Full Size The Langkloof

Martin Shaw

Western Thunderer
If your railway interests extend beyond the shores of the UK then I can thoroughly recommend this largely pictorial but with some worthwhile text book about the 2' gauge Port Elizabeth to Avontuur railway in the Cape Province of South Africa. Whilst it has some historic background it really pictures the railway in the 60s and 70s when it was steam worked so masses of NGG16 Garratts and NG15 Kalaharis working limestone trains and the seasonal fruit traffic, and then the eventual decline as the SA government and SAR moved to dieselisation and actively encouraged road transport. It will never be seen again though thankfully the Sandstone Estates have a large collection of locos and eventually you will be able to ride behind a Kalahari along the Welsh Highland, I hope I will be able to. Sadly I had a slim chance of going to SA in the 70s which I didn't take the opportunity. The photos are in the glorious light that seems to exist in that part of the world, worth the £37.50 it cost from the Festiniog Railway who published it I feel.IMG_1013.JPG
Regards
Martin

PS sorry about the pic
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
If you want a digital rabbit hole, and you will loose days of your life in this site, I fully recommend Soul of a Railway for just about everything to do with SAR railways in it's hey days. Charlie Lewis being one of the site authors I'd expect some images in the book to also be on this site.

Keeping in context, drop into here System 3 - Soul of A Railway just for the Port Elizabeth narrow gauge railways but feel free to browse the other 87 pages.

It's an ongoing work and there are big sections missing but just a drop dead gorgeous pictorial feast of SAR steam, diesel and electric.
 
Top