Morning steam in Pretoria

Our next stop on the revised itinerary brought us to Wonder Steam to see their flagship locomotive, a Class 15F (3117), in steam in their yard at Hermanstad depot in Pretoria.

It was truly impressive to hear what has been achieved at Wonder Steam in the past five years. They have restored two main line steam locomotives, a class 15CA (2850) and class 15F (3117); and a class 19D branch line steam locomotive (3343). They also have a class 8 steam locomotive (1223) from 1912 undergoing restoration which would be among the very oldest South African locos in operation once finished.

Class 15F (3117) steam locomotive at Hermanstad (Wonder Steam)

The class 15F was the most numerous to see service with South African Railways with 255 of these 4-8-2 locomotives rolling off the production lines in Germany and Scotland. The loco in front of us was one of the last batch constructed, built in Glasgow in 1946.

There is no doubting that 3117 has suffered in her time. In 2010 she collapsed onto one side after the ground under the sleepers gave way following a bit of thievery, resulting in significant damage. A sadly all too common problem for South African railway infrastructure today. Unfortunately, more damage occurred on the other side when she was recovered. All of this made her full restoration all the more impressive – and what a beautiful sight 3117 made in the morning light, with a father and son team operating the loco for us today.

After leaving Hermanstad behind we headed on by coach to Kimberley, a journey that took around 7 hours with a short stop on the way. It was a fascinating drive with the contrast between some incredible landscapes and quite deprived communities. The road signs warning of high crime zones and hijacking hotspot were something of an eyeopener for someone who has grown up taking safety somewhat for granted growing up in South London.

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A new plan

On our original itinerary the plan was for the tour group to drive south to Kimberley, but this transfer was now thoroughly trashed by the sheer number of flight cancellations that affected our group. A minibus had been planned to pick up any stragglers affected by flight delays but no-one envisaged a quarter of the group being delayed, rebooked and rerouted – and by much more than just a few hours.

Class 19D steam locomotive 3360 at Capital Park Station, Pretoria

Instead of heading south a new plan was devised which saw us visit the impressive homebase of Rovos Rail in Pretoria, a railway company operating luxury trains using a fleet of beautifully restored carriages from a 60 acre site. A walking tour took us from the platform of Capital Park Station, their private station, then around their well maintained depot, taking in some of their dumped locos and finishing with the sight of a class 19D steam locomotive (3360) which a crew were hurriedly getting in to steam for us.

The class 19D loco in front of us, now named ‘Shaun’ was built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow in 1949 (works no. 26080) and rescued from the scrap line at Witbank. It entered service with the company in 1991 after a nine month rebuild. Over two hundred of these locomotives were built for service in South Africa, with many surviving into preservation. Few can be in quite as good shape as this loco though.

Our day ended with a few runpasts in the yard and around the station as the golden hour came to an end.

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