in use – their days at Bloemfontein were numbered – note the new colour-light signals already erected to replace the semaphores. Bloemfontein was being provided with a modern Westinghouse electro-pneumatic signalling system, controlled from a single central cabin that would replace the two mechanical cabins in use until 1958.

29. The 16DA seen in the previous photo, is now on her way to Kimberley with the Orange Express – quite a load for this 1928-built Pacific – all of 600 tons behind her tender!

30. The going-away photo of this mighty narrow-gauge train.....

31. A contrast in signals – the old semaphores and the new colour-lights that would soon be operational. In the background just visible past the rake of coaches on the left, is the Bloemfontein South mechanical signal cabin which itself would soon become redundant.

32.This is the last photo that shows the new signals that would soon become operational. Those wooden crosses over the signal lenses served as a temporary indication to the driver of a train that they were not yet in service. Class 16E no.854 (leader of the class) made a dramatic departure as it departed for Springfontein and beyond. Engine crews often carried canvas bags of cold water as seen in this photo hanging from the cab handrail.

33. 211-down, the westbound Orange Express, departing for Kimberley from Bloemfontein, December 1959. Class 16E No 857 "Ann Smith - Bloemfontein Queen" digs in to get her heavy all-steel consist underway (I was lucky to get this shot at all, the train pulled out just after a heavy downpour!). 857 got her name in 1944 when a lady clerk in the System Manager's office was rewarded for collecting the most money (Union-wide) in a national fund-raising campaign in aid of our troops up north. By this time the Orange Express was made up of C-34 first-class saloons, E-16 second class and a C-33 all-coupe saloon - all for whites and a D-32-C reserved saloon for non-whites and bedding attendants (separation of the races was still the policy of the National Party - remember?). Just visible towards the middle of the train is the A-37/AA-38 air-conditioned twin dining-car set, one of nine new twin diners imported from Germany in 1958. Note that in the interim years between photos 6 and 7 the semaphore signals with mechanical interlocking had given way to colour lights with route indicators and pneumatic-controlled points.

34. In this 1959 scene, 16E 857 “Ann Smith – Bloemfontein Queen” was photographed as she steamed out of Bloemfontein with the Cape-bound Orange Express. This train was equipped with new air-conditioned dining cars imported from Germany in the same year. The dining and kitchen cars are the two coaches on the extreme right of the photo.

35. In January 1960, I was able to position myself in the old Bloemfontein-South mechanical signal cabin, which was now out of use, having been replaced by the new colour-light signalling system. This presented a beautiful vista of the southern exit roads from the station. One of my earliest photos taken from this vantage point was 16DA 869 leaving the city with a local passenger train for Melorane which, in my 1952 time table is spelt “Melorami”! Look at all the passenger stock in the adjoining yards – all still in the Imperial brown livery.

36. Round-about 1959/60 I was surprised to see a class 25NC (engine number and date not recorded) working a block load of coal through the station. At this time these locomotives were employed on the Cape main line between De Aar, Kimberley and Klerksdorp. To this day I still have no idea as to why she was working through Bloemfontein! In later years they became regular visitors to the OFS capital.

37. After seeing a 25NC passing through Bloemfontein my next shot was far more familiar in terms of engine power – wide-firebox 16DA 877 looking rather smart and now obviously with a regular crew – note the trimmings on the smokebox. The load was unusual however, a refrigerator and a boxcar ahead of an ex-CGR main line sleeper.

38. Class 16E no.856 named “Kroonstad” departing with the local passenger train for Kimberley. A Westinghouse electro-pneumatic point machine and a derailer on the adjoining track can be seen in the foreground.

39. Engine 856 looked so smart as she steamed away for Kimberley I had to take another photo of her with her 6ft driving wheels – not a common sight on the SAR.

40. 1960 was the year that we celebrated 100 years of railways in South Africa! The SAR & H Administration really put on a splendid show during the course of the year to celebrate the 100th birthday of our railways. Stations were decorated and locomotives hauling top-link passenger trains carried headboards – even the Blue Train and Orange Express were given special headboards during the centenary year. Here was Bloemfontein Station all dressed-up for the centenary! Note the railway policeman with helmet keeping a good eye on things – such things are not seen anymore!

41. In January 1960, I was back in Bloemfontein taking photographs around the station and this shot shows 16DA 871 departing for Kloofeind – one of the local steam suburban services at that time. Note the cowcatcher fitted to the tender. This was done to facilitate regular tender-first operations on some of the local services because engine-turning facilities were not provided at the service terminal stations.

42. Next on the scene was 15E 2893 working a goods train heading for Bethlehem, her home Shed.

43. A Lynchfield local departing with Baldwin 16DA 848 in charge. The first coach, a compo-van, was of CSAR parentage – her flat-coach-sides being the give-away.

44. The train in photo 35 was photographed again on her return from Kloofeind. 16DA 871 looked splendid as she drifted in towards the station, smokeless with her local passenger train. The balcony saloon behind the tender would have provided a wonderful spot to do a sound recording of her “stack-talk”!

45. When the local to Lynchfield returned (see 16DA 848 in photo 37) she was being piloted by 15E 2882. This additional motive power was certainly not needed to work the local so it must have been an operating expediency to get the 15E to Bloemfontein with the local train instead of running light.

Towards the end of the 50s the volume of SAR freight traffic began to increase exponentially. The facilities at Bloemfontein were still limited (the hump yard and freight bypass were only completed in the mid sixties) thus it became the practice to store complete freight trains on the loops at nearby suburban stations such as Shannon. This 15E was probably the released engine from such an expediency. Sad to reflect that if such an arrangement were in place today the train would be stripped of all its stealable cargo overnight.

46. The next train on this day during my January 1960 visit was 23-down, the 08:30 mixed to Springfontein and Burgersdorp, hauled by class 23 No 3206. Certainly a mixed packet including locomotive coal and a TZ-type dairy wagon for milk and cream.

47. Just 30 minutes later 15E 2889 departed with the Bethlehem train 71/709-down that would go on to Ladysmith and Durban (arriving next morning). If you look closely at engine’s cab you will see the driver taking a keen interest in me photographing his train!

48. Engine 856, class 16E named “Kroonstad” was simmering quietly at platform 3, ready to depart with 701-down the afternoon mixed to Springfontein and Noupoort. The canopy is getting a fresh coat of paint - SAR really cared about these things and station structures were repaired and painted every seven years.

49. Here she is again, appropriately framed by a "Bloemfontein" nameboard. SAR's express-passenger locomotives and Bloemfontein were synonymous for 35 years. In fact, after a relatively brief 4 years stationed in Kimberley when new, the 16Es worked out of Bloemfontein for the rest of their lives. They were considered not powerful enough to work the the Union Limited/Express on the Cape main line when those trains were equipped with air-conditioned steel saloons imported from the UK, resulting in a load of over 700 tons. However, in 1969, on the specific section between Johannesburg and Klerksdorp, No 855 performed the task with ease even though the consist included an additional lounge-car. This was the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Blue Train (successor to the Union Limited) when a special ceremonial run was arranged from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Perhaps the mechanical staff in 1939 were being a bit over-cautious in their thinking!

50. After a succession of passenger trains, a goods train arrived from the south behind 15F 2986. Yet again the crew had spotted a photographer giving their train some attention. Back in 1960, railway photography was not a wide-spread activity in South Africa. Many people regarded us as a strange breed!

51. Back to my main interest – passenger trains and this 19D 3329 making a spirited departure with 77-down to Ladybrand. The sixth vehicle was a newly out-shopped type C-22 articulated saloon that was previously in service on the Orange Express and even before that, on the famous Union Limited – forerunner of the Blue Train.

52. Class 12R locomotives were originally designed for goods traffic, especially coal trains on the Witbank line to Germiston, but by 1960 some had been relegated to shunting duties such as this example – No 1864 looking quite smart for a shunt engine, even minus her cow-catcher. The smoke was not pre-arranged – I was just lucky!

53. Another day and another shot of 23-down departing for Springfontein and Burgersdorp with class 23 No 3297. The first coach behind the goods wagons was a private caboose used by various railwaymen to carry out their out-station duties.

54. In 1960, 16DA 872 was a pooled engine used to work mixed traffic like this T&P (tranship & perishables) leaving Bloemfontein for the south.

55. This is 71/709-down on another day, heading for Bethlehem and points east with 15E 2880 booked as far as Bethlehem, her home shed. Check that wonderful rake of brown-liveried saloons – all with clerestory roofs! The 15Es came to Bethlehem during 1954/5 having been displaced from the Beaufort West-De Aar run by condensing 25s. They were hand fired with a 63 sq ft grate and keeping the 'Bongols' [1] hot on that mountainous route [2] was an energy-sapping duty.

[1] Footplate parlance for a 15E; it is a Zulu word meaning "donkey" and is a reference to how hard that big grate made the firemen work.

[2] Bloemfontein-Bethlehem with its total climb of > 2600 feet in 188 miles was a far harder proposition than in the reverse direction

56. The old south interlocking cabin, replaced a couple of years earlier, from which I took several of the pictures in this chapter.

57. Here is 177-down, the 9.45am departure for Aliwal North, with 19D 3349 – one of fifty 19Ds from North British, placed in service in 1949 with “torpedo tenders” similar to the so-called “Vanderbilt” type tender that was popular in the USA. These tenders were fitted with American “Buckeye” six-wheel bogies.

58. This Lynchfield local departed without a wisp of smoke from 16DA 873. Judging by the smoke behind this train, I just missed a double departure which would have been nice!

59 The 16DA of an earlier local provided plenty of smoke as she lurched through the inside double-slip at the throat of the station approaches and headed east towards Lynchfield.

60. Although the rail-corridors were well populated there were no suburbs as such along the routes of the original suburban service which made it surprising that it lasted so long. This was Melorane, the easternmost limit of the service until 1972 - as you see, there was not much to see!

61. As described in the introduction, I spotted the empty old mechanical signal cabin which had been left intact since the change-over to colour-light signalling. I realised that the balcony of the old cabin would be a great vantage-point from which to take photos – I was not disappointed! One of my first photos from the cabin balcony was of 15E 2876 shunting goods vans out of the bay-road in the station. What a glorious view I had from the old cabin and no catenary wires in sight!

62. 15E 2876 was now setting-back with the goods vans to couple-up to the rest of her train.

63. Looking in the opposite direction - to the south, I was able to photograph arriving trains coming in from the east and the south of Bloemfontein. Here was 19D 3341 working a goods load probably from Aliwal North. The triple-track main line to and from Hamilton in the south, can be seen behind and to the right of the train.

64. The “Bombela” – a name given to trains conveying mine-workers to the Reef and the Free State gold mines, was photographed as she arrived from the south. The train was snaking its way over the cross-overs to enter one of the outer platforms of the station. This class 23 certainly had quite a load behind her tender!

65. Train 178-up from Aliwal North, photographed from the old cabin, arriving at 4.40pm behind domeless 19D no.2698.

66. Not too much smoke but I can vouch for the loud exhaust beats coming from these two engines lifting a heavy goods load up the deceptively steep grade away from the Bloemspruit and on south to Springfontein and Noupoort. The engines were 16DA 847 and class 23 No 2554. Big-time railroading in January 1960!

67. Back on ground level I found a smartly-turned-out 12R 1867 doing the station shunt. The newly-out-shopped main-line coach No 1184 is a type D-18C dating back to 1910 and the Central South African Railways. The water and steam flowing out of the overflow-pipe next to the cab steps indicated that the fireman was putting water into the boiler. This photo also heralded a switch to colour negative film.

68. 15F 3145 made a good portrait as she prepared to set-back onto 3-down, Johannesburg – Cape Town via Bloemfontein. She would have worked the train south as far as Noupoort.

69. Another engine portrait – this time 16DA 873 – not looking too spruce even though the ornaments on the smokebox suggest that she had a regular crew.

70. The Ladybrand train 77-down setting off from Bloemfontein with 19D 3329 in charge, on 15 January 1960. The Imperial brown livery of the coaches would soon start to change to the gradually introduced new livery of Gulf Red and Quaker Grey.

71. Class 16DA 873, now with her train to Lynchfield, looked rather imposing as she passed by, heading for her first stop at Bloemspruit.

72. Engine 873 fancied having her photo taken – here she is again, working her train to Lynchfield.

73. 91-down, the 8.55am stopper to Kimberley, departing with 16E 859 at the head-end. The consist included a TZ (dairy-wagon) marshalled just inside the van.

74. In photo 57 we saw domeless 19D 2698 arriving in Bloemfontein from Aliwal North. Here she is again, this time heading to Aliwal North.

75. Super-shine 15F no.3039 drifts majestically into the station with the Durban-bound Orange Express, 208-up, at 2:05pm in January 1960. All clerestory-roofed saloons except for the new Wegmann-built twin diner – coaches 6 & 7 behind the engine. Amongst her special trimmings, the 15F has Pegasus horses on her deflector plates. Note also, one plain brown saloon. These substitutions happened occasionally when a regular saloon had to be replaced for repairs.

76. Steaming quietly from the Loco Depot to the station, 16E 856 was about to work 701-down mixed to Springfontein.

77. We saw the Pegasus horse on 15F 3039; well there must have been a few horses available because here was 16E 855 also sporting Pegasus horses* in January 1960, departing Bloemfontein with 91-down, the 8.55am for Kimberley. Her regular crew really went to town, fitting various trimmings to their steed and even painting the smokebox in bright colours. Maybe not to everyone’s taste but better than grime and dust.......

*Pegasus was a popular brand of petrol in South Africa from the 1920s until the company was absorbed by Caltex around this time so there must have been plenty of surplus emblems!

78. I mentioned earlier that in 1960 even the Orange Express and Blue Train got special centenary headboards. This is the special one for use on the Orange Express, kindly held up for me to photograph by my dad - complete with cigarette like a Hollywood star!

79. On the last day of the year in 1960, I was on-board the Orange Express travelling from Durban to Cape Town and at Bloemfontein I took the opportunity to photograph the 16E No 858 named “Allan G. Watson” after her designer, who was CME in 1935. She was booked to work our train to Kimberley. I was a little disappointed in her somewhat grubby appearance – especially booked to work the top express travelling through the OFS! In any event, she did the job admirably.

80. Another shot of 858 before boarding the train to continue my journey.

81. Having booked a coupe-at-surcharge in the last saloon leaving Durban, I had the utmost pleasure of riding right behind 858 all the way to Kimberley where our train would again change direction placing my coach at the back of the train as I had left from Durban. The Orange Express changed direction twice on each trip – once at Kroonstad and again at Kimberley. What a thrill to travel behind this famous engine on the SAR’s second-best passenger train!

82. Moving on to 1961, I was back in my beloved Bloemfontein with cameras in hand. I paused on the footbridge linking the platforms to get this overview of a class 16DA being polished by her fireman as she moved alongside platform 2.

83. In March 1961 I photographed 16E 857, “Ann Smith – Bloemfontein Queen” that had just arrived with the Durban-bound Orange Express – 208-up. Like her sister engine 858 a few months earlier, Ann Smith was also looking a bit grubby – not ideal for an engine hauling a top-link passenger train. Note the canvas water bag hanging on the tender.

84. A rail-worker was seen removing the train’s headboard so that it could be placed on the fresh engine’s smokebox door – a duty normally performed by the engine’s fireman.

85. Ann Smith was not the only name carried by engine 857 – she also had “Vereeniging” nameplates on her smoke deflectors. She was not looking her best in March 1961!

86. Peter Stow writes: "The coach is one of nine of type GD-16-C built in two batches in the Uitenhage workshops, 5 placed in service in June 1932 and the remaining 4 in November of the same year. They were built for country branch lines and consisted of 2 first class coupes and 2 second class compartments. Three almost identical vehicles were built to type GD-22-C, the main difference being the provision of dog boxes in the latter. Of interest is that this type of timber-bodied vehicle, although having a suburban elliptical roof profile, was one of only five similar types that were classified as main line coaches as they provided sleeping accommodation. Apart from branch lines, these coaches could also be found on Bloemfontein, Jo'burg and Pretoria suburban services, amongst others. They were often known in railway circles as Staff and Baggage (S&B) vans, in which service they were no doubt used from time to time."

87. This wide-firebox 16DA No 878, looking reasonably presentable, passed through the station light-engine. She was destined to be mounted on a plinth in the Bloemfontein Mechanical Workshops in years to come but here, she is still active, earning her keep by hauling various trains, mainly to the south.

88. At the northern end of the station I photographed 15E 2861 hauling a string of maize wagons through the station on their way to Bethlehem, in March 1961. The brick building on the left was originally the Bloemfontein North mechanical signal cabin which, in this photo, has had its upper storey removed.

89. Two class 7s – 7A 1016 & 7B 1057 were certainly unusual in Bloemfontein but they were just passing through on transfer up north. Note the differing cabs on these two old-timers – the 7A with original CGR cab and the 7B with the enlarged cab. The 7A was also doing the work on transfer – her younger sister was being hauled dead.

90. 19D 2703, ready to back onto its train in readiness for departure to Ladybrand with 77-down, due to depart at 8.00am.

91. And here she is, heading east with train 77 in bright early morning sunshine. The newly-built bridge behind the train was for the goods avoiding line that would allow goods trains to head south without having to pass through the station. Some earthworks remained to be completed before that bypass line would come into operation c 1964/5

92. 16DA 848 making a spirited departure from Bloemfontein with a Lynchfield local. Note the 4th coach behind the tender in the new red and grey livery that was now the standard coach livery on the SAR except for the Orange Express and Blue Train.

93. Departure of 177-down for Aliwal North with a class 19D (number not recorded) at 9.45am from Bloemfontein.

94. In April 1961, two type B-1 lounge cars, No's 796 & 797, were released from Bloemfontein Shops for service on the Trans Natal Express. From here they went up to Pretoria Shops for the fitting of furniture before entering passenger service between Johannesburg and Durban in that year. In this photo, a class 3R is seen shunting them onto a train for transfer to Pretoria. They looked really smart in the new standard livery, having been beautifully restored in the Carriage shop under guidance of the Foreman, Mr Fielding .

95. In previous photos of 23-down mixed to Springfontein and Burgersdorp we have seen mostly 4-6-2s booked to work this turn but in March 1961 15F 3093, was rostered for the job. The new freight bypass was not yet complete so an up goods can be seen on the left while the 3R in the earlier photo is here too, on the right. A new-liveried type H-21 3rd-class mainline coach leads the rake of passenger stock in the mixed's load.

96. Two 16DAs No's 843 & 847 passing the old Bloemfontein South mechanical signal cabin with a goods train from the south. Both had known better times when they had regular crews who polished them beautifully.

97. Train 91, the 8.55 to Kimberley, departing Bloemfontein with the usual mixed bag of coaching stock including one 3rd class side-door in the new livery. Although I grew up with the Imperial brown coach livery, I must admit that the new colours certainly brightened up the overall railway scene in South Africa. This photo proves my point!

98. 15E 2876 with 71/709 down, departing to Natal at 9.00am for her first stop at Sannaspos 39 minutes later. Conditional stops were also allowed in-between, to pick up passengers for points beyond Modderpoort. This was the archetypal SAR long-distance, main-line passenger train in the long-lived Imperial-brown livery. Captured here literally at the eleventh hour - for the classical clerestory stock, the imperial-brown livery and the large headlight that added grace to the presence of all our locomotives.

99. A “going-away” shot of 15E 2876 which happened to include the first 3rd-class coach, type H-19 No 2627, which was placed in service in 1912. It was an early SAR coach of Cape Government Railway's design.

100. A typically smart appearance of a class 16DA with a regular crew but, I omitted to note her number. I’ve mentioned this before, but doesn’t that headlamp look smart on this engine? It wasn’t destined to remain in place for much longer!

101. My favourite train – the Orange Express to Cape Town, train 211-down, departing with 16E 854, leader of the class, in charge. The full rake of clerestory steel saloons (except for the Wegmann twin diner) make this magnificent study of a Watson express Pacific doing the work for which it was designed.

102. Wide-firebox 16DA No 876 climbing away from the Bloemspruit after leaving the station with 23-down mixed. She has just crossed over the Thaba Nchu road, heading south towards Hamilton and beyond to Springfontein and Burgersdorp. These engines had known better times when in the 1930s, and stationed in Kimberley, they were used to haul the forerunners of the Blue Train known as the "Union Limited" (south-bound) and the "Union Express" (north-bound), between that city and Johannesburg to the north and Beaufort West to the south. This was the original Union Limited not to be confused with the enthusiast special operated in the 1980s by the SATS Museum.

103. A class 15F framed by the truss bridge just south of the station provided an unusual shot. I wasn’t being brave – she was setting-back to pick up her train in the station. This track was used by southbound freights as far as Hamilton until completion of the freight bypass c 1965 after which it was disconnected and used as a head shunt.

104.This time I did note the engine’s number! Class 16DA No 848 unofficially named “Yvonne” waited for signals at platform 5 in November 1961

105. Ahead of time, the Orange Express – 211-down from Durban and specifically Kroonstad, steaming majestically into the station alongside platform 2 (the main platform), some ten minutes early on 4 November 1961. The slow approach into the station was standard practice in those days at all major stations, to allow the carriage and wagon examiner time to tap each wheel on the coaches as they drew past his position at the start of the platform. Note the “blompot” on the left, keeping his beady-eye on me as I took this photo!

106. On 16 December 1961, I was back in Bloemfontein with my New Zealander-friend, Dougie Fallwell, for more railway photography. Another class 15F was rostered to work 211-down, the Cape-bound Orange Express across to Kimberley, departing at 11.30am. The second coach behind the tender was still in Imperial brown livery - such situations arose when one of the regular coaches was removed for mechanical attention, resulting in a standard livery coach being used in the set. We used the old signal cabin to get this photo of her departure, but as described in the introduction and worth repeating, it cost us a visit to the Railway Police charge office on the station. We were both arrested for leaving a public area of the station! However, I had a permit for railway photography, signed by the AGM (Tech) Dr. L. Douglas, which I showed to the sergeant-in-charge. After a phone call to the local commanding officer, everything changed – Dougie and I were treated like royalty – we even had RP constables offering to help us with our photography if needed! We obviously didn’t need any help but appreciated the offer!

107. After leaving the Charge Office, 16DA 870 presented herself for a portrait and Dougie and I gratefully obliged.

108. The opposing Durban-bound Orange Express, 208-up, was photographed on the same day at Bloemfontein. A rather grubby class 23 had worked the train across from Kimberley. This was an aspect that the SAR didn’t seem to be concerned about during the late fifties and sixties when traffic was booming. In earlier times such trains would be worked by locomotives in presentable condition and it must be said that the condition of passenger engines improved radically when link-working was re-introduced c 1968. Coaches 6 & 7 from the engine, were a temporary replacement dining car set – note the red & grey livery as opposed to the trains standard livery at that time of cream and Indian red. In this view even the red of the Orange Express livery looks rather brown due to fading in the South African sun! It was wonderful back in 1961 to get photographs like this, totally devoid of electrification masts and wiring. In recent years, the electrification wiring that was subsequently installed has actually disappeared but for all the wrong reasons – theft!!

109. A wide-firebox 16DA (number not recorded) was seen as she appeared from the Loco Depot ready for her next turn of duty on 16 December 1961. For those not familiar with SAR locomotives, the small dome ahead of the main steam-dome was originally the site of a saturated-steam cut-out valve that was mounted on the top of the boiler so that fitters could work on the superheater header if necessary while the engine remained in-steam. This was an innovation from A.G.Watson the brilliant CME of the SAR from 1929 – 1936. Watson also improved on the largely American-designed earlier class 16DA narrow firebox by providing a wide firebox on these engines that were placed in service in 1930. The wide firebox was then perpetuated in later designs for main line engines – the purpose being to be more efficient in burning South African coal that was not in the same class as Welsh steam coal.

110. The Durban-bound Orange Express seen in photo 108 was photographed again as it departed Bloemfontein for Kroonstad with a fresh locomotive at the head-end. Note the temporary replacement dining car in the red and grey livery. Remember what I said about strange looks from firemen – it actually applied to all Railway staff!

111. At the southern-end of the station on 16 December 1961, I photographed a wide-firebox 16DA departing for Burgersdorp. The make-up of this consist was rather strange – two 3rd class coaches followed by a semi-mainline coach type M-44 and then a normal clerestoried main line coach and van. Peter Stow our resident expert on SAR coaching matters might care to help us out with more info on the curious make-up of this train.

112. “Big Time” main line steam power – represented by a 15F leading and a class 23 with bunkers full of coal go stomping through the station with a heavy goods load. I can still today – 60 years later, recall the powerful thumping heavy-exhaust beat emanating from those engine’s chimneys! The sound echoed under the platform canopies – stirring stuff!! As the Americans would say – this was “Big Time Railroading” albeit on the 3ft-6in gauge!

113. After the “big boys” had gone on their way, a rather diminutive class 19D arrived from Aliwal North with train 178 at 4.40pm. The empty bunker on the tender confirms that she had worked all day and stopped at all stations to cover the 182 miles of her journey.

114. Another train departs for Lynchfield with 16DA no.872 in charge. Definitely, an engine with a regular crew! Apart from the overall polished appearance note the ornaments on the smokebox door – this was a regular practice amongst drivers on the SAR who enjoyed the luxury of working a regular engine. The sexy lassie under the propellor would not normally be part of the array of ornaments carried – this particular driver must have had an eye for pretty girls!

115. This class 3R (unidentified) was fresh out of Shops after a “Heavy Repair” – the SAR terminology for a major overhaul. These engines in their original form as SAR class 3 were originally designed by D.A.Hendrie for service on the Natal main line and known as the “Hendrie D” class. The “R” added to the 3 indicated that they were fitted with a standard Watson No.2 boiler replacing the original.

116. A lovely sunny afternoon in Bloemfontein on the 16^th of December 1961, provided a great backdrop for this shot of a class 23 with a railwayman’s caboose attached to her tender. She had obviously picked up the caboose in the passenger yard and was now heading off to couple-up to the rest of her load before departing south. Photo taken from my favourite location – the disused signal box.

117. The following day – 17 December 1961 we were at it again. This unidentified 16DA wide firebox presented itself at the southern end of the station and was duly photographed.

118. In the days when all goods train worked through the passenger station, this 15F was on a southbound working on 17 December 1961.

119. These two 15Fs arrived from Noupoort with 438-up fast passenger from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg on 17 December 1961. Their job was done – a fresh engine would work the train forward to Kroonstad – see the next photo.

120. A fresh 15F hammers out of Bloemfontein with 438-up heading for Kroonstad from where electric traction would complete the journey to Johannesburg. The driver still has his drain-cocks open to clear the condensate from the cylinders.

121. A goods train partly loaded with motor cars, leaves the station heading north to Kroonstad after 438 had cleared the section. These two trains should have swapped engines – why not have the cleaner engine on the fast passenger service? Unfortunately roster compilers did not worry about what an engine looked like – they had more important tasks to deal with!

122. A truly regal sight that will never be seen again, neither in this world or the next: an immaculate rake rake of clerestory coaches on what looks like an extra Orange Express bound for Cape Town behind a class 23. Being December at the start of the year-end school holidays it could well have been an extra, running in addition to the regular Orange Express between Durban and Cape Town. Note the increased number of saloons in the new red and grey livery.

123. My friend Dougie Fallwell watched this class 23 as she trundled in on the third line from Hamilton, over the truss-bridge and on to the station with her goods train. She look massively capable from this low camera angle. The balcony saloons on the adjoining track were part of the train featured in the previous photo.

124. Back to the old signal cabin just in time to catch this 15F working a load of coke destined for the gasworks at Port Elizabeth. The outshopped class 3R can just be seen to the left of the goods train alongside platform 3.

125. This 15E presents a nice view of her roly-poly valve gear (as the late Dusty Durrant used to call it). She was waiting for signals before departing for her home shed in Bethlehem.

126. The Orange Expresses were the most important passenger workings between the Cape and Natal and fast goods, No's 471-down (seen here) and 476-up Perishables and Livestock, were the most important through freight workings between the two provinces. By the end of the decade 471 had become 1313 and its opposite number, 1312. While Operating tended to have a relaxed attitude towards the passenger trains, if anything was calculated to cause the Superintendent to have apoplexy it would be a late running 1312 or 1313 because they were made up entirely of high-rated traffic.

127. Bloemfontein was truly a rail enthusiast’s paradise. All this on one day; 17 December 1961! Here we see two trains: a down goods going away from the camera on the left and on the right another heavy goods train with a class 23 leading a 15F at the head-end. Note the well-wagon immediately behind the 15F’s tender carrying some heavy industrial equipment.

128. Having got the green light, the 15E seen in photos 118 and 119, sets off for Bethlehem – providing a bold impression for the camera! Note the just-outshopped balcony saloon in the bay-road of the station on the left.

129. 16DA 872 complete with dolly on the smokebox door departing with another Lynchfield service. Look at that blue sky! Orange Free State fresh air mingled with the smell of coal smoke – what more could a bloke ask for?

130. A parting shot of 872 as she accelerated away with her Lynchfield train. With everything neat and tidy and a spotless locomotive those were the days when we had a rail service to be proud of. This shot concluded my visit to Bloemfontein in 1961.

131. This pair of wide-firebox 16DAs came trundling through the station on their way to loco. They had probably dropped their load at Hamilton, or even further afield at Ferreira, to be collected later; a practice that became increasingly common through the fifties and early sixties (before completion of Bloemfontein's magnificent new marshalling yard).

132. Just in from Kimberley, 208-up, the eastbound Orange Express, exchanges 15Fs in February 1964.

133. A 15F draws 132-up, all-stations to Kroonstad, out of Platform 2 while a 16DA just in from Melorane simmers in Platform 6, on a Saturday in February 1964.

134. At 1:15 pm on a Saturday in October 1962 an immaculate 19D couples onto the 1:30 pm Bloemfontein-Zastron all-stations, while the 15F of 701-down mixed to Noupoort is about to depart.

135. The 19D of the 1:30 pm Zastron seen in photo 134 was brewing up preparatory to departure. On the left a 15F was coming through with a southbound goods heading for Noupoort.

136. On the same Saturday, in platform 3, a 19D on the 2:00 pm departure for Modderpoort all-stations was just setting off.

137. Some ten minutes early; arrival of a Kroonstad 15F in platform 2 with the westbound Orange Express in February 1964.

138. The early arrival from Kroonstad of the Orange Express left plenty of time for the locomotive exchange with a Bloemfontein 23 taking over for the run to Kimberley. By 1964 the use of 16Es on this prestige train seems to have been discontinued.

139. In January 1965, I was back in Bloemfontein to get another dose of steam power at its best! I was not disappointed – here was 16E 859 “City of Bloemfontein” leaving her hometown for Springfontein with 23-down mixed. These 4-6-2s with their 6ft driving wheels were originally designed by A.G.Watson for express passenger work. When new, they were stationed at Kimberley, working north to Johannesburg and south to Beaufort West, hauling amongst others, the Union Limited/Union Express – forerunners of the Blue Train. When these luxury trains were equipped with steel air-conditioned saloons in 1939, they were transferred to Bloemfontein for the rest of their working lives – initially being used exclusively on top-link passenger trains but as the years rolled by, they were gradually reduced to working goods trains as well – something that would make AG Watson turn in his grave!

140. In order to reduce goods traffic through the station, an avoiding line for goods trains was opened c late 1964. In this 1965 photo, I captured a wide firebox 16DA working a load of coal south to Hamilton and beyond on the new avoiding line.

141. Also in January 1965, 15F 3031 was at the head of the Cape-bound Orange Express, 211-down, ready to depart for Kimberley. As can be seen in this photo, the passenger stock was being replaced by the new coaches now being built at Union Carriage in Nigel in the Transvaal. I preferred the older stock – far classier than these UC saloons. At this stage, the train still carried the distinctive headboard as seen here but unfortunately, these headboards were replaced by rather spartan oval boards that carried the Republic’s crest and the name of the train.

142. The train seen in the previous photo was now on its way to Kimberley behind 15F 3031. During the transition period where coaches were being replaced, the train’s consist looked quite untidy – one could almost describe the appearance as a mish-mash of passenger rolling stock – a far cry from the earlier neat appearance of the full rake of C-34/E-16 rolling stock.

143. We are at De Bloem, the northern limit of Bloemfontein's suburban services. A southbound block load of power-station coal destined for the southern Cape is taking the down passenger main which means the train will not be re-marshalled in Bloemfontein but merely change locomotives. The tracks immediately to the right are the up and down goods lines and the one on the far right is the line to Olive Hill quarry where most of the OFS main line's ballast came from.

144. A northbound freight stomping out of town. Note the local drive-in on the right. We spent many a happy evening there watching Bud Spenser and Terence Hill wreak havoc in the West although it has to be said that much of the dialogue was frequently drowned by the sound of trains working hard.

145. Hamilton is the junction for Kimberley and the main line to Springfontein which, in turn is the junction for Noupoort (Port Elizabeth) and Burgersdorp (East London). This 1961 photo, was made before the introduction of Centralised Traffic Control south of Hamilton, hence the Station Foreman at the ready to receive the tablet from the crew of a northbound goods.

And that concludes my coverage of Steamtown, RSA up to and including 1965. The next chapter covers the period after 1965 when traffic into and out of Bloemfontein reached its all-time peak during 1970 to 1972.