Locomotive movements to Sandstone

[John Ashworth]

It has been reported that GMAM no 4114 and Class 24 no 3688 have been moved by road from Bloemfontein to Ficksburg, and that a 19D will follow shortly. Video of the road transport is circulating on social media.

[John Ashworth]

Less than 24 hours after this news was posted on the FOTR Forum, Sandstone has issued a circular e-mail confirming the move.

Another major news article which will appear shortly involves the move of all our heavy Cape Gauge locomotives to safety from various locations where we can no longer guarantee their security.

Also see https://www.sandstone-estates.com/index ... kes-a-move

[John Ashworth]

Heritage steam engines trade rail for road to get to new home

Motorists on the road between Bloemfontein and Ficksburg in the eastern Free State on Wednesday would have witnessed the spectacle of a 160-ton steam locomotive rattling eastward on the back of a 19-axle lowbed trailer. The locomotive, one of four owned by the Sandstone Heritage Trust, a private collection of locomotives and vehicles based on a farm near Ficksburg, was heading to its new home on the farm after two decades of languishing outside Bloemfontein's former steam locomotive depot. While Transnet's national collection of heritage locomotives and other rolling stock is kept at Bloemfontein behind locked gates, the four locomotives were outside the property and vulnerable to scrap thieves, said Sandstone marketing manager Dave Richardson. “We felt the assets would be safer at the farm," he said...

[John Ashworth]

Deescription and photographs of further Sandstone locomotive movements, plus a steam crane.

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/2493 ... 4b87b87d1/

[John Ashworth]

Sandstone has announced that, "Apart from our big Cowans Sheldon Steam Crane, which is currently in Heidelburg waiting for a permit, the move of all our Main Line locomotives is now complete."

See report with more pictures at https://sandstone-estates.com/images/pd ... %203_1.pdf