6E1s at monument station

[Aidan McCarthy]

Hi,

A few photos of 6E1s stabled at Monument station Cape Town. These are used on the Shosholoza Meyl trains and are stationed here as opposed the the electric depot due to the dispute between PRASA and TFR.

[Steve Appleton]

Forgive me for asking (and my possible ignorance), but are Cape Town and Monument stations one and the same? Is Monument a railways synonym for Cape Town? I cannot find a Monument station on any map (the first stations out of Cape Town seem to be Esplanade and Woodstock. From the pics, including the overpass bridge carrying either Oswald Pirow St or the Southern Freeway and the Goodhope Centre in the background, this looks like the entrance throat to Cape Town station.

[Aidan McCarthy]

Hi Steve,

Yes it is the bottom end of Cape Town station where the train lodge is, the locals refer to this as monument station.

[Luca Lategan]

Monument station actually refers to the original station of the Cape Town to Sea Point railway line that was located very close to the statue of Jan van Riebeeck, which at the time of opening was almost on the shore line. The famous jetty at the bottom of Adderley street was only a short distance away.

The current Monutment station refers to platforms 25-29 of the main Cape Town station. These platforms previously housed the SAR's parcel service and shafts still exist on these platforms that connect to an underground tunnel system that supposedly connected to the old Post Office in Plein street??? This area of the Cape Town station uses a totally different entrance to the main passenger station complex and the name Monument station was chosen to reflect this location. Monument station was the starting point of some UL tours? Definately the starting point of Spier safaris and Atlantic Rail excursions.

[Greg Hart]

:)

I like the "NATCOR" natal corridor loco in capetown!! haha, well I saw E1211 (CW) in Durban, so I guess loco's are everywhere these days!

Cheers