Red Devil

[John Ashworth]

The Red Devil looks sad in Cape Town

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Indeed - whereabouts is it kept? Is it accessable?

[John Ashworth]

Walk down Old Marine Street, which is parallel to the Shosholoza Meyl platforms at the extreme left of Cape Town Station. When this road comes to a bridge which takes it under Oswald Pirow Street, just before the bridge you go through a gate (effectively over your right shoulder as you approach the bridge) and go onto the covered platform up a ramp. The other option (which I took before I found this way in) is to go under the road bridge, go into the Train Lodge and persuade them to let you through their hotel onto the tracks.

[Johan vd Vyver]

Beautiful photos. Just seem to be neglected. This engine must come to one of the rail friends in Johannesburg/Pretoria area for full refurbishment and upkeep.

Johan vd Vyver

[Steve Appleton]

Hi Johan, Welcome,
Great suggestion! Just wish we knew how! One problem is where and when we could run it -- it's too big and expensive for most of our trains and too heavy for many branch lines. Nonetheless, I think this would be a good project for "Steam in Action"

[Dylan Knott]

Bloemfontein or Germiston. Can doublehead with any of the preserved 15F or 25NC's!!

Once organised a special "Heritage Day" train with the loco in 2004. Nice run out to Paarl. She needs a new coat of paint and a tune-up though!

[Luca Lategan]

Visited #3450 on Wednesday 2nd of January.

Followed John's instructions, the guy at the 'gate' didn't want me to go through there, I think he was to lazy, so I went through the Train Lounge instead, the friendly staff was very accommodating. Does anyone know what company it is behind the 'gate'? I think that it is their rubbish that is messing up the whole place!

At first when I saw her, I cried out with pleasure, but as I looked closer, tears wanted to come out as I felt her pain as she stands between papers and empty bottles, her copper piping and gauges stripped to be sold for a few Rand. Only the two vacuum meters are left.

Otherwise there is just a lot of dust, but all the rods and bearings are gleaming with oil, so I do not think that it would be that hard to get her up and running again.

Unfortunately we had to catch our train back to Brackenfell and I couldn't inspect her more in detail.

Does anybody know if / when her boiler certificate expired/s? How long does it take to get a new one? Are there any other certificates / licences that a steam locomotive, like herself, needs to be let loose?

What is the other locomotive doing there, see blurred photo, is it a SAS one, what class does it belong to?

Will be happy if someone can let me know :-)

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Some nice pics here, given the poor circumstances. What lens did you use?

It is a shame, given the history behind the engine, where anywhere else it would be a proud display item.

[Luca Lategan]

I have a Canon PowerShot SX100IS

The full shot's specs: 1/20sec; F/2,8; 36mm; ISO800

If any of you are planning to buy a new camera I would HIGHLY recomend it. It is very small and compact with a 10x Optical zoom, at R2799 (the current rrp) a bargain.

You can ajust all the things like shutter speed, F-stop, and manual focus while still keeping the simplicity of other mik-en-druk cameras

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I know the camera - it is really nice too. I have been looking at this one as I have a compact Canon A700 that needs replacing now.

John A, it may be too large for your Sudanese needs, but have a look -

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonsx100is/

(the above site is probably one of the best for camera reviews, but just bear in mind they can be quite critical - which does not mean that a camera is poor! Read all the detail first!)

[Justin Miles]

When you look at Richard Niven's youtube contribution of the Red Devil this is really sad how this
country views items of heritage- I suppose its lack of interest then cost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVYS7xj3eic&NR=1

[Derek Walker]

Tragic. Any current pics of her? or whats left of her? she should be in a proper museum, not left to rot away.

[Chris Janisch]

She is more or less safe here and is not degenerating too fast. Restoration is possible, but who will pay for it and where will she run? Large locos are a problem now since there is no TFR main line access, and they are expensive to run. The future for smaller handfired locos is brighter.

[Nathan Berelowitz]

When the Spier train was in its last year or so of being run with steam and under the care of Ian Pretorius and Andy Faulk, the class 24 from the blokes at Epping was used. Then, after some negotiation with the museum chaps, Ian was fortunate to get the Red Devil, plus 2914, the oil burner 15F and , I forget her number, a oil burner 25 class.
At that time, they were sent there from Dal Josephat, but I think more from Bellville. Correct me if I am wrong.
The Red Devil I think was still in certificate but missing some fittings. She was filthy dirty, but later was repainted by a young lady working for Spier, at the time, named Claire.

The only one of the three locos to actually see a limited service with the Spier, but later under a new name change, was the oil burner 15F. She still had some time left on her certificate and I fired her on two occasions, on their dinner runs and once to Dal Josephat, to collect the last remaining oil in the tank there. We still ran out of fuel two stations before we reached Dal, and had to be towed in by diesel!! Embarresing to say the least.

[Brett Radloff]

When the Spier train was in its last year or so of being run with steam and under the care of Ian Pretorius and Andy Faulk, the class 24 from the blokes at Epping was used. Then, after some negotiation with the museum chaps, Ian was fortunate to get the Red Devil, plus 2914, the oil burner 15F and , I forget her number, a oil burner 25 class.
At that time, they were sent there from Dal Josephat, but I think more from Bellville. Correct me if I am wrong.
The Red Devil I think was still in certificate but missing some fittings. She was filthy dirty, but later was repainted by a young lady working for Spier, at the time, named Claire.

The only one of the three locos to actually see a limited service with the Spier, but later under a new name change, was the oil burner 15F. She still had some time left on her certificate and I fired her on two occasions, on their dinner runs and once to Dal Josephat, to collect the last remaining oil in the tank there. We still ran out of fuel two stations before we reached Dal, and had to be towed in by diesel!! Embarresing to say the least.

Nathan, I don't think I'll forget the day we ran out of oil in a hurry! Good memories, although very embarrassing indeed!

The Red Devil is still under the care of Atlantic Rail at Monument Station, and has recently been given some cosmetic attention by the members of Friends of Atlantic Rail, and is not looking too bad.