Friends of the Rail Forum

Hallo Everyone, I have been watching this post for the last few days, but no replies or discussions seem to be forthcoming. I am curious as to what all of this formal wording and talk about "deadlines" actually mean. Is this a final disposal by Transnet of its steam and heritage assets, or...

I only noticed afterwards that this section does not accept photographs. I have managed, in the meantime, to upload them in the section "South Africa - Photo gallery".

Sorry for the confusion.

hansie

Another attempt to post the photos that were supposed to go with my post on the suspected demolition of Buffeljagsrivier Station in "Stations, signals and infrastructure" Looks like it was successful at last - except that they appear in the opposite order of what I attached them. But there...

Today (18 July 2012) on my way from home from Swellendam, I drove past our local Buffeljagsrivier Station (situated 10km East of Swellendam on the Worcester - Voorbaai line). I noticed several trucks, diggers, front-end loaders, etc. and a caravan and "campsite" being erected next to the s...

My wife and I had were fortunate enough to experience a trip on the Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town these past two days. I don't know enough to report on matters technical (except to say that the same two locomotives did all the work from Pretoria through to Cape Town station), so I will stick...

I have never seen this bridge, nor claim to know where it is located, but every time I look at the photo's, the riverbank in the background reminds me of a similar one on the road between Port Elizabeth and Addo Elephant Park. I seem to remember also that just before the southern entrance to the Par...

Hallo Luca, (and Stefan and Dylan) As promised earlier today, I would like to congratulate you on a most enjoyable trip. Everything was well-run, on time, professional and all representatives of FOAR were extremely helpful and friendly. One member of our party commented specifically on how much the ...

Hallo Stefan,

How does one go about booking/reserving seats on these trips? I would like to bring the family to town for the Sunday's trip, but can't seem to find it on the Atlantic Rail website.

Hansie

Hi everyone, Does anybody know whether the Premier Classe service is running again? A friend who lives close to the Worcester - Voorbaai line told me that a passenger train passed his house on Friday night, but he was too late to identify it. The time seems about right for the weekend CPT-PE Premier...

Fanie,

We certainly didn't pass any trains on the Worcester-Voorbaai section while I was awake, but I did sleep from after Karringmelks up until the fun in the Outeniqua Pass (except for a few waking minutes at Voorbaai).

So, it may have been during those few hours - otherwise, no.

Hansie

Stefan, We were still 90 minutes late at PE (same as at Oudtshoorn) because the last leg from Klipplaat down to PE is rather easy going with few sharp curves and very little rising gradients. It's basically a long gentle downhill on track in far better condition than the Worcester - Voorbaai section...

Hi Craig, The promised feedback on our CPT-PE trip with Premier Classe: I write this with some confusion as I was planning to give you a very positive report, until I read in the paper today that Shosholoza Meyl's trains are grounded. The report in Die Burger is so vague, however, that I can't make ...

Hallo Craig

We will be travelling on the CPT-PE Premier Classe tomorrow (Friday 6 Aug). Will give some impressions next week, because I will only be back at the computer then. Anything specific that you would want me to be on the lookout for?

Regards,
Hansie

I went to George yesterday to ride the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe on what was possibly its last trip. Everyone working there seemed completely uninformed and uncertain about the future of their operation. They were, nevertheless, cheerful and very accommodating. The Loco used was 19D No 2649, "ROSIE&q...

Thank you, John and Derek. It seems that I have managed to get one photo's file size down from the original 2,89MB to 612 KB. Is this within the "posting Limit"? and if so, should I simply use the "Add the file" button on the Forum's post page to do it? Would it be OK to try one ...