Various rolling stock of the former Oosterlyn Express was visible in and around the shed area, but a loco was nowhere to be seen (may have been inside the shed though).
Waterval Boven and the highly scenic stretch down to Waterval Onder were very busy on my first visit to South Africa, more than ten years ago - in November 1995. Now the whole line was quiet. We found the reason for this a few miles further down the road:
Spoornet 35240 (blue) with a ballast train announced trackworks between Airlie and Hemlock. Behind the train, Lennings Rail Service machines busied themself to get the freshly ballasted track into decent shape.
Another couple of miles to the east, in the station of Ngodwana, three engines were waiting for the line to be cleared: E1280 (orange) idled in front of what looked like the economy train from Komatipoort to Johannesburg - but since the picture was taken at about 16:00h and that train leaves Komatipoort at only 18.00h, it must have been another train - any suggestions as to what I saw there? Light engines 18286 + collegue idled in the neighbouring track:
BTW, the gradient of the line east of Waterval Boven is absolutely remarkable. Am I right in assuming that this stretch of the line required massive helper service in the old (steam) days? There is an extensive track layout in Waterval Boven, but there does not seem to be much infrastructure in Waterval Onder, so did the helper service start in Nelspruit already?
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