Dave Rodgers: my first Garratts

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John Ashworth
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Dave Rodgers: my first Garratts

Post by John Ashworth »

Dave Rodgers wrote:As a result of the recent clear up some missing Kodachrome II slides
have been found. Unfortunately I was born a little late to see any of
the LMS Garratts and without the benefit of the internet information
was sparce in 1969 when we headed to Lerida (now Lleida) to see the
last of Spanish broad gauge Garratts (Class 282F) these had just
finished and replaced by diesels. My first encounter with a Garratt
was thus to be on out first visit to South Africa in July 1975.
However flying Alitalia via Rome we landed at Embakasi airport,
Nairobi which was adjacent to the Mombasa - Nairobi line and amazingly
we crossed over the station/loop as two maroon-liveried Class 59
Garratts crossed on freights!

It was thus 7 days into our South African tour before we actually saw
a 3ft 6in gauge Garratt in action. We arrived in Oudtshoorn on a
Sunday evening and Monday morning saw two southbound passenger trains
over Montagu Pass to George and Mossel Bay.

75-804, 75-805 Soon after sunrise an unidentified Class GMAM Garratt
roars over the Olifants River bridge shortly after leaving Oudtshoorn
at 07.30 with the Johannesburg - Mossel Bay twice weekly passenger
(which had left Johannesburg on Saturday afternoon!).

75-806 For reasons that are now a mystery we didn't chase this train
but instead drove back some 10km east of Oudtshoorn to see the daily
15.45 Port Elizabeth - Cape Town. This train had travelled through the
night from Klipplaat behind torpedo-tendered Class 19D No. 3326.

75-808 At Oudtshoorn the 19D was replaced by another GMAM Garratt No.
4103. During the engine change we were able to photograph Class 7A
4-8-0 No. 1009 preserved on the station platform. 75-812, 75-816 and
75-817 Sundays Port Elizabeth - Cape Town departed Oudtshoorn on
Monday morning at 08.48 for the climb over Montagu Pass to George and
onto Hartenbos. It is seen again near the Olifants River bridge,
Friesland and near Zebra.

We got many shots of the GMAMs over the next few days before moving on
to the Cape Town area with its GEA Garratts and then on to Rhodesia
where 14A, 15A, 16A and 20th Class Garratts were operating virtually
everything in the west of the country.
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davidperl
Posts: 11
Joined: 25 Apr 2010, 19:52

Re: Dave Rodgers: my first Garratts

Post by davidperl »

That 3rd shot is a quintessential South African Railways shot. It captures every classic element - the empty landscape, farmhouse, crystal clear light, hardworking loco etc. Wonder if the class 7 is still there today (and in what shape? shudder).

Out of curiosity, what did you use to scan your slides? The quality is phenomenal. Keep up the good work.
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