Africa Steam 2015 - Part 1 - Copper mine in Botswana
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2015
- Two ex-SAR 19D steam locomotives carry copper-nickel ore from two shafts to the BCL smelter. Occasionally, they also haul coal trains brought to an exchange yard by the Botswana National Railway. They can be regarded as the last service steam trains of Africa.
4:30 that entire structure wobbling looked pretty scary!
6:03 that's quite some wheelslip!
I'm glad steam is still in regular service on parts of Africa!
Luckily it was just the camera. If you look at the right/to the bottom left of the screen, you’ll see the perspective changes.
I really enjoyed watching this video. I worked as a Design Draughtsman at BCL on two contracts over a 6.5 year period & remember the new steam maintenance facility that was built while I was there. I worked in the mine drawing office, most of my work being based within the smelter, where there was a large flash-smelting furnace & a monster waste heat boiler (the latter, which when built, was the largest in the southern hemisphere at that time). One of my first projects at the mine was at No.4 shaft, when I was involved with the drawings for the original 1000 ton ore storage bin, used to load the rail ore wagons.
I was asked to prepare a drawing of this same steam engine, which was converted into a copper-etched presentation gift for the departing Mine Manager. My years in Selebi-Phikwe were very enjoyable & I found the engineering projects there to be varied & very interesting; I often travelled by train between Serule & Bulawayo...great memories!
Pleased to read that you enjoyed my video. I was there twice and it will be one of deep regrets: not to have been authorized to visit the smelter. Too late now.
What was the waste heat boiler used for?
My favourite SA steam video. Thanks. In Springs, South Africa, this type of loco came through our school grounds slowly every day, when I was a kid. Nice memories.
I don't apologise for my moaning about the condition of these engines, and, like the other friends of steam on here, I do agree that it's great to see them still steaming. Like so many countries, the world over, the steam locomotive is what made the difference to millions of travellers and settlers alike-not to mention goods transported etc. Grant these engines the respect that is due them, and recognize the tremendous service/s which they have all performed. Thank you again Kochersberg TV for your brilliant captioning and videos. Long may we all live to enjoy the remnants of Steam!
I love trains and I grew up in Sacramento California and my dad and mom used to take me to the old sac and ride the old train there my favorite is the train called Big Boy (idk the model of the locomotive ) but it’s called big boy
She Just needs a good paint jop
Notice the cars Don't STOP at the crossings,wonder how many hit a train. Thanks for sharing this great video,good to see the oldies still in action,well cared for.Must be a new whistle.
2 seconds away from being hit
My dream of driving steam locomotives will never come to fruition, just like every dream of mine
Thank you very much for sharing your great clip. you did capture some great action from the 19D Class engines. Thank you very much again.
Thank you for the memories! I remember when these locomotives were wiped down every day, the BRASS WAS POLISHED, WINDOWS CLEANED, footplate was washed down and you came in early and wiped down areas with oily cotton waste to give them a shine. There is no pride left anymore. Even the motion was wiped down daily on the regular assigned engines. These throttle-Jockeys are not Drivers, as we know them! These locomotives are a dying breed and are being run into the ground. I don;t anticipate any changes of attitude once these engines are replaced with Diesels! So pleased I was there to enjoy these engines in their hay-day! I had never seen a smokebox burned before-until now!
Fantastic video. I love those 19Ds. Thanks for sharing it with us
Brilliant video! Great to see industrial steam still going!
Beautiful amazing video 👌 and you know that Railway look like old Indian Railway and locomotive beautiful keep it up much love from 🙏🌹🎈🇮🇳INDIA🇮🇳🎈🌹🙏
I hope they are still in service !
Please, please keep them in service ...
Greetings from Germany !
Good to see they're still running. Nice video!
This is the best video of youtube. Steam trains are pure magic.
Awesome footage once again, like all of your brilliant captures of old working steam locomotives around the world. You most certainly have a an appreciative group of steam buffs enjoying the great efforts that you obviously have put into capturing all this spectacular footage. Greetings from the Train Lord in South Australia.
Excellent video! Thanks for posting.
Thank you for another excellent video.
Wonderful. The best way to preserve steamlocos: use 'em!
+Stephen Smith Oh yes, indeed...
KochersbergTV
I can't figure out how steam locomotives can be fired with what to me looks like dust. How come it does not fall through the grate straight into the ashpan, of blanket the grate so no air gets through, or goes straight through the tubes unburnt. Are the grates designed in some special way? (Chinese coal looks to have been even more dusty and broken-up.)
They use coal of reasonable granularity. They even remove (some of) the dust before loading the locomotives. I believe the dust itself is used in the smelter. I would tend to believe that the coal they use has not been washed, as used to be the case in our countries.
KochersbergTV
Thanks for that. I had the experience of hand-firing a steam locomotive this June (4-4-0 'Cheltenham'). This was very tricky as UK locos are mostly left hand drive which means firing left handed while standing on the right side of the cab. But what a great experience! I think SAR loco are mostly fired by mechanical stokers which would suit the coal you describe. Late SAR steam looks to me to be more sophisticated than late British Railways steam... But they all sound and smell great!
+Stephen Smith You are so right. All you need is coal or wood and water and off you go:-)))
Lovely to see these beauties doing what they were built to do. Work
It seems to me that no807 is an ex SAR loco indeed, but no813 is most likely an ex NRZ loco, the most obvious difference between them being the tender bogies.
The SAR used the 6 wheel Buckeyes under them, while the NRZ 19th class used the leaf sprung plateback style.
Very nice footage, and it's unique to see working steam not for touristic/preservation purpose filmed in HD!
Awesome video! Greetings from the USA!
Very enjoyable to watch, thanks for sharing.
Steam's coming back with a vengeance within those countries who don't bother signing up to crippling climate change policy eg. Paris agreement etc.. local coal will become a cheap resource on the market
ur contents are actually pretty amazing my guy
Soothing the eyes and an overwhelming feeling
Nice footage, great sound, well edited. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.
Hi bro greetings from the indonesian 🇲🇨🇲🇨
Nice video, thank you, i enjoyed it.
It's weird to see they won't use sand to prevent wheelslip , that's a very useful accessory. But the locos looks very clean and well preserved.
Remarkable Filmwerk ,Sir ...
Outstanding video
It's interesting that LO813 has the Vanderbilt tender from the ex-RR 19 LO804 now.
I just LOVE that steam i kept alive so our children will have an idea what it was like. Roland Kewley
😁😁😁
Very impressive in deed. Thank You (= kiitos in Finnish).
why we stopped useing steam engines in docks and mines baffels me they are still perfectly capable of doing their job and look beautifull doing it too
Wat een kei leuk idee!
Ik denk dat ik zoiets ook kan maken, heb zoveel boeken nog!
What?
Stylus 'Luigiman' Sketch I believe he’s speaking Afrikaans. A hybrid of language that is both Dutch and Zulu. Quite strange.
Nice capture.
Why did you add the sound of a steam whistle to the video?
Huge tender! Nice vid!
2:45 - best sound ever
I agree with you... Thank you for the comment.
Kanwar t
Selebi Shaft and Selebi North Shaft captions are the wrong way round. Selebi North Shaft has the concrete headgear with the koepe wonder on top. Enjoyable video, unfortunately BCL is no more.
Super Film
I used to see this train in Botshabelo selibi phikwe when I was young going to BCL mine
beautiful
No graffiti symbolizes pride in their commerce.
Damn that was some wheel slip
Steel on steel and the track is wet, with the huge amount of torque from steam they will spin the wheels quite easily at times. Often when you do not want too, hence they carry sand to put in front of the wheels for more grip.
The design of the steam locomotive is unusual. It looks as if a liquid / gas hanger had been fused with it.
I usto hitch a ride on them when I was younger
Fantastic steam engine Arun Climate, Pune, India
Великолепный фильм!
Awesome !! I guess no sand for the wheel slipping ....
Nice
It is amazing when we speak of it being a small world. I live about 5 hours from your Sacto home, at the north end of the Sierras.
I clicked on your video because my late wife was born in Ndola. The extended family lived in Rhodesia, SA and Angola. Daisy wasn't much of a story teller, but she did tell about riding the steam trains. If she were still with us, I would ask her to give me a tour of southern Africa.
One thing the family used to speak of, was Botswana's terrible roads. But they came to America in 1980. I see a lot of work has been done in the mean while. There is more vehicle traffic in this video than any lower African video I have seen!
Thank you. I love trains and am delighted to see steam is still alive and well in some parts of the world.
One question, Sir if I may. What is this (apparently) combination car behind the locomotive? I believe I understand the coal hopper. But the rest of this long car...?
Thank you for this video that touched my heart, through the eyes of my precious inlaw family.
Immediately behind the locomotive is the tender, which carries water and coal for the locomotive. The hoppers carry copper ore. The whole operation of the copper mine and smelter is now completely stopped.
@@KochersbergTV
Man! That's a LOT of water!
Thanks.
Michael D.
Those locomotives were purchased in South Africa, where they used to cross the Great Karoo desert. They needed to carry a lot of water, because there was not much of it to take on the way.
@@KochersbergTV
Amazing. More good information that I understand.
Thank you again.
By the way I like your titles. And you don't take them down as quickly as most channels do. In this day of poor education, titles need long exposure to be absorbed.
I am a reader, but not fast. So, we literary turtles thank you.
Worked out well loaded ones went down hill and the empties went up hill
04.07.2021
Do they still driving the locomotives?
Do you have plans to go revisit there after the pandemic ends?
The mine closed some years ago and the locomotives were sold (some of them at least). One of them, a class 14 Garratt is currently running in Zambia. No point in returning there unfortunately
It is nice to see steam locomotives in active use. But it is also sobering in this case. After all, in this case they are not used as a tourist attraction, but because the operator cannot afford anything more modern. This ultimately means that their active use as working equipment is a testament of their poverty. Or is there another reason of which I am unaware?
What gauge is that line?
The typical gauge in this (very large) area: 3 foot 6 (1.06 m)
Are the steam locos still operative? Are they oil fired boilers? Love to see them...
No. The copper mine is now closed and the locomotives are for sale. Actually some have already been sold and are being repaired in Livingstone (Zambia)
I love those large tenders
Are they still being used today? I know they used Garrets in SA up to about 2010 & there are also NG Mallet steam engines being used in Eritrea. If they look a little filthy, I guess that goes with the job. It's better that a shiny steam locomotive producing dust in a museum.
The copper mine is now closed and some of the locomotives of the mine have already been sold. At least two of the (ex-Rhodesia Railways) 14th are now in Livingstone (Zambia). As for Eritrea, I recently published a video showing 4 Mallet at work in the mountains.
What happened to them now? Are they still running in 2021?
The copper mine was closed some years ago.The 2 former Rhodesia RW 14th class Garratts are now in Livingstone (Zambia). For the 19D shown on my video, I have no idea, but they were in a very poor state.
매연이 장난아니네 21세기에 아직도 저게 굴러가다니 ...
caps lock off please
whit fuel price today steam engine might be a good idea to bring back
What are they mining ?
Copper and nickel ore. The mine is now closed. They were extracting and producing a concentrate of copper and nickel, which was then exported to refineries, mostly in Germany.
3:05 That's Africa!
Looks like an oil burning steam train. I say this because of the second rail car having a long tube on it. I guess although the smoke is black and thick. Not sure oil burns so dark.
They are coal burners and they had to burn unsuitable coal, which was intended for the copper-nickel smelter, not for use in a steam locomotive. Hence the smoke. Nothing to do with a lack of competence on the part of the crew members. On the contrary: firing a heavily loaded steam engine with such coal was actually an achievement.
1. 3'6" guage? - I often wonder why they used such a narrow guage in Southern Africa.
2. What dirty coal! - Or is the fireman sometimes putting bits of old car tyres into the furnace for photographic effect?
As for the dirty smoke, this is nothing to do with photographers. I have to insist that those are service trains. And I promise you that the crew is too busy to even consider making lots of smoke for visitors.
The 3'6" gauge came about when the Cape Government Railway was established in 1860. There were plenty of mountain passes with tight curves which made the use of 4'8" difficult as the radius of the bends would have been unable to handle the mountain passes. Since then almost all of the railways in Sub-Saharan Africa are the narrow gauge.
That fireman is top notch. She burns clear when getting worked. You only see smoke when they just got done pulling. Both sides of the cab are handled by real railroaders.
.
That tender is huge, it looks longer than the engine itself lol.
Yes, why not if the water supply is sparse...
😊 Top 👍
Thanks for this video, recalls plenty of memories when I work at BCL:-) Pity you didn't show more of the surroundings, those long takings of wagon lines were bit boring:-)
You are perfectly right. On the other hand, you have to admit that the surroundings: flat land with low thorny bushes is not exactly sexy either.
I had on my mind some takings inside BCL :-) or Selebi Phikwe town, some schwenks arround when the train vent past will be nice. Anyway, thank you wery much!
I like to be there one day from Pakistan 🇵🇰
Unfortunately, all mining operation has ceased and consequently the railway operation. The locomotives are for sale.
@@KochersbergTV thanks for reply
RIP mother nature.
Why are they still using coal trains. Can’t they use diesel locos?
Genuine question.
This traffic closed when the copper mine closed as well. Please appreciate if your operation is economically borderline, why would you choose to buy expensive diesel locomotives whilst you have steam ones; Anyway, the mine is now closed and the locomotives have been sold. some of which are currently operating in Victoria Falls (Zambian side) for the great pleasure of tourists.
Эти паровозы до сих пор работают?
The answer is no, for thevtime being.
Loved the video. The only comment I have to make is that the fireman is not doing a good job. All the black smoke. In fairness, it might be that the engineer does not communicate well and the fireman must run "rich". I have watched so many videos and have seen just a small puff of black smoke. Of course that is a great crew that have worked years together.
DID YOU MADE IT MR.UGANDA AFTER 1970 ANIN DEATH?
0:32 the guy is making the beep noise
запасливый на воду тендер однако !
👍💐
Welcome 💐👍
Lots of bad mechanical noise, these locs need bushings everywhere.
These locos are (or more precisely: were) survivors. They were serving the purposes of a declining copper mine and there was no time to look after them as long as they could haul a train. Please take this video as a testimony of real life, not anything about an idealistic museum line. In the mean time, the mine went bankrupt and those locomotives are for sale, just in case you are interested.
Railway gate is unmanned and unsafe .
Life could be cheap in Botswana, the accident & death figures, displayed at the main entrance to the mine, looked like a cricket score board, (with the Ozzies doing well!)
Siiippp
And nobody talked about pollution in this video. Imagine if it was a Chinese mine in Africa, words such as illegal, environmental damage, pollution....would have flooded it.
Like 1940s here.
You should take more care.... These enjins are dying... There not even made for this type of work sell the loco to someone you can take care.... And buy a diesel... They are stronger and can be replased.... Streamers can't be replased eany more.... Please... I beg you!
unfortunately this operation has ceased
That's sad news, where'd you find out?
BCL mines and smelter have been put in liquidation in 2017. To the best of my knowledge, no buyer has been found.
KochersbergTV Does this mean the end of steam revenue service in Africa? I hope these locos will be preserved.
No, steam revenue service survives in Hwange collieries, in Zimbabwe. They use a 15(A) class: see here ua-cam.com/video/XOlZ3F5kA-0/v-deo.html or here for stills: www.ona.vu/Documents/vignettes.php?lieu=Hwange . No idea what the locomotives are becoming in Botswana. They had a 14th class from Rhodesia Railways for sale for a number of years. As for the 19D's, they were really worn out when I last saw them. Not sure preservation is financially sustainable.
KochersbergTV thank you, I hope the 15A’s in Zimbabwe will continue their work for years to come. There’s something different about steam revenue service, there not just museum pieces.
They appear to be very well-maintained - no blows.
+Stephen Smith Well, each time any of the locos is stopped, they have something to fix, but they do it...so far.
I'm like
Не жарко им в Африке на паровозах?
Yes, it can be hot, but this video was filmed in winter so the heat was tolerable.
1:21 wheelslip... it cant even pull itself...
Yeah, that was weird.... perhaps a track problem?
...or maybe oil or grease on the wheels from just being serviced...
Guy at 03:09 - zero fucks given. :D
The locomotives are in a very bad condition......
When this video was recorded it was known that the copper mine was going to close. Such that maintenance of the locomotives was reduced to an absolute minimum.
Meanwhile China built the steam locomotive SY1772 in 1999 because China.
Это пиз.… ой не буду ну знаете
Stobe the hobo brought me here.
A lot of pollution.
Yes, but totally negligible in comparison with the pollution generated by the smelter itself.
Steam locomotives produce less pollution than a diesel locomotive.
This earth is pollution so what on earth a big pollution and problems is human 👌
It is just amazing that this air pollution is allowed anywhere in the world . Same with China and there steam engines. Air quality is terrible and this is an example of total disregard for the planet. Preserve steamlocos as long as you do not live next to the rail.
Well, I have seen diesels churning out as much smoke as any steam loco, but diesel smoke is worse!
Diesel exhaust in composition is far worse than steam engines, but there is a lot of soot so there is that if the train passes through a tunnel, better close all the windows or you will be blackened lol...