My granddad was a garratt driver in south Africa. Born in 1906 he worked through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming a garret driver. According to my dad it was quite a prestigious and well paid assignment, maybe almost like a Boeing pilot today, as it was the most expensive piece of movable equipment in the country, at the time. Thanks for the great nostalgic program.
My father Basil Saayman was a Garrett driver and we lived in Mossel Bay. He was the driver on the Queens visit when she was still a princess. He later went on to teach at the college in Uitenhage.
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing the insights, history and localities of the Garratt story. A real visual feast. South Africa's NG loss is at least being (somewhat) redeemed in Wales.
One other NGG16 went to the Puffing Billy Railway Victoria Australia, which already runs Locally built Garrats and Baldwin built Engines. the Two Foot Gauge SAR Garrat was rebuilt to 2'6" to work the Puffing Billy Heritagge Railway in the forests of the Dandenong region of Victoria.
I grew up in central NSW and lived 200 meters from the main western line and a regular train the W44 ore train from broken Hill was pulled by a AD60 Garratt and sometimes 2 AD60 Garratts. It was a sight to behold.
I remember as a kid on the 18 to 21 coach passenger trains, I used to run from one side of the coach to the other so I could wave to the driver and the conductor on the tight curves. It is still my top favourite loco.
This channel is so amazing. The calm English host who explains in detail the histories. And beautiful clips of these engines and their people who look over them. Love it. More steam 🙏!! Note: I've grown sick of hotel developers in my life time. As they destroyed the Island Where I grew up. Maui Hawaii. Disregarding a century of local traditions and soul. Their disease has spread to So. Africa I see. Turning their backs on that perfect railroad which the tourists would have loved. Head shaking.
I'm so glad you seem to have enjoyed viewing the film as much as I enjoyed making it! You are probably aware that a lovely 3ft gauge 2-4-0 steam locomotive was bought from Hawaii and beautifully restored by a Californian collector in the 1990s. I saw it when it visited the Sacramento Railfair in 1999. I don't know where it's kept, but the railfan community would know.
Travelled the Pietermaritzburg -Franklin route 8 times a year from 1955 till 1965. What good memories. There is a vast tourism potential in that line, something a more capable Government could exploit. Alas.....
Fantastic, thank you so much! Please could you give a date when it was filmed, for example the Umgeni Garratt? I mean are they still there now in November 2024?!?
Umgeni and Paton's were videotaped in 2006, while the Garratt on the Montagu Pass and the coastal narrow gauge Garratts at Port Shepstone were done the previous year. I'm not up to date on the scene nearly 20 years later but I'm told that opportunities to film, photograph or ride live steam in South Africa are now greatly reduced. Umgeni and Paton's locos are reported as still in place, but their current status is uncertain. Port Shepstone closed in 2006.
@@NicholasLera-kd5tj Thanks for that... so we were lucky to have done those sorts of rides back then! Lovely sounds on your videos, thanks for posting!
@@transistor754 I'm glad you like the audio. You'll be interested to know that more S.African material from the early 2000s halcyon days of heritage steam are in the pipeline. They take time to produce, and other topics are also in demand, so I have to ask for your patience!
Excellent video on my favourite subject. Sadly much has gone even in tourist operations, I had the chance to ride the ACR as far as Paddock and it was one of the most beautiful trips one could make. GEA operation at Montagu was also impressive, I have seen 4023 out of service at Coronation Colliery shortly before it went for restoration. I just missed one class which also has ran in preservation, the GB class. And for someone also knowing his diesels the pack of EMD class 35s with GE sound was really odd, a small mistake in sound editing.
@10:50 you say the turntable is just big enough to fit a 2-ft. Garratt, but they are Meter Guage 3'6" right? That #2 is a fast starter!! Question: Were any of the freight cars hauling revenue products during the filming of this? I know the tank cars were for hauling the extra water needed and maybe coal in the gondolas, but what about the box cars.? Or were the freight cars added in order to make it look like a mixed train for the photographers? No matter what part of the world it is, I am glad that we have so many dedicated people that preserve and run the steam heritage loco's and vintage passenger cars.
Not all railways in South Africa were 3'6" gauge. A couple of them were only 2ft and some of the 2ft Garretts even wound up at the Welsh Highland Railway in Wales.
@@nstars100 But my point was that the railway in question was a meter gauge railroad and the narrator said they were building a 2-ft. turntable! So, what did I miss? I watched it twice and didn't misconstrue the comments
Believe it or not, the boxcar is actually a grain wagon. They tip it forwards/backwards to unload it. Some of these were specially chartered trains, so they just hired some freight wagons from the railways with the passenger coaches. My friend and I organise charters like this for photographers. We are able to use Steamnet 2000 in Northern Cape, Ceres Rail Company and New Cape Central Railway in the Western Cape and Wonder Steam Trains in Gauteng. There is also Sandstone Estates in the Freestate with 2' gauge equipment.
Has anyone else noticed the decline of railways, infrastructure and manufacturing around the world in white settled countries after the Lima Peru Accord in 1972? Australia, South Africa, UK, Canada and Europe suffering from this treaty.
You can't beat a steam locomotive, the smell, the sound, the living soul of it! 😍🥰😍😎
My granddad was a garratt driver in south Africa. Born in 1906 he worked through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming a garret driver. According to my dad it was quite a prestigious and well paid assignment, maybe almost like a Boeing pilot today, as it was the most expensive piece of movable equipment in the country, at the time. Thanks for the great nostalgic program.
Garratts are some of the most interesting type of steam locomotives the way they look is kind of intimidating
Very good to see my old driver, Oom George van Niekerk again. I worked many years with him.
My father Basil Saayman was a Garrett driver and we lived in Mossel Bay. He was the driver on the Queens visit when she was still a princess. He later went on to teach at the college in Uitenhage.
A great record of wonderful engines working hard for years. Thanks for sharing 😊
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing the insights, history and localities of the Garratt story. A real visual feast. South Africa's NG loss is at least being (somewhat) redeemed in Wales.
Brings back so many memories from my younger days.
So wonderful to see. Memories of trips from Bulawayo through Bechuanaland to Cape Town on the sleep train.
One other NGG16 went to the Puffing Billy Railway Victoria Australia, which already runs Locally built Garrats and Baldwin built Engines. the Two Foot Gauge SAR Garrat was rebuilt to 2'6" to work the Puffing Billy Heritagge Railway in the forests of the Dandenong region of Victoria.
I grew up in central NSW and lived 200 meters from the main western line and a regular train the W44 ore train from broken Hill was pulled by a AD60 Garratt and sometimes 2 AD60 Garratts. It was a sight to behold.
Thank you for uploading these great programs shedding light on the worldwide spectacles of steam. 😄
I remember as a kid on the 18 to 21 coach passenger trains, I used to run from one side of the coach to the other so I could wave to the driver and the conductor on the tight curves. It is still my top favourite loco.
Love steam locomotives 🚂
Great scenery and beautiful steam engines
Thank you ever so much . Free the Cape and steam will live on !!
That sound.....wonderful
Thank you for the best steam fest I have ever seen,
Thanks for posting this fantastic footage. Very fond memories of steam train travel 👍👊🤗
Whan K1 went Beyer,Peacock for her 100th the tram loco beside her was a New South Wales tram which worked on the Sydney tram system.
This channel is so amazing. The calm English host who explains in detail the histories. And beautiful clips of these engines and their people who look over them. Love it. More steam 🙏!!
Note: I've grown sick of hotel developers in my life time. As they destroyed the Island Where I grew up. Maui Hawaii. Disregarding a century of local traditions and soul. Their disease has spread to So. Africa I see. Turning their backs on that perfect railroad which the tourists would have loved. Head shaking.
I'm so glad you seem to have enjoyed viewing the film as much as I enjoyed making it! You are probably aware that a lovely 3ft gauge 2-4-0 steam locomotive was bought from Hawaii and beautifully restored by a Californian collector in the 1990s. I saw it when it visited the Sacramento Railfair in 1999. I don't know where it's kept, but the railfan community would know.
Excellent photography
Brilliant video, loved it!
When was it filmed?
The title page says 2010...filming took place around 2006
Great pictures, and good story.
Teşekkürler güzel video için.. :)
Cape to Cairo next please.
How can they film the cape to cairo line if it was never even fucking completed
@fatpigeon008 There is a film called Cape to Cairo by Nick Lera you ignorant 🙄.
Please upload the World Steam Classics programmes on New Zealand 🇳🇿 and Austria 🇦🇹 steam next!
Excellent coverage
The new government must revive the steam engines and the tracks for our tourism we cant loose that rich history of our country.
Travelled the Pietermaritzburg -Franklin route 8 times a year from 1955 till 1965. What good memories. There is a vast tourism potential in that line, something a more capable Government could exploit. Alas.....
The Van Stsdens Pass, Bridge named after my Great Grandfather, Apple Express is s part of me
Fantastic, thank you so much! Please could you give a date when it was filmed, for example the Umgeni Garratt? I mean are they still there now in November 2024?!?
Umgeni and Paton's were videotaped in 2006, while the Garratt on the Montagu Pass and the coastal narrow gauge Garratts at Port Shepstone were done the previous year. I'm not up to date on the scene nearly 20 years later but I'm told that opportunities to film, photograph or ride live steam in South Africa are now greatly reduced. Umgeni and Paton's locos are reported as still in place, but their current status is uncertain. Port Shepstone closed in 2006.
@@NicholasLera-kd5tj Thanks for that... so we were lucky to have done those sorts of rides back then! Lovely sounds on your videos, thanks for posting!
@@transistor754 I'm glad you like the audio. You'll be interested to know that more S.African material from the early 2000s halcyon days of heritage steam are in the pipeline. They take time to produce, and other topics are also in demand, so I have to ask for your patience!
Excellent video on my favourite subject. Sadly much has gone even in tourist operations, I had the chance to ride the ACR as far as Paddock and it was one of the most beautiful trips one could make. GEA operation at Montagu was also impressive, I have seen 4023 out of service at Coronation Colliery shortly before it went for restoration.
I just missed one class which also has ran in preservation, the GB class.
And for someone also knowing his diesels the pack of EMD class 35s with GE sound was really odd, a small mistake in sound editing.
@10:50 you say the turntable is just big enough to fit a 2-ft. Garratt, but they are Meter Guage 3'6" right?
That #2 is a fast starter!!
Question: Were any of the freight cars hauling revenue products during the filming of this? I know the tank cars were for hauling the extra water needed and maybe coal in the gondolas, but what about the box cars.? Or were the freight cars added in order to make it look like a mixed train for the photographers?
No matter what part of the world it is, I am glad that we have so many dedicated people that preserve and run the steam heritage loco's and vintage passenger cars.
Not all railways in South Africa were 3'6" gauge. A couple of them were only 2ft and some of the 2ft Garretts even wound up at the Welsh Highland Railway in Wales.
@@nstars100 But my point was that the railway in question was a meter gauge railroad and the narrator said they were building a 2-ft. turntable! So, what did I miss? I watched it twice and didn't misconstrue the comments
As mentioned at 4:55 it’s a 2ft railway, not 3’ 6”.
@@nstars100 I rode on one of those several years back. Delightful.
Believe it or not, the boxcar is actually a grain wagon. They tip it forwards/backwards to unload it.
Some of these were specially chartered trains, so they just hired some freight wagons from the railways with the passenger coaches.
My friend and I organise charters like this for photographers. We are able to use Steamnet 2000 in Northern Cape, Ceres Rail Company and New Cape Central Railway in the Western Cape and Wonder Steam Trains in Gauteng. There is also Sandstone Estates in the Freestate with 2' gauge equipment.
Is this recent? Does the Ixopo run still take place?
Nice video, likes from me
Estação ferroviária do Recife/pe/br tem uma locomotiva GARRATT.
Problem with Garratts is that as the water and coal was used up and the weight on driving wheels reduced they lost some traction...
🍏 Express🎉🎉🎉❤❤
Why two vacuum hoses connected two the same pipe? I’ve seen the same thing on the South African locomotive, a 25NC I think, at Quainton Road.
never seen a white choo choo before
Has anyone else noticed the decline of railways, infrastructure and manufacturing around the world in white settled countries after the Lima Peru Accord in 1972? Australia, South Africa, UK, Canada and Europe suffering from this treaty.
Are they burning coal or oil?
Coal
But really poor quality coal in the shots with the black smoke. I suspect it might even be lignite.
Happy singh from india