Coming to the end of a Round-the-World trip I had a few days left before flying to London on the 16th March. A search of the internet revealed that Reefsteamers were running a steam special to Magaliesberg on the 15th and I thought it would be a good idea to photograph it. Further checks revealed that it was starting from Boksberg, just a stones throw from where we were staying with my sister and we ended up buying tickets to travel for a day out. Scheduled departure was 7:15 am and the route was via commuter lines and freight only spurs to the south and west of Johannesburg to Krugersdorp, then the single line down the escarpment to Magaliesberg, a descent of aroung 1,100' in a little over 20 miles. Most passengers left the train at a halt by a hotel where dinner had been arranged but we stayed on it to the station a short distance further along, where the loco was detached for servicing and turning on a triangle. This done, we walked back to the hotel for dinner and then returned to the station. The return was promised to be spectacular as the 10 coach train plus water tanker had to climb gradients as steep as 1:40 in places and it was starting to drizzle. The locomotive was 15CA class 4-8-2 # 2056 DOROTHY. After returning to the halt to pick up the remaining passengers we reversed to the foot of the incline to start the assault. The start went well and the loco was soon getting into the climb without problems. About half way up we were looped to cross a downhill freight and shortly after this as the drizzle continued we stalled on a curve in the middle of a climb. Numerous attempts had to be made to get going again but each time after a few exhaust beats the loco would slip and the train would start to roll back a little as the brakes came on. Sometimes we would gain a few feet only to lose some again but occasionally we actually made progress and eventually the loco found its feet and we reached our scheduled stop at Krugersdorp, perhaps a little late but still ahead of our departure time. The rest of the journey was uneventful except that the rain was becoming ever more heavy and arrival back at Boksberg was about right time. The cost, 220 rands per person including dinner - that's around £15 each for a whole day trip 60 miles each way including dinner!

Voorbaai is one of the last depots still operating steam locomotives, at the time of this visit 3 19D's were operational for the George to Mossel Bay passenger service, two of which came on shed for servicing during my visit. Several other locomotives looked in reasonable condition, others were being worked on while several more had obviously lain out of use for many years. The depot also serves as a refuelling point for passing diesel locomotives which operate all the freight traffic.

We had planned to travel on the narrow-gauge train from George to Knysna but we discovered that the line to Knysna had been damaged by a massive landslide and was closed. Passenger trains were only running to Mossel Bay. We went to George station to buy tickets for the next days train to Mossel Bay and on reaching the station saw 3 Garretts in the yard. We asked where the ticket office was and were directed through a door marked "Museum". Inside was a superb museum collection of locomotives, rolling stock, vintage cars and other vehicles and other artefacts. There is also a boating section. While looking round the museum we heard a train approaching the station - it was a passenger train hauled by a 19D 4-8-2 # 3324. Apparently this is the last line still using steam locomotives on the 3' 6" gauge main line for regular services.
Also included in this collection are pictures of locomotives at Kruger (Skukuza), Volksrust and Port Elizabeth.

These pictures were taken during a 4-day visit to the area around Skukuza from Numbi gate, along the Sabie river to Lower Sabie, north as far as Tshokwane, around the Vlagkoppie loop and south to Malelane gate. There are still more pictures to add so do come back. There is another collection dedicated to the Animals seen in the park.

These pictures were taken during a 4-day visit to the area around Skukuza from Numbi gate, along the Sabie river to Lower Sabie, north as far as Tshokwane, around the Vlagkoppie loop and south to Malelane gate. There are still more pictures to add so do come back. I have also added a second collection covering the birds of the same area.
I will add descriptions for the pictures later.

Photographs of birds taken in the Benoni area of South Africa

We visited here for 4 days in January 2008 and found the weather somewhat unfavourable with a lot of low cloud (fog) and rain making birding and photography extremely difficult, however a fair number of birds have been seen and a few have been photographed. Hopefully the next couple of days will produce a few more.

Most of these photographs have been taken from the house we are staying at with relatives. Three different trees so close together that their branches are intertwined appear to have several species present most of the time. Only a handful of pictures have been taken elsewhere so far but hopefully this will change before long.

When the line from Sydney to the west was being built in the 1860s the builders were faced with the problem of climbing over 600' in less than a mile, far too much for an adhesion railway. Their answer was to zig-zag up the hill using two reversing stations. As traffic increased over the ensuing years the zig-zag became a major bottleneck and eventually this section was replaced by a double-track line through a series of ten curving tunnels, a method not feasible at the time of the original building. The zig-zag section has been reinstated as a tourist attraction using a narrower 3'6" gauge and runs trains daily, with a steam service on week-ends, Wednesdays and holidays. I visited on the 2nd December 2007, travelling by train from Katoomba through the tunnels to Zig-zag station, a request stop on the Sydney to Lithgow line which has a two-hourly service on this busy stretch of line, with many multiple-headed coal trains and container trains pounding up to the summit at over 3,600'. Soon after arrival at the shed I was invited onto the footplate of 1072 which soon moved off to take the ecs up the incline for the first steam service of the day. A diesel railcar had already set off up the incline and we should have waited for it to return but it failed on the way up. When it had been moved out of the way we set off with the ecs running up the middle incline tender first to top points where we ran round and then set off up the top incline. We had to stop half way up to take on more coal from a convenient lineside stockpile. We set off again with just a hint of a slip and passed through a long tunnel (around 2,000') over the summit and had to stop while the crew got down to close the crossing gates to road traffic before we could move into the now crowded platform at Clarence, the current end of the line. I then went to buy my tickets and fill the billy with hot water for the crew, then said my thanks and goodbyes. The intention was to spend the rest of the day photographing the steam train from different locations but the railcars failure was terminal so it could not be used to access many points - it normally stops at several halts for this purpose, so I only have photographs of it running round at top points and climbing the top incline just below the long tunnel.

The world's steepest railway incline is at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Originally built to haul coal and shale out of the valley to the railhead at the top in the 19th century, it soon started carrying passengers as well due to tourist demand and has continued to do so ever since, even though the mines have long since closed. At one point the cable-operated railway climbs at an angle of 52 degrees. Trains run each way every ten minutes during the day (9-5) and the journey takes a little under 2 minutes.
Also included are pictures of relics and remnants of the old mining system