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Steam Locomotives of the South African Railroads Vol 1 1859-1910 DF Holland w/DJ
Steam Locomotives of the South African Railroads Vol 1 1859-1910 by DF Holland
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket
144 pages
Copyright 1972
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION9
1 The 4ft 81-in Gauge11
2 The Cape Town-Wellington Railway15
3 The Port Alfred Locomotives 18
4 Port Elizabeth & East London 19
5 The Natal Railway20
6 The 3ft 6in Gauge : the Cape Government Railways (CGR)23
7 The Metropolitan & Suburban, New Cape Central (NCCR), and Kowie Railways 76
8 The Natal Government Railways (NGR) 84
9 The Orange Free State Railways (OVGS) 106
10 De Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatschappij (NZASM)109
11 The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway (PPR) 118
12 The Selati and Ermelo Railways121
13 The Imperial Military Railways (IMR)122
14 The Central South African Railways (CSAR)126
APPENDIXChief Mechanical Engineers and Locomotive Superintendents: 1859-1910 141
CREDITS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS141
INDEX 142
DUST JACKET INTRODUCTION
This is the first of two volumes covering nearly one hundred years of South African steam locomotive history, from 1859 to 1955. They describe practically every type of steam locomotive and variant to operate on the railroads of South Africa.
This volume starts with the first locomotive to reach South Africa, a small 0-4-2 well tank brought out from England in a brig in 1859 and now cherished as a national monument; it records the locomotive history of all railroads, other than the 2ft narrow gauge, in being before the Act of Union in 1910. The railroads thus dealt with include the Capetown-Wellington Railway, the Natal Railway, the Cape Government Railways, the Metropolitan & Suburban Railway, the New Cape Central and Kowie Railways, the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikan Spoorweg Maatschappij, the Pretoria-Pietersburg, Selati and Ermelo Railways, the Imperial Military Railways of the Boer War and the Central South African Railways.
Volume II deals in equal detail and wealth of illustrations with the locomotives of the South African Railway from the time of Union in 1910 to 1955, and also includes a special chapter on the many small Harbour Board locomotives which made their appearance between 1873 and 1904.
INTRODUCTION
WAY back in 1907 when I was a small boy three years of age, fate decreed that I should live for a time with my grandparents in the, then, small coal-mining town of Witbank in the Eastern Transvaal. Witbank was, and still is, an important centre on the main railway line between Pretoria and Lourenco Marques, and the line passed near my grandparents' home. In addition, there were two colliery lines passing close by, along which the little mine engines hauled their loads of coal to the yards at Witbank station.
The main-line trains, with their beautifully polished locomotives with gleaming brass domes and boiler bands, filled me with delight, and the little mine engines became great friends of mine, especially when the drivers, who were friends of my grandfather, took me on to the footplate and allowed me to ride into Witbank and back with them.
From this there developed a great fascination for steam locomotives, one might almost say `love', and it has stayed with me all my life. As a result I acquired a great knowledge of them, and it is to preserve this that this book has been written. I was not keen on the idea of writing it, and it took a great deal of persuasion from my good friends Dante Parkin, chief librarian of the South African Railways, and Geoff Moore of Beckenham, Kent, England, himself no mean locomotive historian, to get me started. Once on the way, however, I found it of absorbing interest.
When I undertook to write this history, I imagined, in my ignorance, that it would take approximately six months to complete. I thought I knew all about the SAR locomotives, but the more I delved into the subject, the more appalled I became at my lack of knowledge. There was only one thing to be done, go right back to the beginning and start from there. As a result, with all the research, preparation of diagrams, writing countless letters, and asking heaven knows how many questions, I have at last reached the end, and it has taken me nearly nine years. These have been amongst the most interesting years of my life. Reading through old documents, reports, and papers, has brought me many fascinating facts concerning the early years in South Africa and I have learnt many little-known items of general interest, often far removed from locomotives. Now that I have reached the end, it will leave a big gap in my life which will have to be filled. Maybe I will write another book!
I do not claim that the record is complete. There may quite easily be some locomotives which have been left out due to lack of information or the nonexistence of the old records, but the few that may be missing will be a very small fraction of the total.
It was difficult to decide what to put in, and what to leave out, to keep the book within reasonable bounds, so I decided not to include technical details except where they might be of special interest, and to confine myself to the aft 6in gauge, as there are already books dealing with the 2ft narrow gauge. Even so, covering as it does nearly one hundred years of locomotive history, it became too large to encompass in one volume and so has been divided into two. This, the first volume, covers all the constituent companies of the SAR, from 1859 to 1910; the second covers the SAR locomotives from 1910 to 1955 and will also deal with the many little harbour locomotives which made their appearance between 1873 and 1904.
Compiling the book has provided me with many hours of absorbing interest, sometimes frustrating, but more often rewarding, though without the help of the many good friends who supplied me with information and encouragement it would never have been completed.
An acknowledgement of the sources of photographs reproduced is this volume will be found on page 141.
FRANK HOLLAND
Johannesburg, 1971
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