by Bruno Martin, Peter A Stow & Charlie Lewis

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.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As will soon be clear, due to Les Pivnic holding back* from the preparation of this chapter, the brunt of the activities has been handled by the three gents at the masthead. But there were many other contributors to whom we are very grateful (alphabetical): the late Brian Couzens (via Ashley Peter & the RSSA), Andrew Deacon, Johannes Haarhoff (via DRISA), Victor Hand, Robert Kingsford-Smith, Allen Jorgensen (via Dick Manton), Dick Manton, Glen Mills, late Roger Perry (via Les Pivnic), Ashley Peter, Les Pivnic, Transnet Heritage Library (via Yolanda Meyer).

* We are very pleased to report that Les is back in the driving seat after a stressful period.

a NB: With the exception of the captions which were written by the author of the particular photograph, much of the copy has been written in the first person by Charlie, who was based at Bloemfontein from 1968 to 1979. Where others have written the notes this is indicated in italics.

INTRODUCTION

Among the first items issued to me when I started work in Bloemfontein in February 1968 were an orange Chevvy bakkie and the current OFS Working Time Book. Having just returned to RSA from the UK where railways were in plummeting decline it was refreshing to hold the inch-thick WTB that showed >300 workings in and out of town each day – and nearly all steam (within six months it was 100 %). It took a while for me to realise that South Africa was booming and SAR was frantically trying to keep up with the surging traffic. I was assigned an office to share with a Dutchman, Koos Den Houting (not an Afrikaner) and my boss was Hannes Dekker, District Engineer for Bloemfontein, who pronounced the ‘K’ word in the guttural way that only a natural-born Afrikaner could. As an aside; the first thing Koos told me (elatedly) was that the England cricket tour was off because our PM wouldn’t allow them to bring D’Oliviera. That’s when I found out his hero was Dr Verwoerd. My camera was second drawer down in my new desk, which was less than three minute’s brisk walk from Platform 2. My wyk as Assistant Engineer (and later, District Engineer) was from De Bloem to Hamilton and Kloofeind to Sannaspos. For the next eleven years I worked in this place that Les described (and illustrated) so eloquently in Part 1 of this chapter. Many times I had to explain my mysterious disappearances during working hours to my boss. He was generally reasonably tolerant.

During 1969 I was promoted to District Engineer in charge of New Works within the same boundaries described above, which included the Marshalling yard, the Passenger station, the Locomotive Running shed, the Mechanical Workshops and the locomotive water supplies at Kloofeind, Glen and Sannaspos (the latter involved a major project: a new dam on the Modder River including an eleven mile pipeline to Sannaspos station to improve the reliability of locomotive water supplies there – and this in 1970…..). There was a lot going on. My new office was at Estoire, situated between the up-and-down passenger main, the up-goods departure road and the down freight bypass completed in 1965. As if this noisy location wasn’t enough, the main access track for Bloemfontein’s domestic freight was almost within touching distance of the office’s south wall (please refer to Bruno’s map). On this line there were no load restrictions and at regular intervals 100-wagon haulers would rumble by at walking pace making phone communication impossible. The southbound freight bypass was on 1/100 and approaching trains could be heard for several minutes until they hammered past our east window with a deafening crescendo. It was easy to tell the difference between a 15F (or a 23) and any other class, my most memorable being 15A 1824, unrebuilt, on a heavy down freight c 1971. And even that was not all: the shunting leads at the north end of the hump-yard grid were located adjacent to the west fence of the RE's camp; throughout the day one was regaled with the racket of heavy engines fetching sorted loads and kicking them off into the departure tracks.

The foregoing set the stage for my most productive years as an amateur railway photographer. In the course of four years in the UK I had the good fortune to meet many world-famous photographers, not least among them being AE (Dusty) Durrant, and upon my return, Allen Jorgensen, American by birth and probably the finest railway photographer to visit these shores.

1. In December 1972 the late Roger Perry photographed 23 3282 departing from Bloemfontein with 444-up for Johannesburg. She would work the train as far as Kroonstad – 128 miles to the north from where electric traction would take over for the final 135 miles to Johannesburg.

2. Class 23 3237 departs Bloemfontein for Kroonstad with 438-up, the Port Elizabeth-Johannesburg express on 30th August 1971.

3. In April 1969 the 30th anniversary of the Blue Train was celebrated by running it with steam from Johannesburg to Cape Town. Railwaymen entered into the spirit of the occasion, especially in Bloemfontein – home of the legendary 16Es. The photo shows 16E 855 “Johannesburg” about to take 434-up, the East London-Johannesburg express out of Platform 3, preparatory to working the anniversary train from Johannesburg to Klerksdorp a few days later. Les has provided us with the authentic background to this photo:

"Early in 1969 the Historic Transport Association instigated the running of a special steam-hauled Blue Train between Johannesburg and Cape Town. John Silver of the HTA was given the task of arranging the motive power with Reg Tarpey. After John arranged the sequence of engine power for the trip, I was asked to join the HTA and get involved with the arrangements. John’s favourite SAR locomotive was the class 23 and he organized for several 23s to be involved but not one single 15F! I took him to task on this, indicating that in the past, 15Fs handled the Blue between JHB and Klerksdorp and also between Touws River and Cape Town but it was too late to make any changes. Even the use of my favourite class of engine, the 16E, was wrong in that the 16Es did not work the air-conditioned Union Limited in 1939 – it was considered too heavy if signals brought the train to a stand at Kamfersdam north of Kimberley. It was felt that the 16E would have difficulty in restarting the train on the gradient up to Kimberley.*

In any event, the two 16Es that were sent up to Krugersdorp Loco in late March were No's 855 “City of Johannesburg” to work the special Blue and 859 “City of Bloemfontein” as a back-up in case anything went wrong. Happy to say that 855 performed perfectly on the actual trip. 859 was used as a Guinea-pig to test an equivalent goods load to Welverdiend and return on the 9th of April – this test also went off without a hitch. Both 16Es did what was asked of them. Note that 855 handled the Blue on the 1st leg from JHB to Klerksdorp and back."

* But see the following note from Les, received a couple of days after the above:

"Further to my earlier comments on the use of a 16E on the special Blue Train, we actually had both air-conditioned lounge cars type B-3 on that run, adding an additional 42 tons to the load. With this additional load on our minds, I was standing with Frank Holland in the vestibule of the leading coach behind 855 as she tackled Hamberg Bank up to Roodepoort. Driver I.H. Cooper was in charge with Senior Fireman S.P.F. Potgieter and Loco Inspector P.H. van Rooyen on the footplate. Driver Cooper had 855 drifting down the bank from Florida towards the climb up past Hamberg and Frank had beads of sweat on his forehead, wondering if 855 was going to cope up the bank. As we swept into the hollow of the descending bank from Florida, I kept saying – Driver Cooper – open her up – open her up!!!! He eventually opened her regulator and we started the climb. She felt the grade but did not falter – she climbed with her exhaust bark telling everyone on board that she was not going to stall and she didn’t - topping the grade as we rounded the curve through Roodepoort station in grand style!

So, maybe the loco staff in 1939 over-reacted, thinking that the 16E would have had trouble handling the new air-conditioned Union Limited up the bank from Kamfersdam to Kimberley. To be fair, they did refer to a 16E starting the train if held by signals but back in those days, the Union Limited was very seldom held by signals anywhere! Remember the “pound-a-minute” being docked off any signalman holding the Ltd for any unnecessary reason!

A final word: On the return and final leg of the trip, we travelled between Bank and Randfontein on-route to JHB – a road that included curve after curve up fairly steep gradients and 855 again performed impeccably – this time with Driver P.J.A. van Wyk, Fireman J.P. Werner and Loco Inspector van Rooyen! Food for thought......."

4. The British Lions visited South Africa in 1968 (and got hammered for their trouble). On the occasion of their visit to Bloemfontein on Saturday July 20th to play the Orange Free State some wealthy businessmen in Johannesburg hired the Blue Train to make a weekend of it. This was the return working late (very late) on the Saturday night.

5. The Orange Express was not often running late in either direction but Saturday 30 September 1972 was an exception with the Durban bound train about 5 hours late for some forgotten reason, but it may have been due to a derailment somewhere or some flooding. The result was an unusual opportunity to get a night photograph of her standing against platform 2, ready to depart. in the background the train to Port Elizabeth has a final era 4 type K-42 timber van with square ends and long full side dado boards.

6. Kroonstad-based 15Fs (they had 83 of them) predominated on the Kroonstad run when 211-down departed Bloemfontein in April 1968. The leaking regulator gland on #2959 was not characteristic of SAR steam locomotive maintenance at that time.

Although SAR had bought diesels since 1958 (the class 1DE - later reclassified class 31 - were placed in service in 1958 followed by class 32s in 1959/60 and class 33s in the 60s) the real hordes only began to arrive with the coming on stream of the General Motors assembly plant for class 34s at Port Elizabeth in 1972. The knock-on effects resulted in major locomotive displacements throughout the country. A noticeable change was the character of motive power between Bloemfontein and Kroonstad when released 23s from dieselisation of the Noupoort line displaced Kroonstad 15Fs northwards to Capital Park, where they in turn replaced the long-serving 15CAs between Pretoria and Pietersburg. However, many 23s simply bequeathed their tenders to 15Fs and died, being worn out after 35 years of heavy main-line haulage (especially the export manganese traffic, probably the most demanding that SAR steam locomotives ever were faced with).

7. Kallie Ludick was one of the top-link drivers at Bloemfontein and his 23 #3235 was kept spotless. He was the last of the SAR drivers that I knew of to polish the rods, smokebox rim and door hinges and just keep the engine clean rather than use paint. By 1974 when this picture was made the Orange Express was regularly made up of UCW tin coaches in sienna - not indian red - and cream livery.

8. A late-running Drakensberg Express departing Bloemfontein in charge of class 23 No 3263 in January 1975. This was not quite the first one but it was in January 1975 so it might have been the second or the third. The idea behind having a luxury express between Durban and Cape Town was good but the execution was dumb. Railwaymen were still fixated on the idea of serving Bloemfontein and Kimberley with this train in parallel with the Orange Express. Given that all the scenery on this route was at either end, i.e. between Durban and Harrismith and Touws River and Cape Town, it would have been better to treat the Drakensberg purely as a tourist service along the lines of Rovos Rail in the 21st century and to market it as such. Few customers were content to chug along through the flat Free State and Northern Karoo in daylight, small wonder then that the new service only lasted 3½ years.

9. Superpower!!! It was an extremely rare occurrence that 46-up, the 17:20 Bloemfontein - Brandfort local and a train never advertised in the public timetable, was doubleheaded. It was previously worked by Bloemfontein suburban-link locomotives and crews, but with the demise of Bloemfontein's suburban service in December 1972 this arrangement changed with Kroonstad engines and crews taking over the working at some point prior to December 1973. The train was limited to bogie wagons only up to a maximum of 20 (80 axles) and conveyed

passengers, parcels traffic and milk. The locomotive would then clear goods traffic from Brandfort and Virginia, running as train 186-up Goods to Kroonstad. The doubleheader was probably intended to get the second locomotive back to Kroonstad as quickly as possible. Here two class 15F’s depart with the usual five vehicles trailing. October 1973

10. Train 132, the 14:10 from Bloemfontein to Kroonstad, on the other hand, was quite often doubleheaded to get locomotives back to Kroonstad as quickly as possible. The leading engine was always a Bloemfontein locomotive and crew and the second the Kroonstad locomotive. Here two class 23’s are doing the honours. This train was popular with scholars and university students, especially on Fridays when boarders went home for the weekend. Date: July 1974

11. Another view of the same train as it crossed over to the Up main line having departed from platform 4, the platform almost always used for this train. The leading vehicle is an ex-first of type C-25 or second-class coach of type E-13 converted to third class becoming type H-4, easily identified by having two windows per compartment as opposed to the one window per compartment of as-built third-class coaches such as the type H-21 behind it. This picture is a good reminder of the joys of windows that opened.....

12. Train 132 again with two class 23’s, led by 3257, one of several 23's on the Bloemfontein passenger link. June 1975

13. One may be forgiven for recording the exception to a far greater extent than the rule, especially when it came to train 132. Again, another shot of beautifully clean double 23’s. It may be that the second locomotive was a return working of the locomotive off the Orange Express or Drakensberg from Kroonstad and getting it back to Kroonstad as quickly as possible was a priority to avoid its crew having to book off at Bloemfontein. By July 1974 it was extremely rare to find what looks like a solid rake of clerestory coaches.

14. During the 1970’s there was never a lack of activity in Bloemfontein. While 132-up accelerates past the old goods shed behind a Bloemfontein class 23, a class 15F shunts the Brandfort local towards the station platforms. The fourth vehicle in 132's consist is a day saloon originally built for branch line service. Note the two refrigerator wagons marshalled ahead of the van, the perishable freight traffic being expedited north on the passenger train. Date: June 1975

15. Train 132 could almost always guarantee an interesting assortment of coaching stock. Apart from the movement of a variety of interesting vehicles to Kroonstad to change out those used on the branch lines there, it was also one of the last in the pecking order for modern vehicles and here is an almost uniform consist of clerestory coaches in April 1975. This was possibly an aftermath of the demands following the Easter weekend, often viewed by Main Line Passenger Services staff as being more demanding than the Christmas peak, being concentrated over a much shorter four-day period. It was not unusual to find the passenger yards around the country being empty on the Thursday evening before Good Friday as every vehicle with round wheels was used to move passengers. It is unfortunate that the number of the leading articulated coach was not recorded as it may have travelled this route on the Orange Express between 1946 and 1956 - no less than nine of the 25 type C-22’s, built in 1928 for use on the Union Limited and Union Express until 1939 when the first air-conditioned Blue Train entered service, were painted in Orange Express colours in 1947. These articulated coaches with three bogies were based on the design principles of Nigel Gresley (later Sir) of the London and North Eastern Railway in England who favoured articulation as a means of reducing the tare weight of coaching stock. By 1978 most had been withdrawn from revenue service, the last three being withdrawn in 1980. Note a number 3 pasted over the 1, indicating that the coach is being used as a third-class coach, as has been done on the following three of what appear to be second class vehicles. Drastic times often call for drastic measures, here the demand for third-class accommodation in Bloemfontein exceeded the availability of third-class vehicles. It would appear that it was a bad day in the office for the driver and fireman on the class 23 as it was already priming and the goods guards van on the train had not even left the confines of the station. Miraculously at the critical moment the sun broke through an otherwise 100% overcast sky.

16. Bloemfontein saw many special trains for the military. There was a large camp outside Bloemfontein where training was done, and exercises were held so Bloemfontein saw many such trains. These were considered of strategic importance and as such their movement kept as secret as possible. Blinds had to be drawn so that the public could not see that the trains were occupied by military personnel, this requirement mostly adhered too by the majority of regiments but also occasionally ignored by others. You can imagine how frustrating that was to an enthusiast like your photographer on his way to and from military training who just wanted to watch the trains and who risked life and limb, not only for his country, but also just to open the blind a crack to watch what was going on outside while lying head to the window on the middle bunk of an overcrowded 2nd class compartment. These trains often ran to the schedules of regular trains which only ran on certain days of the week, such as the Orange Express, even if it was just over a portion of the route, e.g. Kimberley to Durban as experienced by your photographer. In this photograph a train of new recruits is heading north behind a class 23 no doubt to another training camp with the strange positioning of a goods guard’s van behind the locomotive, followed by a coach for railway catering staff. In the 1980’s provision was made for no less than 200 second class coaches just for military purposes. Date: August 1975

17. The day stopper to Johannesburg, 444-up, making an energetic start out of Bloemfontein with Kroonstad's passenger-link Dick Marsh at the wheel of 15F 2963. If you wanted excitement this was the man to follow; he would wind up his engine until it sounded like a Harley-Davidson doing 160 up Naval Hill.

There is a mystery in this photo. Platform 2 is occupied by a 16DA at the head of main-line passenger stock. This was barely a month after I arrived in Bloemfontein so I'm agonising about whether so late in the day a 16DA would be handling a main-line passenger northbound out of town..... Surely not?

18. Same train, different day. Both were made in April 1968. The ladder of tracks on the left belong to the up block-load* yard (see Bruno’s map). Before completion of the hump yard these were the main level-shunted classification roads for north and southbound goods traffic – and all trains worked through the passenger station.

* i.e. a load that did not have to be remarshalled at Bloemfontein.

19. By 1971 it was rare to find the odd clerestory coach in the make up of the Orange Express, as you see from this perfect rake heading north past a deserted up block-load yard. However, a new (and unwelcome) change was already creeping in; the insertion of grey-and-red liveried stock when an Orange Express cream and sienna one was not available. By 1976/7 the old livery had been abandoned and the grand old Orange Express looked like any other main-line passenger train.

20. Kallie Ludick and 3235 pounding up the hill to Estoire with the northbound Orange Express in June 1971.

21. Jo'burg here we certainly come! 438-up, the Port Elizabeth – Johannesburg express (in later years the 'Algoa', a fine name regretfully no more), overtaking 02662 export manganese from Postmasburg, just getting under way from the up block-load yard. Half a mile ahead 02662 will take the crossover to the main line by which time 438 will have cleared the section.

22. And here she is, the same train a bit further on. It didn't take long for 438 to get out of the way but young Charlie had to sprint like hell to get this shot in spite of the noticeable interval between exhaust beats. Also of interest here: the front 15F is wearing a 15E boiler and that is a 12R kicking out wagons into the block-load yard ladder.

23. The Eastern Cape - Witwatersrand Bombela, 1134-up, accelerating out of Bloemfontein behind class 23 No 3286 in March 1972. Note the first-aid vehicle behind the engine (officially called an ambulance van).

24. In January 1969 Les photographed this 15F on 212-up, the eastbound Orange Express roaring through Estoire, highest point between Glen and Bloemfontein. By this time the classic round headlights had mostly been replaced by sealed beams, an unforgivable act of aesthetic vandalism. This was also an interim period for the train itself, a time when it was gradually losing its clerestory roof line, being replaced by the much less stylish elliptical roofed Union Carriage stock.

25. Study this photo with a magnifying glass, it is truly historic. There are tens of thousands of tons of traffic in it. TODAY, EVERY TON OF THIS BUSINESS IS ON LORRIES, PLOUGHING UP THE TARMAC AND KILLING PEOPLE. No government should have allowed this to happen. Yet it did, and during the National Party’s watch too.

By the time the present bunch of thugs took over there was no business left so the looters came in. From this vantage point today all you will see are two overgrown tracks (the erstwhile main line) and a forest of invader trees fertilized by squatters with the squitters. The freight has been gone these last 30 years, the wagons for 25 years, the rails (with the near moribund exception mentioned above) for 20 years and the buildings removed, first the roof sheeting then the windows and doors and finally the bricks. Did I mention the overhead catenary wires, the electrification masts and the signalling cables? Or the JOBS?

26. More than three thousand people were employed at the Mechanical Workshops. Amongst many other activities they turned out 30 heavy locomotive repairs each month, tantamount to a new locomotive every day, year after year. Among them was this 12AR, fresh out of the heavy repair bay, heading north for another decade of service. The crates in the DZs were conveying components to the Ford Motor Company's assembly plant in Pretoria (recently moved from Port Elizabeth). September 1969.

27. The same caption could have been written for this photo of a 16R/CR returning to Capital Park, the main running shed for Pretoria, doubleheading to save line occupation, in mid 1968. Note the white horse on Naval Hill, a relic of the Boer War and a reminder of the occupation of Bloemfontein by British forces when they established a horse hospital here.

28. The coal bunker at Bloemfontein’s running shed dispensed more than 1500 tons of locomotive coal every 24 hours i.e. one train load of these large hopper cars. This is the non-revenue block train of empties returning to the coalfields. Departmental business. No revenue for SAR derived from this train, either in its loaded condition on the way down from the Transvaal coal mines or as a returning block of hopper wagons for reloading.

29. The Fridays-only weekly mails from Cape Town to Johannesburg, 7706-up, hammering through Estoire. It was classified as 'Fast Goods' therefore departed from Bloemfontein station. It is overtaking an up goods, probably 02738-up, which by 1968 had reverted to steam operation and would continue thus until the juice was switched on in 1976. Once again check the yard crammed with traffic for all corners of South Africa.

30. Kroonstad men handled the bulk of the service between there and Bloemfontein (this changed after 1971 when Kroonstad - Bethlehem was energised). Driver Krause's 23#3300 going full bore with 438-up was overtaking a Kroonstad 15F with what looks like a crates of parts for the Ford factory in Pretoria. This was before containers were universally adopted.

31. A going away shot of the train of empty hoppers depicted in photo 29 above. There are two trains on the right: a livestock about to be shunted into the cattle pens and a southbound freight deviating onto the Bloemfontein bypass at De Bloem.

32. The driver has just eased the regulator as 438-up crests the Bloemspruit/Modder River watershed at Estoire. The photo emphasises how beautiful our trains were in the days of clerestory coaches and steam. Colleague Les, author of 'Railway Dining Cars in South Africa, History and Development' has provided this information: "the type A-22/AA-23 twin diner was probably 218/272 RIET" (if you are into SAR's graceful carriages and dining saloons you should not be without the book). Those reefers would be on their way to or from the abattoirs.

33. A northbound (Up) goods approaching De Bloem where all lines merged into the double-track OFS main line. From the left, the tracks are up and down freight bypass, up and down block loads and up and down passenger. The usage was flexible – for instance, block loads leaving from Bloemfontein’s old up block-load yard used the up passenger main.

34. On the right, passenger-link 23 No 3214 (driver C P Smit and fireman Giel van Schalkwyk) is racing by with 438-up while the 12R on the livestock-yard shunt has been commandeered to assist a southbound block load restarting from the home signal.

35. 444-up (07:00 am off Bloemfontein) meeting a typically heavily-loaded 333-down (overnight Johannesburg-Bloemfontein) a mile south of De Bloem on a frozen morning in June 1971. When the wind was blowing from the north (i.e. most of the time), the whole of Bloemfontein knew that 333 was coming into town.

36. A heavy 333-down on the 1/100 away from the stop at De Bloem - no carriage heating. I thought this was the footplatemen being inconsiderate but Peter Stow says: "steam heating was often turned off just before a main station where locomotives were changed as shunters were not issued with gloves and the pipes could be too hot to handle. The other option was to leave the pipes coupled and rip the pipes apart, breaking the rubber hose, to the chagrin of the C&W staff who then had to fix them."

37. That's better! And listen to that 23 talking.....

38. Yet another block load of coal destined for the power stations of the Cape, its 23s reaching for the Modder/Bloemspruit watershed at Estoire, still almost a mile away. Fully a third of southbound traffic on the Kroonstad line was coal, mainly for locomotives and power stations – these were the days before completion of the National Grid. By 1980 when steam traction in the Cape was finished and Escom had finally connected its powerlines to the cities and dorps of the southern and western Cape, the demand for this traffic dwindled almost to nothing; leaving the newly electrified line with many fewer trains to handle.

39. There is much to study in this picture. It was taken one lunch time from the Greyling Rd bridge in Estoire, just outside my office. Today it is difficult to comprehend where all this business was coming from but let’s start with the train. The 23 and 19D on hauler duty were bringing in a block load of grain from Van Tonder (eight miles north of town) where it had been parked off the previous night due to Bloemfontein being clogged up with traffic. This load would now be placed in the down block-load yard for Carriage & Wagon (C&W) examination before being dispatched to the grain export terminal at East London harbour. Behind the train two more block loads have been staged on running lines because of the congestion. Behind them are the livestock pens where loads and empties were sorted to and from the abattoir just east of town, together with the class 3R allocated to these duties. Just this side of the houses are the two dead-end head shunts for the north end of the hump yard referred to in the introduction and beyond the houses is the high embankment of the freight bypass.

40. Let’s start with the peach tree. You can see it is winter by the bareness of the branches, but what is really cute is that two families of mossies (= sparrows) have used it to make their nests in the midst of this madly busy industrial landscape.

On the left is 45/521-down, the evening commuter run from De Bloem to Lynchfield, slowing for the stop at Estoire where some of the staff from the Resident Engineer’s office will embark. It is passing a class 23-hauled southbound freight waiting for a parking space in the south block-load yard (see Bruno’s map). In the background 3R 1446 is shunting the stockyard pens.

41. On the left 444-up, all-stations to Jo'burg, is heading out of town while the 23 of 333-down has shut off and will coast the rest of the way into Bloemfontein station. December 1971.

42. Trains galore in Bloemfontein. A class 23 is getting into her stride with a northbound military special as she crosses a southbound Kroonstad 15F, with a rake of empty coaches, held at the signals waiting for clearance. Note the double diner in the consist of the military train. Between them Swartkops (identified by the yellow background to the number) GE class 34-000’s are backing onto their block load which they will take down to Noupoort *. July 1975

*Bloemfontein-Noupoort went diesel during 1973.

43. After the new Blue Train sets were placed in service in 1972 the old Blue Train sets of 1939 were refurbished, repainted dark green (later a non-descriptive sort of 'powder' green) and rebranded the “Drakensberg”. Initially running between Johannesburg and Durban, this was later extended to include a service between Durban and Cape Town, running to the times of the Orange Express. Unfortunately, it was not well supported and was finally withdrawn from service with effect from 1 June 1978 (see Charlie's comments to photo 9 above).

Here the Drakensberg snakes its way into Bloemfontein station from the north crossing to the “Up” line to be able to stand at platform 2 for the convenience of passengers, it being the platform closest to the exit. The photograph was taken from the top floor of the C W Malan building, the headquarters of the Orange Free State System and the building where your photographer spent the best four years of his career (1972-1976) in the office of the Locomotive Superintendent as a young Assistant Engineer (Mechanical). Date: April 1975

44. In March 1975 State President Jim Fouche made his last official state visit to Bloemfontein during a farewell whistle-stop tour of the Republic, for which he used the White Train. Oom Jim was very fond of this train and I somehow don't think he was consulted when the SAR authorities chose to run it with two of the new class 34s. In his honour, to avoid the diesels I concentrated on the rear end of the train. Our President was waving from the middle somewhere.

45. On a Saturday at the end of February 1968 Melly and I arrived wide-eyed in Bloemfontein, recently returned from a practically steamless UK. Sunday morning I went to the station to photograph a 16E on 23-down to East London which the foreman on duty at the shed had assured me would be working the train. What he didn’t say was that the 15E on 75-down, the Bethlehem mixed, was scheduled to depart at the same time. Being focussed on the 16E I was unaware of this.

So, here I was at lineside when not one but two whistles sounded. They made a perfect parallel departure but it was too late to get into position. Twenty minutes later I did get a shot of the departure of the 08:40 all-stations to Melorane, ready to go in platform 8 and numerous exposures of the 12R making up trains on the extreme right. This was surely heaven?

46. Following several failed attempts I realised that that first day was a fluke so, having learnt the drill, I would go to loco early on a Sunday morning to ensure the driver’s watches were synchronised – that way relieved a lot of agony. The best one came more than a year later when 23cl 3214 and 15E 2894 made this picture on a typically frosty, cloudless winter morning. I remember being disappointed that 23-down had a 23 but over the years have come to terms with it.

Another factor came into play in winter: 75-down was officially a mixed so it frequently was used to convey urgent high-rated goods, but in winter the wagons were coupled at the back to allow the steam heating to be connected (not that the crews of the hand-fired 15Es were keen to oblige).

47. More satisfying to a locomotive enthusiast was this combination (by far the more usual one) of 16E 856 and 15E 2879. I suppose only an out-and out steam nut would appreciate the nicety of a simultaneous departure of two poppet-valved locomotives of two different classes in 1969. Also, thanks to SAR’s policy of caring for their passengers by pretending to connect up the heating in winter, all you see are two pure rakes of clerestory coaches.

48. The same two trains a bit further out. This is my favourite railway photograph.

49. Almost a year before the previous photo I cracked the simultaneous departure for the first time (after several failed attempts) by asking the crews to synchronise their watches. In those days SAR was blessed with world-class steam fitters; this was a cold morning in August 1968 but barely a wisp of steam is leaking. The 16E was maintained by Gert Coetzee at Bloemfontein and the 15E by none other than the redoubtable Alec Watson at Bethlehem

50. When I (triumphantly) showed my first proper simultaneous to Dusty Durrant he was so envious he made sure he was there the following Sunday! That's Dusty on the right.

51. This was my last attempt at the double departure, in May 1970. Shortly before, the 16Es had been removed from this diagram and placed in a lesser one involving mostly freight and pick-up work - for them the end was nigh.

Photos 45 to 51 depict the most photogenic of the simultaneous departures, but there were several others each week: the Orange Express with the 11:25 to Melorane on Tuesdays and a Melorane and a Kloofeind at (approximately!) 06:20 a.m. each weekday (only photographable in summer).

52. Awaiting the 'right away' at 21:45 p.m. ex-works 16E 858 named for her designer, 'Allan G Watson', about to take the 17-coach Port Elizabeth express, 435-down, to Noupoort in September 1970. Within six months she was relegated to freight duty and was retired in June 1972 having completed only 13,000 miles since her last heavy repair. Fortunately the powers decided she was too precious to scrap and she was sent to De Aar. After five years of open-air storage she was restored to working order by Alec Watson (by this time promoted to Loco Foreman at De Aar) and was able to perform with startling efficiency on the Rhodesia Express (once), the Drakensberg Express (twice) and several goods trains in preparation for her memorable haulage of the Union Limited and the Union Express in September 1977.

53. It's almost 21:45 and Kallie Ludick's immaculate 3235 is about to depart with 435-down, the Port Elizabeth Express (later known as the Algoa). September 1968.

54. On the left is 81-down with a Bethlehem 23, ready for its 10 pm departure and on the right is a Beaconsfield 25NC with 289-down, due off at 10:10 pm on the same night in September 1968.

55. Almost as if this scene is from another planet, the logistics of a main-line passenger network would be quite beyond the 'authorities' today. Imagine these three trains: 435-down to Port Elizabeth with a 15F on the left, 289-down to Kimberley in the centre and 81-down to Durban on the right - both the latter with 23s. All with bedding and crisp, fresh linen provided. Each train staffed with reliable, competent, diligent and disciplined footplate crews and train personnel. A few minutes later but not in the picture, 433-down to East London and 379-down overnight to Zastron would also be leaving - that's five long-distance sleeper trains within 40 minutes. Even with electric or diesel traction this would be utterly beyond resources available today - I speak from personal experience.

56. Train 21, the 17:12 to Springfontein, was seldom if ever double headed. However, a special main line train from Johannesburg was arranged to take “Old Koffiefonteiners” to the place of their birth and an extra class 19D was needed to assist at Springfontein to double head the train on the branch to Koffiefontein. Class 19D 2682 was given the honours and worked to Springfontein with an unidentified class 23 on the short train 21 in November 1973

57. After the freight bypass was completed in 1965, block loads continued to work through the station as they had since SAR began. They usually departed from the down block-load yard (see map) but in times of traffic surges they would sometimes depart southbound from the up block-load yard. These 23s had just coupled onto 02301-down with its load of 1800 tons for 140 axles, a solid consignment of power-station coal destined for Port Elizabeth. July 1968

58. The same 23s drawing out of the down block-load sidings. They are approaching the site of the five-post home signals depicted in the previous chapter (photo 10). From here to the Bloemspruit it is level for about two train-lengths followed by a short fierce uphill to Hamilton where doubleheaders like these made noise audible at the top end of Maitland Street (and a great deal further on a wind-still night).

59. They're charging the bank despite having a number of crossovers to negotiate before reaching the high iron (actually the same train number on a different day) .

60. Different block load, different day, a pair of 23s lifting 02301-down away from the Bloemspruit. The track in the middle foreground is the erstwhile bi-directional goods line to Hamilton and the track running off the bottom right hand corner is the main line to Bethlehem. October 1968.

61. In this chapter you will see many photos of the magnificent 16Es, none as striking as those in 'Bloemfontein - Pre 1965' by Les. Why you might ask? The answer is simple: no other class was disfigured so radically as these princesses of the road when some indifferent draughtsman designed the new seal-beam headlight casing. Doing her best to look dignified in spite of her imposed carbuncle was 16E 859 with 23-down to East London in April 1968.

62. A recurring theme in these pages is how busy Bloemfontein was in the final years of the sixties and the first half of the seventies. The probability of accidentally photographing two trains crossing or passing was so high that scarcely a day would pass without getting a photograph of one or more. This was a northbound freight heading for the up block-load yard about to pass the same 23-down as in the previous photo.

63. Mainly because of electrification coming on stream throughout the country, the last two years of the sixties saw the swansong of Pacifics on main-line passenger duties. Some would continue for a few more years on commuter and lowly freight runs but they too would be over by the mid-seventies. This was 23-down in charge of wide-firebox 16DA 877 in August 1969. She would work the train as far as Burgersdorp.

64. By the end of the decade it was much more common to find these machines on freight, more usually the tranship and pick-ups, as with w/f 16DA 874 working 993-down to Springfontein in June 1971.

65. In the course of eleven years at Bloemfontein I made many attempts at cracking this shot, with a success ratio of about 1:100. Early on I discovered that it would need manipulation of train schedules, departure times and ensuring that watches were synchronised and even then it only happened twice. On the second occasion Victor Hand was with me. He chose his own (much better) composition and the result was photo 128 - as good a genuine picture as you're ever going to see at this frustrating location.

This one is a sandwich of an incoming suburban train from Lynchfield, 510-up, about to duck under 993-down T&P with a 16E (!) and a 16DA with wagons for Siding 1125 at Bloemspruit. In fact the Lynchfield got here a minute too early but thanks to the sorcery of Photoshop I have managed to delay its arrival at the bridge - albeit 50 years too late. As you see, the set-up was perfect for 71-down to Durban, coming the other way, but of course on this beautiful morning it was held up in Bloemfontein station by one connecting passenger.

66. For several years from 1967 onwards an important source of traffic was the Portland Cement factory at Lichtenburg that provided cement for the new Verwoerd Dam (now called the Gariep Dam) on the Orange River. The quantity needed was huge, not only for the dam itself but for the irrigation canals downstream, the 55-mile long Orange-Fish irrigation tunnel that we have spoken about in the Cape Midland Main Line chapter, and last but not least, the enormous bridge needed to carry the railway and the road across the completed dam. Most of this traffic was handled by class 23s displaced from the Postmasburg manganese run by condensers (which in turn had been bumped off Touws River-Beaufort West by electrification).

67. Looking north from the footbridge near Hamilton early on a May morning in 1969. On the left a Class 23 and a 25NC have teamed up on 02662 block manganese ore en route from Postmasburg to Maydon Wharf, Durban (those B bogies look empty but be assured, they are loaded to the Plimsoll line. You can just see the heaps of super-dense lumps of manganese and the train is in fact a full load, 2360 tons on 140 axles). On the right 23cl 3229 “Springs” is on southbound wayside goods No 993; while in the background another cl 23 is coming around the corner on 23-down to Burgersdorp and East London. In the background is the exhaust trail of 509-down to Lynchfield. There are four moving trains in this picture and no, Briggs, this is neither a sandwich nor a photoshop job.

Until the Postmasburg branch electrification was energised near the end of 1966, block loads of manganese ore were hauled by steam over the 520 miles from Postmasburg to Harrismith. For five years prior to this, condensers displaced by the electrification from Touws River to Beaufort West worked from Postmasburg to Bloemfontein, whence relays of OFS power worked through to Harrismith via Kroonstad. However, the most interesting time was when ore traffic first began to take off in the late fifties when caboose-working was instituted. I first heard about the operation upon my transfer to New Works in April 1969. There was a clerk there, Faan Fouché, who had joined SAR as a fireman in the late 1950’s. He told me the following:

Pairs of Class 23s with a caboose attached worked in 21-day cycles out of Bloemfontein. The crews were supposed to work eight hours on and eight hours off but by agreement they worked twelve hour shifts instead. Each cycle began with the picking up of a string of 26 empty AZ hoppers and van in Bloemfontein’s Down block load yard.

These were taken through to Postmasburg, with engines recoaling at Kamfersdam, outside Kimberley. There they picked up 26 AZ hopper wagons loaded with super-heavy manganese and a van (an approximate load of 2360 tons) and worked through to Kroonstad where the loads were remarshalled into 1500 ton bites for the 1-in-66 grades east of there. At Kroonstad the loaded AZ’s were exchanged for empties and the whole cycle repeated. According to Faan it took roughly two days to complete a loaded/empty cycle over the full route and they managed an average ten cycles on each three-week tour of duty. Faan was a bit vague on dates but I gathered that the workings started sometime during 1959 and continued until the condensers took over the section from Postmasburg to Kamfersdam (the junction just north of Kimberley) about 1962, after which caboose working was discontinued. No reason for this was given by Faan but it could have been that two condensers (at 108ft each!), + caboose + 26 loads + guards van were too long for the loops.

At none of the refueling points (that is, Postmasburg, Kamfersdam, Hamilton and Kroonstad) were the facilities situated such that coaling could be done with the engines attached to their trains. For example, at Hamilton the train was simply left standing on the main line while the engines uncoupled and moved to the coaling plant situated there. No watering or fire-cleaning could be done at Hamilton so this was done at Kloofeind and Glen. There were four such block loads of iron ore despatched to Maydon Wharf every 24 hours, including Sundays. According to Faan they were always worked by pairs of 23’s and this was borne out by an old work colleague, Ralph Knott, who actually saw the trains. To my regret I neither saw nor photographed them. I remember Ralph predicting that the 23’s would be the first of the big main-line engines to go because of the strenuous nature of this work and he was right.

By February 1968 caboose working had stopped but block loads of manganese ore from Postmasburg to Maydon Wharf were still coming through at a rate of four every 24hrs. However, by this time steam was only coming on at Beaconsfield and engines were once more being changed in the traditional manner at Bloemfontein, Kroonstad and Bethlehem.

68. By 1968 it was common to find 16Es helping out with freight though it was usually to get them into position for return passenger workings, a frequent example being 1300-up, the Mossel Bay – Johannesburg express. In this case it wasn’t any old pick-up but an extra-heavy down block coal!

69. And the coal continues to roll…… A pair of 23s with yet another consignment from the Witbank coalfields to the southern Cape. The demise of steam haulage down south between 1976 and 1979 brought about a 15% reduction in traffic on the Free State main line but within the next six years completion of the National Grid cut coal haulage to southern towns and cities by another 15% which made a huge hole in SAR’s business. By then the effects of the Road Transportation Act of 1977 were really biting and goods traffic had begun its terminal decline.

70. Kallie Ludick's 3235 beautifully polished, with 21-down the daily Springfontein mixed conveying locomotive coal for Springfontein and cobbles for the mines at Koffiefontein.*

*3235 would not be allowed on the branch so the coal for the mines would be worked onward from there by the branch engine, which by 1968 was a 19D or a 24.

71. 21-down to Springfontein with w/f 16DA 875 approaching Hamilton in July 1968. These wide-firebox 16DAs with their 60sq ft hand-fired grates were not popular with firemen but they seemed to be underrated machines. One who appreciated their good qualities is Les: "Back in the late 1940s/early 1950s, Bloemfontein engines worked 4-up all the way to Johannesburg, returning the following morning on 11-down. Engine 875 working 4-up was at the head end when a young HLP was waiting to join the train at Vereeniging for the express run to JHB via Kliprivier and Germiston. She carried the name “Margie” and this was my first taste of riding behind a wide-box 16DA. This turn was worked by 16DAs and 16Es up until 1953. The Bloemfontein men were relieved at Vereeniging by Braamfontein crews because they were not familiar with colour-light signals. When I was spending a lot of time in company with Frank Garrison, he told me that #875 back in her Kimberley days (pre-1939, when she was allocated to Beaconsfield), was painted overall blue by her regular crew. They apparently did this because they were part of the Union Limited link working through to Johannesburg. Frank added that the engine crews were tough in those days – it was a long haul all the way from Kimberley to JHB. With this in mind, Charlie McLean also told me that in the 1930s Braamfontein men worked passenger trains all the way to Bloemfontein, even on trains like 11-down, stopping at all stations with class 16C engines!"

72. Train 21 described in photo 56 is seen here leaving Hamilton southbound. Looking at the locomotives, I would say this is really the long and the short of it all.

73. 11th classes 921 + 936 entering Hamilton on their way to the Free State gold mines on their delivery run in October 1973. When SAR finally got around to retiring these venerable Hyde machines the entire class (with the exception of one that went to ISCOR c 1957) had provided >60 years of service intact. They were outstanding, 20 years ahead of their time when introduced in 1904, and Frank Holland knew this when he was asked by the Chamber of Mines to find a suitable locomotive to help overcome the oil shortages of 1979-1984. He selected some XX 11th class engines that for the next 20 years gave completely reliable service, some examples actually surviving for >100 years.

74. Even during their regular passenger-hauling careers 16Es were frequently diagrammed to return on freights. On this occasion it was the return working of 23-down's engine that had left Bloemfontein the previous morning, combining with a class 23 to bring back 1404-up perishables and livestock from the Cape Eastern System.

75. A 15F and 23 combination bringing a healthy-looking load in from the Cape Midland System to be re-sorted in Bloemfontein.

76. I had gone down to the station to meet my father who was on the train, 438-up, the Port Elizabeth - Johannesburg express. Imagine my astonishment when it rolled in behind not one, but TWO 16E's. This was in the days before cellphones so Dad was unable to warn me else I would have found some mysterious job to do down Springfontein way........ LATER: while looking for photos to illustrate the Bloemfontein-Springfontein chapter I found two photos of this train that I had clean forgotten about. Please see photos XX and XX in Part 5. That doesn't diminish my astonishment at encountering the combination on a norma service train.

77. What a majestic sight those queens of the road made. It was Easter 1968 but for years I was so cheesed about missing this opportunity that the negative lay neglected and forgotten. By the way, the front engine was 16E 859 "City of Bloemfontein" leading 16E 856 "Kroonstad".

78. Commanding the attention of awaiting passengers, the 15F of the westbound Orange Express steamed slowly into platform 2 of the grand old OVGS station. Of course the walking pace was to allow the wheeltapper to do his pinging thing with the carriage tyres. Look how well-patronised the train was, it was early in 1968 and everything was still neat and tidy.

79. The gent in the shiny suit is Japie van der Bijl, acting System Manager at the time. Shiny suits were all the rage among SAR brass in the late seventies. Japie was on his way to an indaba in Cape Town using the Orange Express. In those days senior personnel went everywhere by train which had a beneficial effect on the quality of the service. Around 1981 a directive came from Head Office that henceforth all visits to the regional offices were to be by air - this was apparently prompted by one of the new MBA honchos. The effect on the service was immediate - the standard declined almost overnight and a further side effect was that it hastened the switch to road freight - management were out of touch. Two examples that had a profound effect on our railways, no, make that an unrecoverable effect: abandonment of branch lines and the Railway Police.

80. In December 1974 the remodelling of Bloemfontein station in preparation for electrification was well under way. Platforms were lengthened to provide for the anticipated longer trains. As you see, the 15-coach Orange Express was accommodated comfortably, class 23 and all, in the not-yet tarred extension to platform 2. Plenty of passengers, and I have to apologise on behalf of SAR for those horrible plastic corridor bottles that by the seventies had replaced the original glass ones.

81. "Maaind the berrow!"

82. Translated: "OK driver, you've got 15 saloons for 600 tons and we've got passengers to pick up at Petrusburg". Thanks to Nils Kotze we can tell you that "the driver was Cornelius Bester (nickname Kokketeer)" [not sure if I got that right!]

83. Nothing is as majestic as a steam locomotive at the head of varnish.

In the days when station clocks worked, one can say with confidence that with clock showing 09:55, it was 15 minutes before departure of the Orange Express to Kimberley. The fireman looked relaxed as he topped up the boiler in preparation for the climb out of Bloemfontein - clearly the crew have everything under control. The Express must have come in early as usual, because the coaches have already had their water tanks filled from the adjacent water pipes spaced at intervals between the tracks. Note the consist of the clean, uniform rake of elliptical-roofed coaches, with the headboard proudly declaring that this was no ordinary train. Sunday 1 October 1972.

84. No, “H” does not stand for the well-known Railway Signal Engineer and fellow railway enthusiast Harry Ostrofsky. It is the route indicator for “Hamilton” as class 23 3257 departs Bloemfontein at 17:12 on 9 April 1972 with 21-down, the non-advertised evening local to Springfontein, running mainly to return workers to Edenburg. It is amazing that a certain arrangement can work on the railways for years without incident and then one day something goes wrong. The coaches for Train 21, the 17:12 to Springfontein and Train 46, the 17:20 to Brandfort were shunted into platform 3 back-to-back as one and then separated by a few metres, only to depart at their respective times, one southbound and the other to the north. However, on one fine day just after electrification to Kroonstad, the departure bell rang for train 21 at 17:12, the guard waved his flag but there was a simultaneous departure as the 17:20 to Brandfort also departed, much to the consternation of all on the platform. Needless to say, there was an inquiry, the outcome of which has been lost in the sands of time but presumably one of the recommendations would have been to increase the gap between the trains considerably.

85. The last 23 to receive a heavy overhaul was Driver de Beer's #3286 in 1973, here departing with 208-up for Cape Town in 1976. Sadly (actually, tragically) while he was on leave a few months later the relief crew burnt her crownsheet when coming up the hill from De Brug to Kloofeind. She never ran again.

86. The “Drakensberg”, sadly minus its headboard (railway staff at this level never appreciated the importance or the significance of headboards), about to depart from Bloemfontein for Cape Town. Note the extended, high platforms almost completed. Date: September 1975

87. A mid-week simultaneous occurred at 11:25 every Tuesday when 211-dn was scheduled to depart alongside 513-down, the mid-morning stopper to Melorane. On the left is Kallie Ludick's 3235 crossing over from the up to the down line and on the right is another regular engine (I'm sorry to say the driver's name has eluded me) 16DA 843 showing a disdainful pair of heels to the much heavier express. Coach information from Peter: "The leading flat sided baggage van on the train on the right is of interest. It is an ex-CSAR kitchen staff, baggage, and guards van which, although built after Union at Uitenhage Works in 1911, still received a CSAR number. Coaches planned and approved were built to parent designs after Union while standard SAR designs were being prepared and the renumbering finalized. It was modified and later became number 2271 of type GD-7-C. Although 12 of the type were built in three batches, this was the last survivor, sadly being scrapped in the Bloemfontein works in May 1970. This same coach appears several times in this and the previous chapter."

88. Just to show you the previous one was not a fluke here are the two trains in better juxtaposition and no, Briggs, this is not a photoshop job. Engine numbers unfortunately not recorded.

89. In October 1968 the Orange Express had still not been fully converted to Union Carriage and Wagon stock but the interim period would last at least another year. Towards the rear of the train is one of the articulated wooden-bodied clerestory saloons that graced the prewar Union Express/Union Limited before being incorporated in the newly introduced Orange Express in 1948.

The gradient away from the Bloemspruit was enough to draw more than just a dismissive grunt from its 23. The fireman was clearly not observing the injunction to "AVOID BLACK SMOKE".

90. Two Beaconsfield engines, a 23 and a 25NC bringing their through freight from Natal to the Western Cape up the hill out of BFX about a year after the previous photo.

91. A Beaconsfield condenser about to depart Bloemfontein with 289-down, overnight to Kimberley.

92. From 1962 onwards (after the Touws River - Beaufort West section had completely gone over to electric traction) condensers became frequent visitors to Bloemfontein, at first only on the manganese ore workings but from 1968 after electrification of the ore line to Postmasburg, increasingly on general freight. This pair were bringing a block load for the Western Cape via Alex yard (Beaconsfield) up the old freight line to Hamilton while the down main line deck span over the Thaba Nchu road received attention.

93. On a wet December morning in 1970 a mighty 238-ton condenser forges up the bypass towards Hamilton and the Kimberley line.

94. Returning coal empties passing a condenser coming off the bypass on a working to the Cape Northern system.

95. The Orange Express overtaking a 25NC on a freight, both trains approaching Hamilton where they will branch west to head for the Cape Northern system

96. 229-down, a block load for the Western Cape via Alex, about to take the Kimberley line at Hamilton with 25NC 3445 and an unknown condenser, in April 1972

97. The westbound Drakensberg Express curving away from the Springfontein line at Hamilton with an unknown 23 in March 1975

98. And a few years earlier, the Orange Express at the same location with 23cl 3205 and a complete consist of cream-and-burnt sienna coaches.

99. The magnificent well-proportioned lines of a class 23 leaning into a curve is beautifully illustrated here as she blasts out of Hamilton past Showgrounds with the Orange Express bound for Kimberley on Sunday 9 July 1972.

100. Almost four years later a 25NC and 25 Condenser pass the same spot as the previous photo, for a brief moment almost causing a total eclipse of the sun. The crews look obviously pleased with their performance for the camera. Date: April 1976

101. One of the many reasons that made Bloemfontein such a great place to photograph trains were the endless days of perfect sunshine in winter. Here the Drakensberg climbs through the western suburbs, the old-fashioned SAR footbridge providing an interesting feature. The photographer on the bridge, spoiling my photo, is one of the hordes who came to Bloemfontein in later years to photograph its steam trains. Date: August 1978.

102. The SAR put out a programme for all special and scheduled trains running each day during holiday periods, as well providing a comprehensive coach set working which ensured that all trains were catered for. One of the most interesting was a first- and second-class train from Cape Town to Durban reserved for people of colour.* Here a Beaconsfield 25NC brings the train, running in the times of the Orange Express, toward Bloemfontein near Hamilton. As luck would have it, the van was a modern steel one with an elliptical roof. The crew in the dining car, still with a coal stove, were already preparing the evening meal. Date: December 1972.

* An observation from Charlie here: "while we photographers preferred the much more photogenic clerestory stock, SAR brass certainly considered this old-fashioned and out of date, thus giving the lie to the Apartheid Government's maxim 'Separate but equal'. "

103. It's all downhill from here. Clean stacks indicate 02666-up manganese from Kamfersdam to Maydon Wharf (Durban) is near journey's end for these 23s making their way to the Up block-load yard. From there a pair of 15Fs will take the same load on to Gunhill (Kroonstad) where the load will be split and a pair of 15Es will take the reduced load on to Harrismith.

104. Beaconsfield 25NC 3439 "City of Pietermaritzburg" with 226-up goods from New Beaconsfield South Yard on the up freight line into Bloemfontein in October 1968.

105. Another failed attempt to get three trains at this location, included here for interest. Passing over the Thaba Nchu bus is condenser-hauled grain from the western Transvaal destined for East London harbour, while in the foreground is the Shannon shuttle (my name for the goods 'train' to siding 1125 on the Bethlehem line). That bus looks so innocent but within little more than a dozen years it and its mates will have taken over the entire Thaba Nchu service.

106. Beautifully bulled up Bloemfontein passenger-link 23cl 3229 "Springs" brings the eastbound Orange Express into platform 2 while the carriage & wagon examiner waits ready with his ping hammer. In platform 4 is 1312-up express freight with Western Cape fruit for Natal. 1312 and its opposite number 1313 went via Modderpoort.

107. A small gathering waits to join the Orange Express in platform 2.

108. That's almost 480 tons of motive power at the head of 220-up goods from Kimberley heading for the up block-load yard. The last years of the sixties and the first half of the seventies saw unprecedented growth in traffic and many trains that previously were single-headed were now regularly hauled by two locomotives. The large diameter curved duct to the right of the smokebox carried exhaust steam to the condensing tender via a centrifugal oil separator. It worked - spectacularly!

109. Those condensing tenders were impressive, as long as the engine itself. There were five giant fans arranged horizontally along the top which cooled the exhaust to re-form as water. The engine had a range of >650 miles with full load but was rarely called upon to demonstrate this capability mainly because most crews were terrified of running out of water.

110. Bruno: photographed in February 1977, I did not record the loco number. Unfortunately, that was the last frame on the film, and by the time I had loaded the spare reel from the camera bag in my car and went back to the station the train had gone. Apart from the train itself, it has a very intriguing background in the shape of the original OVSS company's head office building (ORANJE VRYSTAATSCHE SPOORWEGEN and later the SAR System Manager's office) where the Union of South Africa was signed into being on 31st May 1910.

111. 71-down departing Bloemfontein for Durban on a rainy morning in December 1970. The 15Es were allowed 14 bogies on the direct route via Modderpoort and the ruling grade beyond there was 1/50. That tender heaped high carried more than 14 tons of coal and with 14 bogies in this direction the poor fireman would be counting individual lumps by the time he was approaching the final summit between Barnea and Bethlehem - that's 167lb/mile for the entire 188 miles. No wonder they called them 'Bongols'! It was not a good idea to ask for smoke.

112. The same train taking the Bethlehem road.

113. On a crisp winter's morning in 1969 a 15F heads out of Bloemfontein with 71-down while the yard pilot, a 12R shunts the carriage yard.

In June 1969 Bethlehem had 44 class 15Es, 27 class 15Fs and six 23s so it was not uncommon to find 71-down hauled by a 15F or even a 23. But operating preferred to use the 15Fs and 23s on the more important Bethlehem - Kroonstad line, by far busier than the direct line to Bloemfontein which probably accounts for the plethora of Bongols on this route.

114. 16DA’s 848 and 876 depart Bloemfontein, double-heading 71-down the daytime Bethlehem passenger which included hired coaches for RSSA members who were riding the train in November 1972. This put the load beyond the capacity of a single 15E so at the request of the RSSA it was arranged for these two Pacifics to haul the train.

115. No mistaking that roly-poly poppet-valve gear on 15E 2861 heading out of town with 71-down in mid-1972. Check the coal piled as high as possible plus a little that had spilled over onto the tank deck. It would all be gone before Bethlehem - you can actually see the fireman shovelling for all he's worth.

116. In the Winter of 1973, after a busy day at Karee photographing the seemingly endless procession of trains north of Bloemfontein, Brian retired to the city for the night, grabbing a few silhouette shots of locos on the Bloemfontein flyovers as the sun set. However, after supper he made a final turn at the station, where at around 10.30pm he was rewarded with this unidentified Class 19D with coupling rods perfectly down, which had just coupled to the final passenger train to depart Bloemfontein for the day. This was 379-down, the 10.45pm daily except Saturdays all-stops to Zastron, which would reach its destination at 6.50am the next morning. This train also provided a suburban service as far as Melorane for shift workers coming off duty at 10pm. Those passengers wishing to continue on to Aliwal North had the option of connecting with a goods train with passenger accommodation, departing Zastron after breakfast at 8.25am. By sunrise Brian was back at Karee…!

117. In the four years I spent in Bloemfontein this was the only occasion where I saw a class 19D running with a tender other than a type MP1 or type MX, replaced by what appears to be one of the type the earlier class 19D’s originally came out with. This tender swap was done to get the locomotive out the depot urgently and was replaced immediately upon return. Here 19D 3341, with a tender when full may have exceeded the allowable axle load on the branch, departs with the Saturdays-only 373-down, the 13:15 to Aliwal North. With coaching stock variety that only Bloemfontein seemed able to produce, the leading carriage is a type H-21 third class sleeper, the second is 6331, a type U-24 first- and second-class composite originally built in 1928 for services in Durban and transferred to Bloemfontein in April 1970 (note the three steps per door as required for services in Natal), the third coach is a type L-32 first class converted from an ex-Reef electric plain trailer in the early ‘70s and the fourth is a composite day saloon, the latter three all being used as third class vehicles. Date: April 1974

118. After the Class 16Es had been officially withdrawn from service in the Winter of 1972, the RSSA made an appeal to the railway authorities for one last "farewell" trip behind a 16E. Approval was eventually given for 16E 857, carrying the name "Ann Smith - Bloemfontein Queen", to be brought out of retirement for a final run. It would stand in for the usual Class 23 on trains 91/92, the Bloemfontein - Kimberley - Bloemfontein daytime all stations. With a suburban coach specially added for the RSSA contingent, here we see 857 departing Bloemfontein at the head of 91-down. She would return on 92-up, leaving Kimberley at 4pm and heralding what was announced at the time as probably the last 16E working on a regular passenger train. As an aside, train 91 was booked to depart Bloemfontein at 9.20am daily except Mondays and Thursdays, on which days it ran as 291, leaving Bloem some four hours earlier to provide a booked connection with 105-down, the Cape Town - Bulawayo "Rhodesian Express" at Kimberley.

119. Glen was travelling on 177-down, the Bloemfontein - Aliwal North all-stations, hauled by 19D 2751 in November 1973.

120. At the end of 1972 the inner suburban service was terminated without notice (suburban stations were crowded with stranded passengers the next morning). In the meantime the outer-suburban service to Thaba Nchu (38 miles) was growing so rapidly that the weekend trains had perforce to be doubleheaded. At 2:00 am on Mondays the empty stock was taken out to Thaba Nchu for the morning commuter runs (the stock could not be left there over the weekend for fear of vandalism). In January 1973 this combination of 16DA and 15E was about to depart.

121. The same working but with two 15Fs in February 1974. By this time the 15Es and 16DAs had been retired.

122. The Friday afternoon 16:40 pm Thaba Nchu departing with a 15F piloting a 23 in January 1974. Allowed 84 minutes for the 38 miles with nine intermediate stops this was a popular and quite lively commuter run.

123. Bethlehem-bound 71 down with a leaking 15E approaching the underpass beneath the freight bypass in the winter of 1968.

124. By the time this photo was taken of 71 Down in 1978 the 15E’s had been supplanted on the Bethlehem line by the first batch of 25NC’s many of which were well looked after by their regular crews. 25NC 3414 is featured here on another cold morning about to pass under the bypass line.

125. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NOo, it's Soooperman!!!!! With the opening of the electrification to Stanger in 1969 there was a shortage of 5M2A motor coaches so these were hastily transferred from the Cape Western for the Durban - Stanger service. I hope for the fireman's sake the motors were disengaged!

126. Back at this place again (I was a glutton for punishment), the 08:30 am to Aliwal North with (quite rare) a 19C (No 2439), passing a caboose hop to siding 1125 which was a few miles out of town. No luck with a train on the bypass.

127. Nearly made it but no local goods appeared this time - foiled again. The 15E was on 71-down but I only recently noticed it was hauling a whole lot of suburban coaches. The class 23 was on a block grain train to East London harbour.

128. This is plate 63 from Victor Hand's "A Steam Odyssey". If you are without this book you should get it. Apart from many SAR scenes from the sixties and seventies, and brilliant photos from all over the world, it is the best known cure for the blues that I know about.

Here is Victor's description of how this triple action shot came about: "Just east of Bloemfontein passenger station the Noupoort main line crosses above the Bethlehem line. South African photographer Charlie Lewis, who lived in Bloemfontein, thought it might be possible to photograph three moving steam trains at this location and he set about making the necessary arrangements. Charlie worked for SAR and knew everyone. He would begin before dawn, visiting the stationmaster, yardmaster and dispatcher and talking with engine crews as they went on duty. Watches had to be synchronised and everyone instructed to watch the movement of the other trains and to make smoke as required. Lewis had tried this shot many times and often got two trains but the third was elusive. One Friday night I was having dinner with Charlie and Melly and the suggestion was made that we try the triple shot in the morning. Arrangements were made and the shot worked! It was my first try."

129. Everyone is dashing to work as one of Bloemfontein’s converted condensers leaves Bloemfontein with the 07.45 to Ladybrand in July 1978.

130. On 17 January 1966 this rather unkempt class 23 No 3311 was seen heading for Bethlehem with train no.71/709 near Shannon. From Peter Stow: "In mid-1969 six class 23’s 3310 to 3315 were transferred from Bloemfontein to Bethlehem and were used (possibly on others as well but this is not recorded) on trains 71 & 72 but don't appear to have been kept very clean. Their use on this line would appear not to have been successful, possibly due to flange wear on the curves, and by January 1970 the first two were sent away although the depot to which they were sent is not recorded on the OFS allocation. By April 1970 3312 and 3314 are shown as returned to Bloemfontein and by July 1970 3313 and 3315, along with several others from Bloemfontein were on loan to Kroonstad.

131. A crossing at Shannon in January 1969: Train No 71-down, the daily except Sundays 9:00 am departure from Bloemfontein to Durban crosses a Lynchfield local hauled by 16DA 845. 15E 2867 will haul the Durban train as far as Bethlehem (via Modderpoort) where another 15E will take over for the last lap of 65 miles to Harrismith where it in turn will hand over to three Ladysmith-based class 1E electric units for the run over van Reenen's Pass.

132. Another Shannon scene with Class 19D No 2756 working 496-up from Ladybrand to Bloemfontein. The poor old 19D hadn’t seen a cotton-waste wipe-down cloth for some time.

133. Still at Shannon, the ESSEM is ready to hand the fireman of 178-up from Aliwal North the van Schoor tablet for the last lap of its run into Bloemfontein. The engine was a much cleaner 19D 2747, and the date was 6 January 1969.

134. As with the Friday afternoon down trains the Monday morning incoming commuter runs were extremely popular, running to more than twenty coaches at times. A normal 15F and another with hand-me-down 23-class tender were paused for passengers just after sunrise at Shannon on a cool morning in 1976.

135. From 1973 SAR abandoned the practice of showing every goods train in the WTBs so i don't know the train number for this spectacular departure from Shannon in May 1975. It was in the siding for 3531-down to Ladybrand whose exhaust you can make out in the distance.

136. Three years later the service rendered by the freight shown in photo 133 had been cut back to Modderpoort and was being handled by a Bloemfontein 15F seen here restarting from Shannon after crossing the Ladybrand train - there it is scampering into the distance. By this time the latter had been renumbered (again) to 55351. It was uncanny how the changing of things that had been stable for decades seemed to herald a downhill slide. NONE of these trains exist anymore.

137. The same Monday morning up Thaba Nchu featured in photo 132 arriving in Bloemfontein. The photo illustrates the length of this invariably-full outer-suburban run.

138. Almost 5 pm and the fireman of the 19D of 178-up is probably exhausted, having been shovelling since around 06:30 am when he booked on in Aliwal North for the 07:40 am departure to Bloemfontein that morning. This was a killer shift. The train was all-stations as far as Melorane (eleven miles from Bloemfontein) and the length of the journey was 182 miles, stopping and restarting at 30 stations and halts en route.

139. Les wrote: "September 1975 witnessed the ceremony of mounting class 16E 857 named “Ann Smith” in the forecourt outside the station and broadside-on to Maitland street. My late daughter Alice (who took the photos) accompanied my wife and self to the function which turned out to be a real grand occasion. System Manager Dougie Morkel had managed to locate Ann Smith – now Mrs Redman in Natal - to come up to Bloemfontein to attend as the honoured guest. In this photo-collage we have from top left: a cadet-band from a prominent local high-school; engine 857 steaming herself on the temporary track to the permanent plinth; yours truly and wife Carol; System Manager Morkel addressing the gathering with Mrs Redman in white seated alongside the Mayor and finally, 857 on what at that time was supposed to be her final resting place. This was not to be! In the 1980s she was removed from her plinth and restored to working order for use on enthusiast specials. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because most if not all plinthed locomotive monuments have been seriously vandalized in later years when such monuments were regarded by the new railway management as nothing more than rusted metal heaps!"

140. Until December 1972 Bloemfontein had quite a comprehensive steam-operated suburban service. Then it was suddenly terminated without warning; SAR was not in the business of winning friends and influencing people. Almost five years earlier this was the evening line-up with 21-down, the 5:12 pm mixed to Springfontein just departing from platform 3 on the left, then 107-down, the 5:19 pm to Kloofeind, ready to depart from platform 4 and the 5:25 to Thaba Nchu from platform 6 on the right. All these trains had 16DAs. In the right background the 12R yard pilot was still sorting coaches.

Did I say 'winning friends'? 21-down's 88-mile run was completely unadvertised. Why SAR bothered with it is a mystery. Here are the notes for train 21 in the Working Time Book:

"Conveys workmen and passengers for points between Bloemfontein and Springfontein. Conveys direct traffic for Springfontein and the Koffiefontein branch. Must not be used to perform intermediate work. Conveys bogie stock only. May run before time between Edenburg and Springfontein." [that last sentence is highlighted by SAR, not me! Pity the poor would-be passenger (assuming he knew about the train) who arrived at his station only to find it left ten minutes ago....]

One more observation: those thick pipes paralleling the tracks across the bridge were used to provide compressed air for the Westinghouse Electro-pneumatic points machines and colour-light signalling installation which was brought into use in 1958 (see Part 1 of this chapter).

141. Class 16DA 873 is almost ready to depart with 523-down the 17:25 to Thaba Nchu. By this time the days of this class, whose average maintenance costs were the lowest of any on the System, were numbered. Date: April 1972

142. Nine months after the previous picture was taken, a 16DA is still in charge of the 17:25 to Thaba Nchu. Date January 1973

143. 21-down setting off for Springfontein with 16DA 869 in February 1968. That's the bridge over the mighty Bloemspruit.

144. We took renowned author and MD of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, John Snell, to Bloemfontein locoshed on a Saturday morning in October 1969. He spotted 10C 776 looking forlorn on a back road, took a fancy to her and inquired as to the possibility of getting her out on the line. We put the idea to Gert Coetzee who not only arranged for her to haul Sunday's 08:40 am to Melorane but had her beautifully bulled up. Those were the days......

An additional note from our coach fundi, Peter Stow: "Apart from the locomotive, the suburban coaches are of interest. The three represent each version of steel locomotive-hauled suburban coach imported and placed in service between 1949 and 1951. The first is a 6-door 3rd , the second a 5-door 2nd and the third a 4-door 1st . A unique consist. Also of interest is the use of a van at one end only, a practice unique to the OFS and Transvaal Systems, possibly dating back to CSAR days but considered a complete no-no on the Natal and Cape Systems

where a van at both ends was insisted upon, even when it was pointed out that elsewhere on the network only one van was used. SAR did have its idiosyncrasies......."

145. In the last year of significant suburban operation around Bloemfontein, a class 16DA heads the 13:25 to Kloofeind one Saturday in April 1972. Behind the locomotive is a composite van of type GD-23-C, one of six built in Pretoria and placed in service in November 1950, and a type seen in several photographs in this chapter.

146. The unmistakeable classic American design of the class 16DA is evident here as the 17:25 to Thaba Nchu makes an energetic departure from Bloemfontein with its 14 coach train. Date: January 1973

147. The wide-firebox 16DAs were much less popular with the crews than their regular class mates (60 sq ft grate vs 45 sq ft) so it was rare to find one on a suburban passenger - they were generally the preserve of senior (and wily) drivers approaching retirement. Thus it was rare to find wf 16DA 879 looking nice and clean with the 18:33 to Lynchfield in February 1968.

148. More usual latter-day BFX suburban power, 16DA 850 with 523-down, the 17:25 pm to Melorane in March 1968.

149. Most of Bloemfontein's 16DAs were regular engines kept immaculate and this one seems to have beaten that 23 to the rapidly approaching parting of the ways, the suburban 513-down to Melorane heading east and 208-up the Orange Express going west towards Kimberley. Winter 1972.

150. 16DA 844 with the 17:25 Melorane, 523-down, March 1968.

151. On Sunday mornings trains were shorter (it gave the station pilot something to do). 16DA 848 with the 08:40 Melorane, 543-down in July 1968

152. From off the flyover of the freight bypass, the 17:25 Melorane (a favourite train!) in March 1968.

153. By April 1968 I was beginning to appreciate the possibilities of this location. This one contrasts the two varieties of 16DA that ironically carried the same classification. The 08:15 Lynchfield with 16DA 848 was about to be pounced on by wf 16DA 874 with 993-down T&P to Springfontein.

154. A class 16DA hauls one of the last locals to Melorane near Bloemspruit in November 1972.

155. A local passenger packet to Lynchfield was seen approaching Shannon with 16DA No 870 in charge on 17 January 1966.

156. This photo taken in January 1969 near Shannon, shows the typical tender-first working between Melorane/Lynchfield and Bloemfontein on the local passenger services. This was required because turning facilities for engines were not provided at those points. As you see, the unidentified 16DA has a cowcatcher fitted to her tender for reverse running.

157. Tender-first on the right is 16DA 848 with 510-up ex Lynchfield; on the left unknown 15E of 465-down Perishables and Livestock waits for 510 to clear before heading for Bethlehem. In the background the east industrial shunt locomotive, a 3R takes a breather while the crew have breakfast. March 1968.

158. It was said not even the crews knew about the pending cancellation of Bloemfontein's suburban service, which could be borne out by the fact that the suburban-link 16DAs were kept immaculate until the very end in December 1972. This was #873, 17:19 pm off Bloemfontein, with 107-down on their way to Kloofeind in November, a fortnight before the end.

159. About to be withdrawn from service and prepared for plinthing in front of the station in 1973 (see Les's photo montage of the ceremony, No 137 above), it was arranged by special request for 'oulaas' (=old time's sake) to put 16E 857 on 21-down to Springfontein. It was a sad occasion but I did manage to pull myself together and get this shot.

160. Looking nearly as grand (just kidding!) as Frank Garrison's portrayal of #877 leaving Jo'burg with the Union Limited in 1933 is this one of the 17:19 local to Kloofeind with 16DA 879 coming up to Hamilton in mid 1968. Helping to bear out what I've been saying about how busy everything was, an up freight was rumbling by on the bypass.

161. The 17:19 pm to Kloofeind a few years before some MBA graduate suggested the service be chopped. It has just overtaken a condenser on Kimberley-bound freight.

162. A class 16DA approaches Hamilton with train 103 the 06:20 to Kloofeind in late 1972.

163. At Hamilton the Kimberley line swings sharply westward and ducks under the old N1. 16DA 845 was on the 17:19 Bloemfontein - Kloofeind in December 1971.

164. A class 15E leaves the main line to the south at Hamilton and branches off to the west towards Kloofeind with local train 107 the 17:19 from Bloemfontein. The first two class 15E’s 2866 and 2871 were transferred from Bethlehem to Bloemfontein in March 1971 and by April 1972 the allocation had increased to 14 of which three were to be scrapped. The allocation increased to 18 by May 1973 but by July of the same year they were all withdrawn.

165. Train 103, the 06:20 to Kloofeind behind a class 15E, passes Showgrounds as it heads for its destination at Kloofeind in October 1972. The rotary poppet valve gear is clearly highlighted by the rising sun.

166. 16DA 870 accelerating away from De Bloem on 45/523 down, the 16:50 to Melorane in March 1968. Hot on its heels is a following freight, about to be deviated onto the bye-pass.

167. Beautifully groomed 16DA 869 working out of De Bloem with the same service also March 1968. Note the interesting array of coaches - the UCW tin job stands out like a sore thumb.

168. I might have mentioned that SAR in Bloemfontein was busy and this bears me out (OK, OK). That's 45/523 drifting in to its stop at Estoire while what looks like a late-running Orange Express streaks away into the distance and a 12R shunts the livestock pens.

169. A few years earlier, 45/523-down with 16DA 848 and 3R 1446 performing for the film crew (OK, arranged from my office desk 2 minutes walk away) at Estoire.

170. 16DA 873 heads into Bloemfontein with a local from the north in 1971

171. Les: "In July 1967 on another visit to my favourite railway city, I tried my hand at a bit of night photography and found 16DA 869 (the same engine photographed from the defunct signal cabin back in 1960) at the head of a passenger train. I took several night-shots around the station but only this one was reasonably successful. Note the awful little box housing the sealed-beam headlamp – if only those responsible could have devised a method of incorporating the new sealed-beam lamps in the decent old headlamp casings!" [hear! hear!]

172. Each weekday the Kloofeind local (on the left with 16DA) departed at 06.20 and the Melorane (with 15E) at 06:18. It was quite a job getting the drivers to synchronise their watches but on this occasion they did and it worked out quite well. October 1971

173. On a November 1971 morning a 15E was rostered for the Kloofeind run and a 16DA for Melorane. As you see, the driver of the 16DA was already trying to make up the two minutes he lost by synchronising his watch.....

And that's all for now. The next chapter tells what you need to know about the Hump & Retarder yard and its associated activities (especially its relevance to wagonload traffic), the Running Shed (with its 100% steam allocation of > 200 engines) and the Mechanical Workshops that were still overhauling clerestory carriages until deep into the seventies and locomotive boilers into the eighties.

NB: SPECIAL NOTICE from Jean Dulez:

Another consignment of “The Railway to Adventure” is due shortly, at a reduced price of R790.00 for South African readers, owing to the current better shipping and rand exchange rate; local courier (Postnet or Aramex) is R100. Customers in Gauteng may arrange to collect directly and hence save this amount.

Contact Jean Dulez 083 441 5488 or jean.dulez@gmail.com

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