Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 62 - Brake Van " BREAK THROUGH !" by Marcus Ingram 26 June 2005

More on the Guards Van donated to the Welsh Highland Railway by Sandstone Heritage Trust:
A pivotal point in the overhaul has been reached!

There is more being added to the brake van than is being removed. Half of the floor is now complete. The framework for the access hatch in the floor is ready to be welded in, allowing easy maintenance of the vacuum cylinder without having to drop the whole heavy unit, as was done with the P-way vehicles. The remaining floor area in the guards area is going to look a bit like a patchwork quilt buthas now been cut back and needs very little preparation. I will be doing 4 days at Dinas 10, 11,12 and 13 July, during which I intend to complete the preparation of the frame and cut all required plates ready to be welded. At the same time I will complete the drilling of the two end angles and hang them ready for welding and manufacture the Port end high arched end plate. This should the completion of all but the manufacture and fitting of two missing side angles and marks the end of the metal work phase in its restoration.

Anyone interested in helping to contact either myself This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Carol Symonds at Boston Lodge

Cheers all
Marcus


As the team is usually just Marcus, sometimes with help from his 73 year old father, with occasional help from others, he will welcome all the help he can get. We are told North Wales is very pleasant at this time of year.....
The accompanying photograph looks quite South African but was actually taken looking through the bushes towards the rear of the Carriage Shed at Dinas with an as yet unrestored DZ in the foreground.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 61 - Weekly Report - 17th June - Sandstone Estates steam locomotives

THE BARCLAY:
The Barclay was steamed for a very special train ride this week for some VIP passengers. This was the very first time the Barclay had worked a train after overhaul. There were a few problems that occurred and the minor adjustments were made today. She really is a very special locomotive.
Derrick made some modification to the ash pan and the fire bars, to enable a better flow of air for combustion. She will be steamed again to test the end result.

I used this opportunity to put the Barclay in the hand of learner driver Derrick van Zyl under close supervision. The Barclay took the train to Grootdraai and back to Hoekfontein again.

Here is a happy Boilermaker inside the Barclay's firebox before....
He got stuck halfway in the firebox doors!!!

ACID WASH:
The acid wash of the boilers fortunately came to an end this week and now we can start with the wash out of all the boilers. We are planning a small area where we can easily wash out the stationary boilers. Washing out a boiler is a very messy job and therefore we need to get the wash out place at an appropriate place with drainage.
After the wash out of all the boilers, they will be stored dry to prevent corrosion.

THE HUNSLET DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE:
The wheels have not arrived at the farm yet, and I hope that it will be delivered tomorrow.
Des will machine the bushes as soon as we have the wheels.

SANDSTONE ESTATES 2' WAGONS:
AY 2020;
Arno is still busy with the grinding of the sides. The compressor in the Mobile workshop is now working, and this will speed up our wagon restoration enormously.

THE FLAT WAGON:
Ben finished the wood floor of the flat wagon and is almost finished with the sanding of the wood. The wood will be varnished and we might fit angle iron on the sides, depending on the final result.

B WAGON 2951:
This wagon will be stencilled tomorrow and will be shunted to the station.

THE MOBILE WORKSHOP: Henry fitted the bench grinder and vice in the Mobile Workshop. The compressor is very effective and it gives air in a second. Henry still needs to finish the paint work in the wagon. Des did all the electrical work that was needed to enable the compressor to run with all the governors in working order.

THE BSA RAILCAR:

Des completely stripped the gearbox this week. He cleaned all the spares and fitted it back. The engine arrived this week and Des will start with the modification and fitting work on the BSA.

GENERAL: WORKSHOP PLANNING: Oupa is busy with the painting of the floors inside the shed. The working areas are grey and the walking area will be green. The colours will be divided with a yellow stripe and a yellow stripe between each artisans working space. The area at the back where 88 is stripped, will be barricaded with a locomotive rebuild sign.

We are going to make a little visitors corner if front of the shed office. There will be a table with chairs and some interesting books to read. All the banners we've acquired gave me will be hung around the shed. RAILWAY SIGNS: Ben fitted another four whistle boards to tar poles. Two are at the crossing at Hoekfontein at the Grootdraai side and the other two will be placed at the north side of the station tomorrow.

TRAINING:

Derrick wrote three tests this week and really did well. The training program is still on schedule.

FROM THE PAST:
Here is a 23 Class leaving Vetrivier station with a passenger train long before electrification of the Bloemfontein - Kroonstad mainline. This photo was taken by Mr Norval who was employed as a station foreman on Vetrivier station in those years.
plant.

Greetings, Gert

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 60 - Sandstone Heritage Trust transport fleet – 'International Rescue'

One of the essentials in being able to move swiftly to save items of historic importance is a transport capability.

Sandstone Heritage trust is fortunate in being able to deploy a fleet of road vehicles, including substantial lowbeds, and qualified staff and drivers, at short notice if necessary, to points far and wide to collect locomotives, coaches, wagons and other items of equipment under threat.

One of the longest trips was to Beira Docks in Mozambique to bring back a Peckett tank locomotive and a Baguley Drewry diesel locomotive from those purchased from Sena Sugar Estates. This was to establish whether it was not only logistically possible to do the job, but made economic sense. It was certainly possible and played a part in the shipping company giving us a better price to transport the remaining locos by sea to Durban.

The availability of road transport was critical in the recent case of the possible scrapping of locomotives at St. Helena as we were able to use our own vehicles for many of the moves, as can be seen by the North British tank on the outskirts of Ficksburg having been plucked from the jaws of the scrap dealers at the 11th hour.
Jo please insert the pic of North British tank on the outskirts of Ficksburg

Having our own transport made it economically viable to even save an old DZ from St Helena as well. It was not fit to travel by rail, and under different circumstances would probably have been cut up for scrap, but there are so few of the early DZ wagons left, of the tens of thousands built, that it was thought worth saving so was loaded up and transported to Sandstone, Initial research suggests it may have been built in 1928, surely a remarkable survivor of the mass destruction of still serviceable wagons in recent years.

Another use for the transport fleet is what could be called internal movements within the confines of the property. Following the saving of the Train Restaurant Dining Cars from Halfway House near Johannesburg, which have been placed on a display line near the narrow gauge Hoekfontein Station, it has been decided to assemble a complete vintage display train of wooden clerestory coaches, the others coming from Ficksburg. At the head of the train will be the ex-Loraine Class 10CR, itself built in 1910, which has been stored near Vailima siding.

This was loaded onto our lowbed and transported the five kilometers or so to Hoekfontein for its new display role.

Final pic to be inserted is 10CR being unloaded onto the display line.
Of course, these are just a fraction of the moves involving our widely travelled transport fleet which has, like the TV series of old, earned the nickname of 'International Rescue'.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 58 - Diesel rebuilding continues at facility near Bloemfontein

Many people do not realise that apart from the 2-ft narrow gauge running shed that Gert Jubileus reports on weekly we have a major diesel rebuild facility near Bloemfontein. This run by long time associate of Sandstone Heritage Trust, Zach van Staden. Zach is one of those traditional mechanical engineering guys who can seemingly fix anything – scrapers, bulldozers, trucks, cranes, front end loaders, you name it he can fix it, and you can now include diesel locomotives in that list as well. Right - Zach van Staden and two of his team stripping a Gardner engine
	As previously reported Zach was responsible for replacing the very tired Gardner engine in our ex Midmar Hunslet (6355/1964) and returning it in a very smart new livery. Zach's workshop also turned out the small converted mines locomotive which has proved very useful as a workshop shunter. Its small size belies its haulage power, although it does struggle a bit on cold mornings with a Garratt or Kalahari. Left - Narrow gauge Hunslet diesel assisting with unloading of parts of NGG 16 no. 155

Zach is currently working on getting one of the three Bagnall 0-6-0DM shunters purchased from the Alfred County Railway in Port Shepstone back to life. All three can best politely be described as tired, one had fire damage as well as plenty of wear to the mechanical areas.

One chassis has been virtually stripped and as the accompanying photographs show the eight cylinder Gardner engine has been removed from the locomotive and dismantled. To those of us more used to cars, it's a big brute of a lump, and as can be seen the cylinder heads, cylinders and crankcases can be dismantled as separate units revealing the crankshaft and main bearings.

Zach is a specialist in these ancient but hard wearing power units and is able to source spare parts from some very obscure places when necessary. As can be seen Zach's dismantling facilities are somewhat spartan, but the rebuilding work is done in his workshop to prevent the ingress of dust etc that would otherwise result in excessive wear in a rebuilt unit.

Not the size of the pistons in this engine, which although massive in comparison to a petrol unit only gives 204 hp, a third more than the power unit in the 1964 Hunslet, so it has haulage power of epic proportions, although only at low speeds.

	Two Gardner diesel engines awaiting the "Zach treatment". (Left)

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 57 - May 2005 - Decauville Update

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 56 - Brakevan progress - 29 May 2005

Sunday 29/4/05 saw steady progress as all remaining fixtures were removed for safe keeping including the last 4 side panels. This leaves the brakevan resembling a skeleton (referred to by some as looking like a circus box car!). The remaining sides of the last bogie were de-scaled and the decks cleared in preparation for Monday's work. On Monday, after Castell Caernarfon had pulled out the first train, Conway Castle was used to pull the brakevan out into daylight. In fact this was the first bright sunshine since New Year for the B-wagons team. The oxy-acetylene torch was bought down from the South Yard and the defective floor sheets were systematically cut out in manageable chunks between the frame members revealing the good state of the frame!

On Tuesday, again after Castell Caernarfon had left and as the second service was about to leave the shed, Conway Castle was used to bring the brakevan out again. The remaining unusable floor plates were removed but at the last minute volunteers decided to keep the floor plate under the brake column as once it had been removed it was found to be in reasonable condition except the last 8 " to the edge (as was found at the other end of the van).

As the gas axe was no longer needed and it was too hot for hitting/grinding metal outside in the afternoon, volunteers put the brakevan back in side in the shade and started to sand and grind the frame where necessary.

This southerly image(above), (2/6/05) shows Conway Castle with the Brake Van at the south end of the Carriage Shed. The van has been reduced to little more than a skeleton with a brake standard and wheel. Two corner stanchions are missing at the near end and the high arched piece of steel at the far end that the central stanchions are secured to. Click on the image to enlarge. This image is courtesy/copyright Marcus Ingram and was taken on a digital camera. Image post processed using iPhoto Plus4. Image displayed at 96dpi.

Wednesday was as busy as the first day with the frame being completely painted in its first coat of red oxide. The bogies were finished on all sides in black with springs picked out in yellow. There was even time to paint one of the steps yellow. Some of the immovable spot welds were ground and cut off the frames allowing these pieces of floor plate to be removed. This is the hardest and slowest part of removing the floor and still has a way to go.

The next job is to complete the cut away stanchions and replace the high arched end piece at the Port end. The brakevan may be finished in time for September's SuperPower event for a demonstration freight but will be finished with simple side cladding. It is intended it be ready for operational use on the Phase 4 PW trains this November.

Report courtesy Barrie Hughes Welsh Highland Railway News site http://www.isengard.co.uk

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 55 - Weekly Steamshed Report - 27th May - 07th June 2005

LOCOMOTIVE REPORT:
BARCLAY:
Des fitted the new machined slide bar and crosshead slippers to the Barclay. He only has to fit the connecting rod and do the valve setting. Due to all the 3'6" locomotive and wagon moving, we could not test her this week. She will be steamed on Monday.

LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS:

Derrick did all the modifications that were needed to change the black water tank wagon to the acid wash tank. Modifications to the valves were needed. Derrick also built another house for the softeners and should finish the houses by next Thursday. We shall start with the acid wash on Monday and will do all the boilers. As soon as we are finished with the acid wash, the boiler inspector will inspect the 5 boilers due for boiler inspection.

DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES:
Petrus painted two of the ex Sena Baguley Drewry diesel locomotives (below left) outside the shed.

WAGON REPORT:
Arno stencilled another 3 B wagons. Petrus de-scaled the flat wagon that is to be used for the wooden crates. Arno sprayed the flat wagon and Ben will now do the wooden floor. The crates that we are going to use on the flat wagon arrived at the farm and will be fitted onto it as soon as Ben can finish the floor. (Above right).

Arno shall start on Monday with restoration of the last AY Ballast Wagon. This AY needs a lot of attention and will keep Arno busy for a while. Henry painted the roof of the Mobile Workshop and fitted lights and switches in the inside. MOVING OF 3'6" ROLLING STOCK: THE DZ FROM ST HELENA: We had to lift the front side of the DZ with the crane to build rails under it. The crane luckily managed to lift it high enough.

The scariest part of this was that we could not get a proper rail panel under it. We first had to build a line to get the front of the DZ on the storage line and then had to re-lay the track again to at the back of the DZ on the storage line. After we finished the offloading of the DZ, we started with the earth moving for the temporary line where we could offload the Class 10 CR.

 

 

Another ten-metre rail panel was build and all the panels were loaded and taken to Hoekfontein Station.

Karel did the levelling of the ground where we wanted to build the temporary line. We started to lay the rail panels and used ballast at the first two rail panels where the 10CR will stand.

We lifted and packed the first two panels after we ballasted it. We extended the line by 60 metres to enable us to offload the locomotive and tender.

We had to use one of the rail panels to extend the gap over the gooseneck of the low bed.
We loaded all the panels and sleepers needed to load the 10CR and started early on Wednesday morning.

We again had to build a wooden bridge of 11,27 meters, to connect the panel on the low bed, over the gooseneck to the line on which the 10CR was standing.

At 16h30 Wednesday, she was on the low bed. I must admit that Oom Baas is the best truck driver I have seen. At 17h10, she was secured and was on her way to sleep in the yard at Hoekfontein station.

Early this morning, we took her to Hoekfontein station. We again had to build the wooden bridge and at 12h00 she was safe on the ground.

We loaded the rail panel and wooden sleepers and left to Vailima again to load the tender.
At 16h00 the tender was loaded and we left for Hoekfontein again. The tender will be offloaded tomorrow. We then shall break up the temporary line. These panels will be used for the 365 metre storage line at the shed.

Oupa will start on Monday with the cleaning and painting of the 10CR. We will have to replace some of the lagging, for it is badly rusted with holes in. This locomotive must look like a shining star.
When we extend the storage line at the shed, the DZ will be moved downwards to the shed. The DZ will then be cleaned and will be painted with the rust bond paint.

WAGONS AND COACHES AT KOMMANDONECK: I visited Kommandoneck Station today. All the wagons and coaches is still OK, and there is no sign of any vandalism at all. The other two DZ wagons from St Helena, arrived at Kommandoneck station this morning. Greetings, Gert

(Note: The 10CR, a 4-6-2 built by North British Locomotiove Co. in 1910, works no. 19199, SAR no. 771, will be on display at the head of the four historic coaches rescued from the Train Restaurant at Midrand, Gauteng, giving the appearance of a period passenger train. Geoff Pethick)

 

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 53 - Weekly Report - 13 - 19 May 2005 - The David Rodgers Tour

LOCOMOTIVE REPORT:

All the locomotives that were used on the David Rodgers tour were cleaned. The wash out plugs were fitted back and the boilers were filled. Des and Arno loaded wood at Pandora and Petrus chopped them into suitable pieces. The fireboxes were packed with wood and coal for lighting up on Thursday morning.

THE BARCLAY: Des has almost finished the new slide bar and will then machine the crosshead slippers to fit on the slide bar. The milling machine runs all the time and it takes time to machine all these parts to perfection. This will be finished and fitted by Thursday and we shall then do the valve setting again on the left side. The Barclay will be steamed and tested again. The Barclay's slide bar in its final forming stage.

NGG 13 No 49
49 were steamed for the David Rodgers tour. We neede to fit flexible pipes between the units, for the copper pipes kept breaking off, due to the movement between the units and the boiler. The springs on this locomotive needed to be taken off and sent away to retension them. We spaced all the springs to enable the frame to lift away from the wheels, but they kept on collapsing which resulted in the frame moving down. The pony wheel flanges barely cleared the frame and in some cases where there was an uneven part of rail track, it stuck and this was extremely dangerous and could have led to derailment on a curve.

THE HUNSLET DIESEL:
The wheels were collected last Friday. Piet Viljoen from Denrus Engineering phoned me and stated that the inner wheel bearings are defected and some housings are cracked. The crank pins are oval and cannot be machined anymore, because the pins will then be to narrow. The new crank pins will cost R1050.00 each. When the wheels return with the new crank pins, Des can start to machine the bushes. The good news is that it could be possible to use the old bushes again, for the new crank pins will be bigger than before. There is still two weeks left before the wheels will be finished.

THE CLASS 16CR:
Oupa finished the paintwork on the 16CR and will start with the little diesel locomotives outside

STORAGE LINE: We shall start the building of the storage line next week and will move the 10CR to the station before next Friday. It is actually sad that we cannot operate these locomotives.

3'6" WAGONS: We are going to offload the 3'6" wagon from Gumtree, to free the flat wagon that is next due for restoration. I just wonder what kind of wagon this 3'6" wagon was, and would like to restore it to the original order. WAGON REPORT: B wagon 2926 was used on the David Rodgers tour and gave no problems at all.

Ben finished the PE coach windows and fitted them. We actually need to paint the other PE coach as well, for it was difficult to get the same cream paint. There is slightly a difference between the two and would like to have both of them identical.

The two handrails were fitted to the Dining Car.

RAIL CARS:
Des fitted the new clutch kit and it works great The Wickham is completed.
Des will be finish with the slide bar and crosshead slipper by Thursday and will then start with the BSA again.

BOILERS: All the acid arrived last Monday with Leon. We offloaded the acid and softener tanks. Derrick is busy making little houses for the protection of the softeners at the water columns. As soon as he is finished, it will be fitted and the chemicals will be added. The black water tank train wagon will be used for the acid wash and all the acids used in a boiler will be circulated back into this tank for reuse till all the boilers is acid washed. The Kalahari will be the first locomotive to acid wash.

DAVID RODGERS TOUR: We started on Monday with the preparations for the David Rodgers tour. All the wagons that we used were vacuum brake tested and inspected. All the oil cans were cleaned, painted and filled with oil prior to the David Rodgers tour. Clean oil is keeping a locomotives heart beating like a clock. All the wash out plugs were replaced and the boilers were filled with water.

 We steamed 113 on Tuesday to get all the locomotives at the coal shed for coal.

113 was steamed again on Wednesday to shunt all the consists for Thursday. All the locomotives were cleaned with a bit of diesel and waste. Oupa also cleaned all the steam tractors and stationary engines. We tested the new line with 113 and found it to be safe at reasonable speeds. Jemina, Petrus and Oupa cleaned all the locomotives. They kept the shed cleaned during the two days of the tour and really did a great job.

The roller was steamed as well and Chris Wilson and Arno operated it for the photographers.

THURSDAY MORNING: All the steam guys were on duty at 01h00 the morning. A big cloud of smoke was hanging over the shed. At 06h00 the Kalahari and 113 left the shed and coupled to the two consists in Hoekfontein station. The Lawley left the shed at 11h00 and coupled to its wagons for a train trip to Grootdraai in the afternoon. All went well and the locomotives were back in the shed at 18h30.

FRIDAY MORNING:
We left the shed early this morning at 04h30 and coupled to our train in Hoekfontein station. We departed at 06h10 for Grootdraai with the Kalahari and waited for sunrise. While we were busy with the photo run pasts at Grootdraai, 113 and 49 left the Station for photo run pasts at Mooihoek station.
The Steam crane was steamed, but suffered from injector failure and the fire was dropped.

The best part of the day was the double header to Vailima. This train departed at 14h25 for Vailima with 113 and 49. Locomotive 49 returned light loco to the shed, while 113 performed run pasts on the Vailima ext line. They were busy till dusk and returned to Vailima just after 18h00.
A special thanks to all the kindliness of the photographers, I think we all did enjoy the two steam days. This is really a part of my life that I missed the most, everyday working steam!
I also want to thank Pat Ackerman and Shaun Ackerman for assisting as drivers for these two days. It really means a lot for me to specially have the two brothers as volunteers.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 52 - Steam Shed Weekly Report - 9 - 14 May 2005

LOCOMOTIVE REPORT: BARCLAY: Des is still busy with the machine work on slide bar of the Barclay. The slide bar is in the final stage and might be finished by the end of tomorrow. After the slide bar is finished, he will start to machine the new crosshead slippers for the Barclay. The valve setting will be done again, because it now has new bushes on the left side as well.

	TYPE	NUMBER	STENCILLED	RESTORED	REMARKS
1.	B-wagon	2926	Stencilled	2005	Completely finished
2.	B-wagon	2436	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
3.	B-wagon	1125	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
4.	B-wagon	1136	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
5.	B-wagon	922	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
6.	B-wagon	2947	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
7.	B-wagon	921	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
8.	B-wagon	1146	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
9.	B-wagon	1680	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
10.	B-wagon	2951	To stencil	?	Loaded with big steam engine in wagon shed
11.	DZ	2901	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
12.	DZ	1976	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
13.	DZ	862	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
14.	Ay	2806	Stencilled	2005	Completely finished
15.	Ay	2032	Stencilled	2004	Completey finished
16.	O-wagon	4000	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
17.	O-wagon	3733	Stencilled	?	Dirty wagon
18.	OZ	3197	Stencilled	2004	Completely finished
19.	GZ	2834	Stencilled	2004	Completely finished
20.	QZ	180	To stencil	2004	Needs to be stencilled
21.	V	3172	Guard van	2005	Only underframe was done
22.	V	3175	Guard van	2004	Completely finished
23.	PE-coach	52		2004	Windows are being painted cream currently.
24.	PE-coach	67		?	To be refurbished next
25.	Uitenhage			?	For use with small locomotives
26.	Uitenhage			?	For use with small locomotives
27.	Open coach			?	For use with small locomotives
28.	Saloon			?	Completely finished
29.	Dinning car			?	Needs two handrails

 

NO 88: Petrus started to de-scale the one unit while Derrick welded the floor. This uses a lot of welding rods, more than I could imagine.

Henkie overhauled the clack box, safety valves and one steam valve. Note all the rust that came out of the safety valve, all this rust was accumulated around the safety valve spring.

DE2:
Henry did all the work that needed to be done to the DE2. The number and builders plates were removed and are stored in the safe at the farm.

THE HUNSLET DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE: The Hunslet was used yesterday to shunt all the stencilled wagons to the station. The Hunslet was stabled in the back of the shed in front off 88's boiler. Henk and Arno removed the brake gear and the springs. The horn stays were removed and the frame was jacked to enable the wheels to move out of the horns. This was almost completed by the end of today. The wheels will be removed under the frame and will be cleaned. The company who is going to re-tyre the wheels will collect them on Monday.

THE CLASS 16 CR: Oupa started to paint the 16CR yesterday and will be finished with the painting work by the end of tomorrow.

3'6" LOCOMOTIVES:

STORAGE LINE:
The line is exactly 315 m long and starts at the tractor shed down just past the coal shed. Gravel and ash will be used to fill the ground to correct the level.
The following locomotive lengths are:
1x 25NC=28m
3x19D=67'4" =20,8mx3= 62,4m
2x15CA= 73'9"=22,5mx2=45m
2x15F=73'10"=22,4m=45m
1xDE2=16m
1x10CR=19,1m
3xlittle locomotives in town=20m
3xlittle steam locomotives at Farm=20m
Total length=256m
This store line will be built by us.
The locomotives are too long and too heavy for our lowbed.

3'6" WAGONS:
The old 3'6" wagon from Gumtree is loaded on the 2' flat wagon that we are going to restore next. Where should we place the wagon? There is a rail panel, which we used when we loaded the 3'6" locomotives. If we place it somewhere, then I can let Oupa paint it as well

3'6" WAGON AT PRES.STEYN MINE
This wagon is really a must. It is almost 100 years old. I need to find out if we can get hold of the especially old kind of bearings for it. If we can get hold of the bearings, it might be that Spoornet will bring it to Ficksburg at a speed restriction. The only problem then, will be that it will be more costly because of the speed restriction and because it then must be moved to Ficksburg on a Sunday.

WAGON REPORT:
Six wagons were stencilled this week by Arno and two of the wagons that were not completely painted, were finished. Seventeen wagons axle boxes, were packed with new wool. This includes all the wagons and coaches that we are going to use with the David Rogers tour next week. All the wagons were vacuum brake tested as well.

Arno still needs to stencil 10 wagons. All the wagons were shunted to the station yesterday and will be shunted into two consist, next week for the tour. The flat wagon with the wooden floor will be the next to restore. The dimensions of the wagon is as follows: Length = 7,6 m With = 1,68 Height not to exceed 2,1 m The B wagon no 2926 was completely restored and is available for use on our trains.

THE PE COACH:
Ben finished the painting of the windows today and will have the PE coach complete by tomorrow night.

Ben will also fit the two handrails to the dining car tomorrow. Jemina cleaned all the coaches and guard vans this week. All the seats were washed with soap and water.

ADDITIONAL WORK DONE TO WAGONS THIS WEEK:
B wagon 2947 was fitted with new vacuum chamber pipes.
OZ 3197's bogeys were painted.
GZ 2834's bogeys were painted and one new vacuum hose was fitted.

 

	TYPE	NUMBER	STENCILLED	RESTORED	REMARKS
1.	B-wagon	2926	Stencilled	2005	Completely finished
2.	B-wagon	2436	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
3.	B-wagon	1125	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
4.	B-wagon	1136	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
5.	B-wagon	922	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
6.	B-wagon	2947	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
7.	B-wagon	921	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
8.	B-wagon	1146	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
9.	B-wagon	1680	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
10.	B-wagon	2951	To stencil	?	Loaded with big steam engine in wagon shed
11.	DZ	2901	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
12.	DZ	1976	Stencilled	?	Completely finished
13.	DZ	862	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
14.	Ay	2806	Stencilled	2005	Completely finished
15.	Ay	2032	Stencilled	2004	Completey finished
16.	O-wagon	4000	To stencil	?	Needs to be stencilled
17.	O-wagon	3733	Stencilled	?	Dirty wagon
18.	OZ	3197	Stencilled	2004	Completely finished
19.	GZ	2834	Stencilled	2004	Completely finished
20.	QZ	180	To stencil	2004	Needs to be stencilled
21.	V	3172	Guard van	2005	Only underframe was done
22.	V	3175	Guard van	2004	Completely finished
23.	PE-coach	52		2004	Windows are being painted cream currently.
24.	PE-coach	67		?	To be refurbished next
25.	Uitenhage			?	For use with small locomotives
26.	Uitenhage			?	For use with small locomotives
27.	Open coach			?	For use with small locomotives
28.	Saloon			?	Completely finished
29.	Dinning car			?	Needs two handrails

Henry is busy with the cosmetically work inside the Mobile Workshop. Two air jacks, de-railer and a proper light for the inside and outside will be fitted. It will be very helpful to have two 30 ton bottle jacks, for it is usually impossible to get the big air jack under the de railed wagon or locomotive. It will be fitted with two 30m-air pipes for the jacks. Slings and U bolts will be placed inside. RAIL CARS

THE BSA:
Des went on with the body of the BSA. Fibreglass and body putty was used to give smooth rounding.
He is going to make a new bonnet with 1mm steel sheet.

THE WICKHAM RAILCAR:
Des stripped the Wickham today and removed the gearbox to fix the clutch problem. He bought a master cylinder and a clutch fork. The fork was fitted and some work was done to the clutch plate. The gearbox was placed back and the master cylinder for the clutch will be fitted.

RAIL MAINTENANCE:
Last Saturday I did line inspection on the new line to Vailima Halt. A lot of trees have grown between the rails. We took Petrus today and he removed all of them. Petrus also packed a short distance of rail that was actually lying loose due to the rain. The ground sunk away under the line.

Derrick repaired the points at Vailima. The gap between the run through and the point blade was too narrow. This ended the gap problem on all of our points and all are on standard now.

The order for the oxygen and acetylene came through today and will be collected tomorrow. We will then do the points at Mooihoek. The checkrail must be removed and the bolts are too tight loosen them without warming them with the torch. After the checkrail is removed, we shall do the necessary rectifications to pull the checkrail nearer to the run through. This will prevent the little locomotives jumping at the V.
The points at Vailima were serviced today.

GENERAL:
All the coal that was offloaded from the B Wagon was moved to the coal shed and all the coal dust was placed in bags.
Henry serviced all the water column valves today, and all the water tanks are full and in working condition, ready for next weeks tour.
Henry fitted two new whistle boards to wooden poles and was placed near the crossing in front of the shed. The plan is to get whistle boards at the most used crossings before the tour next week.

Derrick welded the interlink that is to be used on the Avontuur tour in September.
Petrus emptied all the sandboxes of the locomotives in the wagon shed. This will be used for next week's tour.
The shed was cleaned today and the new degreasing fluid was used. This actually works great and actually sucks out the oil from the cement.

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 51 - Brakevan progress

Sunday 1st May saw steady progress on the brakevan front. Marcus Ingram and John Hine were supported by the arrival of three new volunteers, Rupert, Scott and Cassie! Volunteers have now removed all the wooden floor covering the remains of the steel floor in the Guard's compartment.

The floor will be replaced by new steel sheets. Three volunteers set about removing the remaining panels and doors on one side. John Hine completed the de-scaling on one side of the Port end bogie. Cassie put her artistic skills to use giving the Caernarfon end bogie its new coat of black and painted the springs yellow as volunteers have done on others in the wagon fleet. Thanks to Marcus Ingram for then news and Barrie Hughes for permission to use this material from his site. This view (1/5/05)(Left) shows Cassie painting the brakevan bogies black in the Carriage Shed.

Image courtesy/copyright Marcus Ingram taken on a digital camera. Image post processed using iPhoto Plus4. Image displayed at 96dpi. This view (1/5/05)(Right) shows Rupert working on the brakevan in the Carriage Shed. Image courtesy/copyright Marcus Ingram taken on a digital camera. Image post processed using iPhoto Plus4. Image displayed at 96dpi. Next time it is intended to remove the last four panels on the Port end and the high arched piece of steel for replacement. Then volunteers can gas axe most of the floor panels out before cleaning back all the frame to take new steel sheets.

This image (1/5/05)(Left) shows Scott Bradley with his latest recruit Cassie (his girlfriend) with one of No.140's bogies and No.143 in the background. The pair will be back volunteering for the BeerFest! Click on the image to enlarge. Image courtesy/copyright Rob Bradley taken on a Canon Powershot A70 digital camera. Image post processed using iPhoto Plus4. Image displayed at 96dpi.

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 50 - Sandstone hosts another international tour

UK based Steam Loco Safari Tours visited Sandstone on the 19th & 20th May as part of its South African rail tour. This is the first tour to this country for a couple of years and was in a new format in that all travel between the various rail locations was by coach and not train. This enabled more locations to be visited in the time available to the group.

For the two days at Sandstone, master photographer, Dennis Moore, had drawn up a plan that gave multiple photo opportunities along the 11,6 km Sandstone line from dawn to dusk on each day plus a chance to visit the rail workshops and other attractions at Sandstone.

Five locomotives were in use over the period with NGG16 no: 113, NGG13 no: 49 and NG15 no: 17 in use on Day 1 together with the Lawley no: BR7. Day 2 saw the same locos but with the Lawley replaced by the Fowler 0-4-2T , "Sandy".
The very nature of the line at Sandstone with its multiple changes of direction enables photographs to be taken at similar locations in both the morning and afternoon giving completely different shots at each time.

Class NG15 No. 17 leaves Hoekfontein Class NGG16 No. 113 & NG15 No. 17 at Grootdraai
Two separate trains ran in similar directions so that the tour group could get the best locations with different locomotives and train consists.

Thursday morning saw the NG15 and NGG16 operating towards Vailima while the NGG16 took the train up to Vailima Halt. This section of the line had recently been damaged by a washaway but had been repaired in time for the tour. During the afternoon the NGG13 and NGG16 double headed to Vailima. At lunch time the Lawley ran through to Grootdraai as well as Pandora Pond.

An added attraction for many of the guests at lunchtime was a trip in the 1951 AEC Regal single decker bus donated to Sandstone by John Allen.

Class NGG13 No. 49 & the Greens Roller Class NGG16 No. 113 approaches Vailima Halt
Friday morning saw the two Garratts and NG15 on the Grootdraai section with "Sandy" running at lunchtime in the workshop and past the grain silos. Sandstone's Greens steam roller was also included in a number of shots. The final afternoon comprised double headed Garratts to Vailima and the NGG16 to Vailima Halt. A stunning sunset produced a beautiful golden glint to round off the two days.

The tour was blessed with perfect clear skies for the two days enabling a crisp timetable to be adhered to. In total 88 runpasts were created which must be something of a record in two days. In the days of 14 day railtours, 100 runpast opportunities was considered exceptional.

Class NGG13 No. 17 at Pandora Pond Double headed Garratts pass the Lawley at Nooihoek
Tour organiser, David Rodgers, was exceptionally pleased with the Sandstone experience and is already planning a similar tour to South Africa, including Sandstone, in 2006. Members of the tour group were impressed by Sandstone and its attractions. Most of the group had photographed steam around the world and remarked that Sandstone was a unique location. A distinguished member of the tour was David Joy, editor of the premier narrow gauge magazine in Britain, Narrow Gauge World. David has been a strong supporter of Sandstone since its inception and we look forward to a great write up in his magazine. Many others of the tour group are regular photographic contributors to UK steam magazines and we are sure Sandstone will feature over the months to come.
Although faced with long hours and multiple locomotive usage the Sandstone rail team led by Gert Jubileus performed safely and impeccably to give our guests an unforgettable "Sandstone Experience"

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 49 - Steam shed weekly report - 06 April 2005

GENERAL:

This week was a very short week due to the Public Holiday on Monday and due to the training that the guys attended in Johannesburg last Friday. All except Ben left early last Friday and did enjoy the weekend on the 3'6" locomotives. They fired on a 15F and a 12 AR.

WAGON REPORT:

Ben and I tackled the uncompleted B wagon last Friday. Ben finished the descaling
work on the B wagon and I did the spray work on it. By the end of the day, the B wagon was completely sprayed, stencilled and new vacuum hoses and handbrake wheels were fitted.

Ben and Henk used the forklift on Tuesday to place two bogies on the rail. Ben descaled them completely and fitted new bearings into the axle boxes. New axle box wool was used and he packed the boxes. He descaled a vacuum chamber tank for the B wagon, and it will be fitted tomorrow. The B wagon was lifted and the old bogies were removed and the new ones were fitted back. This B wagon will go onto the pit tomorrow and the brake gear will be coupled and it will then be vacuum brake tested and be ready to use.

Our next wagon will be a flat wagon with a wooden floor. We already have a flat wagon that was descaled some time ago and will not need much work to complete it.

LOCOMOTIVE REPORT:

While all the guys were in Johannesburg, I used Oupa and Petrus to start with the descaling work on locomotive no.88.

I moved Arno from the wagons to the locomotives to evaluate his performance and I am very pleased to see the progress he made this week. He started with the second unit of 88 this week. He stripped it almost completely, removed the driving and pony wheels. This unit is also standing on blocks like its sister unit. Arno will now strip the rest and will then start with the descaling and cleaning of all the parts.

Henry stripped the rest of his unit and is currently busy descaling and cleaning the unit.

THE TANKS:

Derrick water tested the tank after it was painted with bituaseal paint. He cut out the side of the tank and welded in a new floor for the coal bunker. Oupa is almost finished with the descaling work on the outside of the tank and bunker.

THE BOILER: Henk started with the boiler and removed the clack box and turrett that will be cleaned and overhauled to place back at a later stage. He broke out the remaining brick arch and removed all the existing fire bars and centre runner .He stripped of the complete ash pan and removed it underneath the boiler. Henk also removed the firebox doors and started to take out all the boiler studs.

THE BARCLAY:

Des fitted a new blower pipe to the Barclay. He made a ring blower pipe that fits around the blast pipe cap. He is also busy with making the same for the ejector exhaust and its success will be tested soon. Des made a crosshead extractor to assist Arno and Henry to remove the piston rods from the crossheads.

LOCOMOTIVES IN FICKSBURG:

Henry and Ben prepared all the locomotives in the Ficksburg shed for shunting. Spoornet arrived at 10h00. All the locomotives had to be shunted one by one to the side of the shed due to the limited space to the gates of the mills. The GMAM and the Rhodesian DE2 was shunted to the other side of the shed. The three steam locomotives were then shunted back into the shed. The GMAM will be prepared tomorrow for towing to Bloemfontein in next week.

GENERAL: Petrus and Oupa moved the coal that was offloaded, to the coal shed. Arno is busy machining a new housing for one of our descalers. The spring inside wore out the sides so much that the spring came out.

STENCILLING OF WAGONS:

Three and a half wagons were stencilled this week. I am going to try my best to get more done this coming week. It is extremely difficult to be everywhere and to do the stencilling. It takes up a lot of time, because a big part of the wagon must be pasted with newspaper. Once they are stencilled, it will help me a lot to keep track of what work is done to what wagon. At the same time we shall pack the boxes with new wool.

ITEMS NEEDED:

Cream paint for the PE coach.
Yellow paint for wagon handrails and steps.
Masking tape for stencilling
Thinners for spray painting
Acetylene and Oxygen
Engine oil
We use about 8 litres of thinners in the paint to do spray work on one B wagon.
The acetylene and oxygen is being used a lot since we started to strip No 88.
I received all the other items that were needed. All the items are numbered and recorded on my computer. The guys sign out each and everything they use and must also state for what reason it is used. These lists are available at anytime if required.

WEEKLY PLANNING: 1.) Remove connecting rods of the GMAM 2.) To finish the B wagon 2926 3.) To start with flat wagon 4.) To do the necessary work on the DE2 5.) To coal all the locomotives for the coming tour. 6.) To finish the slide bar and crosshead slippers of the Barclay. 7.) To go on with the 88's tanks and units 8.) To stencil wagons and to pack the boxes 9.) To fit all the water column pipes 10.) To paint the PE coach 11.) To fit two handrails to the dining car 12.) Jemina will clean all the coaches 13.) To fill sand boxes with sand 14.) To rectify points at Mooihoek. 15.) BSA Railcar.

 

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 48 - Feldbahn returns to Africa

A remarkable story has played out over the last few weeks that sees a locomotive which was exported from Africa in 1999-2000 returning to South Africa for restoration.
The locomotive has a very interesting history was built by Henschel in 1915, works no. 13779, and served with the DFB in the First World War. Known as the Feldbahn type, an 0-8-0TT, hundreds of these locomotives were built by a variety of German builders such as Orenstein & Koppel, Hartmann, Schwartzkopff, and others for use on the miles of railways serving the trenches, and at other military installations.

After the First World War many of these locomotives were exported around the world and a considerable number found themselves at the Sena Sugar Estates in Mozambique, at the Marromeu and Luabo mills. These closed during the Mozambiquan civil war and most of their locomotives, with the exception of those purchased later by Sandstone, were purchased by a UK based dealer and taken to a quarry in England.
The collection was gradually sold, finding new homes on preserved railways in England, Wales and Germany, and a couple have been restored to working order. Eventually only three Feldbahns were left and were advertised for sale by a locomotive broker. At the eleventh hour a Swiss enthusiast decided to step in and purchase one, and just in time, for he bought the last remaining example, Sena No. 2.

The locomotive is more complete than might be expected and after making enquiries around Europe as to the cost and time scale of getting it restored to working order has chosen Sandstone Heritage Trust as having the skills and expertise as well as cost structure to complete the restoration to a high standard.
So Sena No. 2 was loaded into a container and made the long return journey to Africa and has been offloaded in the eastern Free State and is ready to be assessed to see what work is required and which spares are needed.
Surely a unique story of a locomotive from Europe being exported twice to Africa and a measure of the way this country has progressed in terms of locomotive restoration. It means that, at least for the time being, Sandstone has narrow gauge locomotives manufactured in South Africa, England, Scotland, Germany, Belgium, France and the USA.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 47 - Weekly report 10. April 29 2005

LOCOMOTIVE REPORT: 113: 113's ejector was cleaned and all the parts were fitted back with the new ejector camshaft and lifters. The cones were cleaned and the ejector was fitted back onto 113. The regulator gland was packed and that completed the repair work that was needed.

THE BARCLAY: Des removed the left side motion and welded the motion pins and machined it again. He reamed the split pin holes and fitted it all onto the Barclay. This took a lot of time and Des really managed to machine all perfectly. There was no progress on the slide bar, for we are still waiting for Anco Air to deliver it. Des took off the left crosshead and will start to machine new crosshead slippers. He fitted the blow down cock pipe and will finish the Barclay and Henk will start with the boiler of No 88 on Monday.

THE FRONT UNIT:

Henry removed the rods and the brake gear. All the springs and spring hangers were removed as well. The cowcatcher and lots of various spares were removed. The front and rear pony wheels were removed.

Henry did not come to work today and I gave Arno the job to take out the driver wheels. First all the horn stays were removed and the heavy frame were lifted to a specific height to get the wheels out.

I am very pleased with the progress on 88 if considered that there is only one person on the units and one on the tanks.

LOCOMOTIVES OUTSIDE:

Ben finished with the painting of four of the locomotives outside. Only the 16CR remains to be painted and then the for little diesel locomotives. Ben also painted the spare 16Cr driver wheels.

WAGON REPORT:

Arno and Oupa went to Welkom to rectify the side friction problem on one of the DZ's, which has to be moved by Spoornet.

Arno started with the B wagon, which was half restored. He removed the vacuum cylinder and overhauls it completely. A new roll ring, neck ring and nylon bush was fitted. He also fitted a new release valve and chamber pipes. He also started with the stencilling, but did not finish it because I used him on 88 today.

Ben started with the de-scale work on the B wagon while I did the rest of the fitting work that was needed. I took over the stencil work, from a train driver to spray painting. I am learning a lot, but surely not perfect with the spray work. Tomorrow I am going to spray the complete B wagon, so hold thumbs. I finished the other side of wagon number 2436 and have done the one side of wagon number 1125. It looks neater.

The bogies will be de-scaled and changed. This wagon will be finished, with stencilling done, by next week Friday. THE PE COACH: The PE coach was moved to the shed and as soon as the paint is here, Ben will start to paint it cream. MOBILE WAGONS: All the wagons wool needs to be replaced with new ones. Note the wool in the axle box is crystallising.

PLANNING FOR NEXT WEEK:

1.) To prepare the GMAM to be towed to Bloemfontein.
2.) To paint the 16Cr with rust bond paint.
3.) To get the boilers ready for boiler inspection.
4.) To finish the paintwork on the PE coach.
5.) To rectify the points at Mooihoek.
6.) To fit the new water column canvas pipes.
7.) To fit the new centrifugal outside the shed.
8.) To start to machine bushes for 88
9.) To weld in new floor for 88 coalbunker.
10.) To service the points at Vailima.
11.) To move the coal that was offloaded from the B wagon into the coal shed.
12.) BSA railcar body
13.) 88 Unit
14.) 88 Tank and coalbunker
15.) Two bogies overhaul for B Wagon and to complete B wagon
16.) To start with next wagon to be refurbished.
17.) To start with 88's boiler.
18.) To place new wool and oil into mobile wagons axle boxes.
19.) To move the Big Yellow crane.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

RN 46 - Old rail wagon found at Gumtree

A few weeks ago we got a call from a farmer near Gumtree that he had an old rail wagon on his farm and would we like to come and collect it or he was going to sell it for scrap. Needless to say a truck was dispatched immediately and an old four wheel relic with very lightweight steel chassis was retrieved and brought back to Sandstone Heritage Trust.

You will see from the accompanying photographs of it upside down on a narrow gauge wagon that it has no visible means of identification. The axleboxes are of a very old type bolted together in two halves with a lift up flap for adding oil for maintenance purposes.
There is a casting mark on one of the tyres which reads H Krupp 89 11 9 8 which may mean it was cast by Krupp in 1889, perhaps for the NZASM railway? Pure conjecture on our part, hopefully one of the wagon officianados can provide more definite identification and dating.