Friends of the Rail Forum

Sorry to hear about the derailment and damage caused to the engine through sleepers being removed by thieves. Life must be cheap for the grubs that did this, hopefully they will get caught. Glad to hear there was no major injuries, given the angle of the engine and the apparent sheared clack valve ...

Below are a few photos from a visit to Beaconsfield Loco in April 1989. I hope some may find them of interest. Thanks.

16 E No. 857 on plinth at Bloemfontein railway station April 1989.

Thanks, Peter, and welcome to the forum - your first post, I believe.


Thanks John, and yes it was my first post. I've put a link below to a video i took at Immigrant of the 16E on the Kei Explorer on Monday the 24th of April 1989 if anyone's interested. It's a bit shaky as i remember jumping ...

A bit of a late reply but i've only just found this post. I never read the article in "Railway Magazine" about this incident. I was traveling with this fellow when this happened and he was an Australian, not British. We were traveling solo after leaving a tour group at Zhalai Nuoer a couple a days ...

I hope some may find the following of interest. Attached are a few photos of 16E 858 from April 1989. Most of the photos are from memory, a trial the engine did on a pick up freight from Kimberley to Bloemfontein just prior to the running of the 14 day Kei Explorer tour train. The engine was used on ...