South African Steam Locos For Sale.

Morning All,

Transnet are selling a large quantity of steam locos, preferably for preservation. However, if no suitable offers are received, they will go for scrap.

This is the Press Release from FEDRAIL :

FEDRAIL SA Press Release - Heritage Locomotives for Sale.pdf

There is also a spreadsheet giving details of the locos in question and their condition, etc. I don't know how to put a link to it on here, but there is an e-mail address in the Press Release if anyone would like further details.

One of the locos on the list is 15A Class 4-8-2 1970 'Milly' which was once the shed pilot at De Aar; she was the shed master's favourite and kept in immaculate condition :

R4425. 15A Milly at De Aar. 4th September,1972. by Ron Fisher, on Flickr

This looks like being the last opportunity to save at least some of what still remains in South Africa.

 

If the link works, this is the PDF giving the complete list of locomotives, their locations and their condition :

Steam Locomotives for Disposal - 8 January 2016.pdf

 

Sadly it doesn't work....................

 

Well, it works for me! It opens up a window at the bottom of the screen asking whether I want to open it or save it.

Anybody else having trouble?

I should mention that the PDF is incomplete - there are more locations and locos listed on the spread sheet than the PDF. Is it possible to add a spread sheet on here does anybody know? If so, perhaps they could give me some instructions.

 

Works for me too.

 

We'll have to hope that one of us wins that massive rollover on the lottery tonight...

 

I have now converted the spread sheet to a PDF :

Steam Locomotives for Disposal - 8 January 2016.pdf

This is, or at least should be, the full 13 page list.

 

IMHO we Brits should stay well clear of this unless we have connections to SA or visit regularly and in a position to offer practical help. We already have several Cape Gauge locos here with no chance of ever running again and they are a representative sample of those built by our exporting manufacturers; the ex-Zambezi engine in the NRM (CGR 7th??), an NBL tank at Mizens, the 15F in Glasgow, the 25NC at Quainton Road, a GMAM rotting away at Summerlee and the GL at MOSI. I also think the NBL group are hoping to repatriate another tank currently near Pietermaritzburg but may have that wrong.

I visited SA in 2004 noting various dumped 15s (of a variety of species), 24s, 25s, 26 and garratts, few of which had any hope of ever running again. Perhaps the best course of action is for many of these to become spares for the few running examples there are. Not everything can be saved.

 

Unless you are going to bring the a locomotive straight over and restore it to operational status there's no point. If you bring it over and leave it in the wet and windy countryside it will be worse than it was in South Africa. The cost to bring another locomotive over you could actually start restoring one rotting away in the uk. Another point where are you going to run the thing if you restore it to operational status, I believe there are no railways in Britain with 3ft 6in tracks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Here Here, not only do you need 3ft 6 track & stock but these are much the same size as UK standard gauge locos but in some cases bigger..........

 

What the South African press release aims to do is notify the railway enthusiast world that there is now a window of opportunity to try and salvage something out of the chaos that has reigned supreme in recent times.

If somebody has the money and the interest, or many somebodies clubbing together, it would be entirely their affair if they were able to acquire one. Clearly there are not many places in the world with 3'6 gauge track so restoring one to working order may not be feasible for most people. But if he / she / they were happy with a static exhibit and had somewhere safe, secure and preferably under cover where they could keep it, then that would be their prerogative. This would be applicable whether this was in South Africa or elsewhere in the world.

All the rest of us can do is publicise the situation using the power of the internet, word of mouth, railway publications, etc. in the hope that sufficient interest can be generated to rescue something. No, perhaps not everything can be saved, but even if one locomotive can defeat the scrapman that would be a step in the right direction, and if others can be saved and safely stored to provide a ready source of spare parts for existing locomotives, that too would be far better than losing them for all time.

 

Various locos have already made their way to New Zealand for future use , but although we share the 3ft 6in gauge , the loading gauge is much wider. A Garrett is being restored at the moment but extensive body work is needed to bring it down to size. Only smaller examples would be any use on preserved railways here ..
Unfortunately anything that is left in South Afirica has no doubt been plundered by the metal thiefs who seem to have free reign there. Even preserved items locked away in storage seem to be targeted.

 

As you say, many of the locos have been badly vandalised by scrap merchants chopping bits off willy-nilly. So much for keeping them in secure compounds!! However, some are still restorable while others could yield spare parts for other restoration projects.

As many of them are so badly mutilated already, perhaps a bit more trimming to make them fit a narrower loading gauge wouldn't notice! Unfortunate, perhaps, but better than losing them altogether.

If nothing else, the plight of these engines is coming to the attention of the international railway fraternity so that's a step in the right direction.

 

What's happening to the three locos recently made redundant from a paper mill near Durban? I know it's slightly off-thread, but are these not a much better bet for preservation than vandalised hulks and skeletons?

 

How about a Cape Gauge line at Mangapps?

 

It's a thought, but I think I'll stick to Canadian stuff. Exploratory missions are less risky ( only bears to worry about) and at least the track gauge is the same.

Actually, our lad was in SA at a family wedding a couple of years ago, found himself staying near the paper mill and got some good photos, in spite of the armed guards, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and electrified fences. Those locos look very impressive, it's just a pity that Cecil Rhodes chose the wrong gauge. Perhaps they should take his statue down in Oxford, for having made such a silly mistake.

 

One was out of service with a smashed cylinder .The second runner is going to a South African Group and the last one in service has been claimed by the North British group. A bit of a shame as no doubt it will end up stuffed and mounted on a short length of track at some miniature railway. That's assuming they can raise the cost of shipping.
I understand they already have at least one other loco marooned in South Afiica awaiting transit.

 

Having experienced Garratts, 25NCs et al at close hand, I'll have some more silly mistakes like that please.

 

And had they been 4', 8 1/2" you would have had a far better chance of experiencing them again.

 

Even if they were 4'8½" gauge I don't suppose they'd fit our loading gauge would they?