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Alfred County Railway - 30th November 1996

After working late in CNA test store on the Friday night, I set off at 6:30 pm for the Alfred County Railway. The drive was looooong and tiring, arriving at Durban at 12:30. Stopped for dinner at Harrismith, and had a near miss near Pietermaritzburg in a thunderstorm when a semi trailer tried to sandwich me in the hills.

After a comfortable (if not short) night at the Durban Formule 1, I set off at 6:30 am. The drive down to Port Shepstone was quite nice down the coast, but I missed the Port Shepstone station and carried on to Shelly Beach before heading back to Port Shepstone. I wasn’t entirely sure if the train was actually running, and I was very disappointed on arriving at the depot to find it deserted.

The interchange yards had a couple of dead electric locos and various “broad gauge” rolling stock, with some two foot gear on the coast side, and what looked like a cold NGG16. I cursed for not having checked if the train was actually running, and driving 8 hours to see a rail yard. But then I heard something clank and walked around the side of a shed and saw a lovely narrow gauge Garratt simmering under the column! The loco was 2-6-2+2-6-2 NGG16A 155, a modified ’16 with a gas producing firebox and modified front-end. She was to take a train to Paddock and return. In the loco shed, NGG16A 141, the “Red Dragon” was being overhauled, and on two flat 3 foot 6 trucks sat two NGG16 oil burners which were ready to be transported to Durban for shipping to the Welsh Highlands Railway in Wales.

The crew were busy preparing the loco, and pretty soon she coupled onto the load, a grand total of two coaches. A quick stop up the line at the passenger station to pick up a small bus group, then off towards Paddock.

A nice shot was taken of the train crossing Izotsha creek, and then up the hill across the level crossing just before Izotsha station. The loco took water at Izotsha before heading up the hill once more. A few in between shots were taken at level crossings and farm tracks. Nice shots were also had at Bomela on the sharp curve there, then further up the hill where the line climbs the side of the mountain below the road. The loco working up the hill around the curves gave some idea of what the old Victorian narrow gauge lines would have been like, with G42 labouring up the grades.

Next shot was at Renken, with the sun shining and the loco smoking nicely, then up in the forest not far from Paddock, then finally at Paddock with the loco rolling to a stop in the station.

The tour group had a braai organised near the station, and after talking to the loco driver for a while, I was invited to join them. I got talking to the guard, a bloke called Tom Stanton, who used to take a lot of cine film of the SAR in the 70’s. By coincidence I had just seen some of his stuff at a FOTR meeting the previous week. We had a good long chat about railways etc., then it was time to shunt the train and prepare for the return trip.

The load back to the coast was 10 loaded timber truck, plus the two coaches, plus three empty B wagons, a great consist. Snapped the train leaving Paddock, up the grade past the shed where the out-of-service locos are stored, then again in the forest. The train looked fantastic at Renken, where there is a short upgrade, working hard to lift the load. Many more shots were taken on the return trip, the least attractive being a shot by the church near Izotsha where a bloke in one of the coaches was hanging his backside out the door! Another shot Izotsha creek, then arriving at the passenger station. Time for a few more shed shots, then the 7 hour drive back to Pretoria. All in all a fantastic day!

155 At Izotsha	155 at Renken	155 Cab
155 Climbing the Hill	155 Fire Cleaning	155 Leaving Renken
155 Near Izotsha	155 Near Izotsha 2	155 Near Success
155 On Curve	155 on Level Crossing	155 on Level Crossing 2
155 Paddock Arrival	155 Paddock Arrival 2	155 Paddock Yard
155 Renken Crossing	155 Secondary Air Inlets	155 Through the Curves
155 Zotsha Creek	155 Zotsha Creek 2	Fire Cleaning at Paddock
Shepstone Shunt	Shepstone Station Arrival	Shepstone Yard
Shunting at Paddock	WHR Garratt 1	WHR Garratt 2
WHR Garratt 3

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