South Africa shosholoza meyl

[Train jaune]

Just taken a 24 hour trip with South African railways from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg. Went Tourist Class and that meant we had a sleeper and access to the dining car. All felt very safe with good secirity. Meals adequate and reasonably priced but not much choice. Best way to see the seemingly endless veld and see this outstanding country. Very cheep trip coming in about £28 each. Anyone else had experiences of South African railways travel?. NB. Metro Rail in Cape Town was a bit more "edgy" with their "No Smoking" and "No Handgun" signs. Gautrain in Johannesburg is great

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A great pity the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam operation (George-Knysna) folded about a decade ago.
This was due to landslide damage near George, which was too expensive to repair.
I see efforts are being made to resurrect the line, though it is still dependent on Transnet and state agreement and funding, always dicey in SA.
I travelled on it in 1999, and it was very popular and greatly added to the character of the Garden Route.


https://www.outeniquachootjoe.com/

“We’re very aware that everyone wants to get the Choo Tjoe steaming again as soon as possible - especially since it’ll have a real and positive influence on the local tourism economy as the Garden Route rebuilds in the wake of last year’s devastating fires,” said Classic Rail Director, Alan McVitty.
“Please bear with us, though. Transnet Freight Rail accepted our revised business plan during January 2018, and they are now attending to the matter as quickly as they can.

“The processes of awarding the 20-year concession requires support and approval from the various levels of Transnet’s governance structure - including the Transnet Freight Rail Board, and the Transnet Group Board - before it goes up to the Minister of Public Enterprises for final approval in terms of the Public Finance Management Act

We passed the Shosholoza Meyl service a few years ago crossing the Karoo, on the adjacent N1, and it made a fine sight snaking its way over the veld.

 

[alex397]

A great pity the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam operation (George-Knysna) folded about a decade ago.
This was due to landslide damage near George, which was too expensive to repair.
I see efforts are being made to resurrect the line, though it is still dependent on Transnet and state agreement and funding, always dicey in SA.
I travelled on it in 1999, and it was very popular and greatly added to the character of the Garden Route.
View attachment 58337

https://www.outeniquachootjoe.com/

I was very lucky to travel on the Choo Tjoe back in 2008 - it was only running between Mossel Bay and George, with the apparently more scenic section between George and Knysna closed due to the landslides. Sadly I can't remember a huge amount as I was in my early teens then, but I still remember some parts and it was excellent.

 

[RT4038]

I was very lucky to travel on the Choo Tjoe back in 2008 - it was only running between Mossel Bay and George, with the apparently more scenic section between George and Knysna closed due to the landslides. Sadly I can't remember a huge amount as I was in my early teens then, but I still remember some parts and it was excellent.

Best regular steam at the moment is the Ceres Railway Company excursions from Cape Town Harbour to Elgin. Been on all the Shosholoza Meyl lines except Jo'burg-Messina, plus alot that sadly no longer have passenger service (Cape Town-PE, De Aar-Upington-Namibia, Balfour North-Bethlehem-Bloemfontein via Modderport, Kroonstad-Ladysmith, Jo'burg-Mafeking-Bulawayo and Warrenton-Mafeking, amongst other more minor lines)

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

There are some very heavy freight trains working in SA, notably towards the ports at Richard's Bay (KZN - coal) and Saldanha Bay (north of Cape Town - iron ore).
I had hoped to see something of the iron ore trains on a recent trip through the Northern/Western Cape, but they run intermittently (less than daily) and I failed!
These trains are real monsters - 342 cars and 8 locos (mixed electric and diesel) carrying 20000 tonnes, on Cape gauge.
The dedicated line runs through remote desert country, with only a limited number of viewing opportunities near main roads over the 500 miles of route.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/news...ort-drive.html?sword_list[]=sishen&no_cache=1

Last month Transnet ran a 375-wagon test train with distributed power on the 861 km Sishen – Saldanha iron ore line to determine whether longer trains could be used to raise capacity for manganese. Rail could then capture around 1·2 million tonnes a year that currently moves by road from mine to port. Iron ore trains on the Sishen – Saldanha route usually consist of 342 wagons hauled by eight electric and diesel-electric locomotives

 

[Train jaune]

Now I've found a picture