Port Shepstone
(01.11.06)


After we've seen the overgrown stations of Harding, Izingolweni, and Paddock, we were prepared for a similarly sad sight at Port Shepstone. Reality, however, was even worse. The bad weather did not help. Some of the locos were worked upon; some seemed to be beyond restoration. It did not really feel as if  the Banana Express would ever run again.  However, I had the pleasure to meet Peter Bagshawe who cared to explain a bit of the confusing situation to me.

These are the locos I found. I will give the number plates plus what I was told or found out to be the 'real' number of each loco plus some additional information I could gather. None of this contradicts to 'common knowledge' or bits of information that have been published earlier, but I think it is nice to have it compiled consistently.

  1. The first loco on the left, in front of the shed, carried no sign of identity. I was told it's number 156. On the driver's side, its water tank still carries the initials SAS (which is the acronym for Suid-Afrikaanse Spoorwee, i.e. the Africaans spelling of SAR).


  2. The (reddish) loco on the left track inside the shed was worked upon. I was told it was number 139 and that it was for sale. It was worked upon in July 2006 already, when sar-L member "NG CAJ" visitied the shed.
  3. On the right track, there were two steam locos. The first carried plates "Alfred County Railway NG/G 16 140" and "1958 Beyer Peacock 7864". I was told that it's really number 127. Given that 140 was sold to Welsh Highland/Ffestiniog Railway in 1997, and that number 127 was reported to run with 'wrong' number plates (i.e. those of  number 88 in early years and those of 140 in 2003) before, this seems to make sense. Beyer Peacock #7864 belongs to number 139 though.

    This is just another picture of locos 127 (left) and 139 (right), seen from inside the shed.








  4. The third garrat inside the shed carried plates "Alfred County Railway NGG16A 155" and "1967 Hunslet Taylor 3894", but I was told that it's really number 151. Given that the 'real' 155 has been sold to Sandstone Steam RR, and that 151 had returned to service (after a 13-year break) in 2004, this does make sense. Numbers 127 and 151 were the two operational locos on ACR in 2004. According to "NG CAJ",  they are owned by a Mr. Newton who has ordered for the locos to be maintained. The manufacturer's plate Hunslet Taylor #3894 belongs to loco number 149.







  5. Outside the shed I found a loco in what once was a red livery. I was told that it's number 141, which (along with 155) has been converted  to type NGG16A using gas producer technology like the class 26 "Red Devil". The auxiliary air vents for the gas producer system are visible on the side of the fire box just above the running plate.


  6. Rusting away outside the shed were another three engines. The first one was chalkmarked to be number 150, which is one of the three engines formerly abandoned in Umzinto.


  7. This is the second of three ex-Umzinto locos. It is NGG 16 152, sitting close to number 150.


  8. This is the third of the three ex-Umzinto wrecks, namely 137. This one lay just behind the shed, opposite to 141.

    The three ex-Umzinto locos     NGG16 137,150 & 152 have been sold to Sandstone Steam RR in November 2006 and moved a little bit later. Sandstone website features pictures of the reassembly of 152.






  9. Not quite a Garrat, but a pleasant surprise anyway: Sandstone Steam RR 3  (which is Hunslet Taylor 6355/1964 according to SSR website). According to Sandstone website, she remained here until May 2007 and did a lot of work rescuing some of the to-be-sold-as-scrap items.

So, who's missing? NGG 16 114, 116, 125, 126, 142, and 149 have all been preserved at a farm in Paddock and are probably still there. Pictures from Errol Ashwell (published on the Sandstone website in January 2007) show locos paintmarked to be 116 (red), 125, 126, and 149, plus at least one unknown.


Ralph Timmermann, 28. July 2007
updated following comments from Peter Bagshawe and Tony 'Ashcat' Marsden, 31.07.07


Literature:
JM02: John N. Middleton: Railways of Southern Africa - Locomotive Guide, 2002 Edition.

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