It's still 4 January 2015. After the trip on the Umgeni Steam Railway we headed back to Durban and went up on the arch of the Moses Mabhida Stadium to enjoy the view over the city (and its railway lines) from 105 m above ground level.
The "Skycar" that takes you up the arch
Metrorail motor coach 10M5-0446M
Electric shunter 8E No. E8035
More 10M5 coaches. The one above is painted in the livery of the "KZN Business Express" that is scheduled to connect Durban and Pietermaritzburg from March 2015, and "normal" trailer coaches below
Overview of the Durban railyard, the building in the middle under the bridge is the maintenance hall
Diesel shunter class 36-000, here it is 36-239
Another 8E: E8038 also in Spoornet blue
A 12-coach 10M5 composition comes in from kwaMashu as train no. 9358
More Metrorail trains
A bit hidden behind 10M5 coaches is this 8E in the old red South African Railways livery
The other KZN Business Express motor coach: 10M5-1240M
One of the 6E1 in kwaZulu-Natal that has not (yet) been rebuilt into a class 18E: E1394 in Spoornet orange. Next to it are 18430 (ex E1397) in the rather new blue PRASA livery and another 18E in Shosholoza Meyl purple in bewteen
Yet another 10M5. The 10M5 units in kwaZulu-Natal have a turqoise stripe above the doors, wile those around Cape Town have a dark blue one
Train no. 9398 (kwaMashu 16:30 - Durban 17:04 - Umlazi 17:51), running about 10 minuts late, next to the stadium
The 10M5 are massively rebuilt 5M2A units, some of those are still running
The next morning (5 January) we left Durban to start our journey towards Cape Town. First stop was the pulp mill in Umkomaas with the last regular steam service in the country. They have three class 19D locos, of which one is always active. THis day it was No. 2 (ex SAR 2633, Å koda 928/1938).
The timber wagons have been brought to the exchange yard by 3 class 37-000: 37-060 (GM 116-60/1982)...
... 37-095 (GM 116-95/1982) and 37-025 (GM 116-25/1981). Until 2012 they would have been brought by up to 4 class 6E1 locos, now only Diesels are in use
The trio again while shunting
The loco has vacuum brakes, while the trains are air-braked. To provide air for the train, a compressor on a wagon is used
The loco is coupled and starts shunting
More wagons are taken from another track
Again, from the other side
The train starts the short trip to the mill
I also took 3 videos from all the shunting:
37-060, 37-095, and 37-025
Saiccor Nr. 2 shunting
Departure to the mill
More photos coming soon!
