The Stinkwood Railway, Knysna, South Africa

[rogerfarnworth]

The April 1951 edition of The Railway Magazine carried a short article about a 2ft-gauge logging line in South Africa. The article was entitled, The Stinkwood Line. It drew my attention and I thought that it was worth investigation.

 

It turns out that the article was not as accurate as it might have been and it also failed to let magazine readers know that by the time of publication the line had been closed for at least 18 months.

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/15/the-stinkwood-railway

[EddieB]

Quite intriguing, what an interesting discovery!  I’m not aware of the railway being described in other published works.  Surely it can’t be that the author of the Railway Magazine article is the politician famous for the 1944 Education Act and overlooked for the leadership of his party in the ‘fifties?

 

The illustrations would suggest that the locomotive stock was wider than that listed. Former class NG3 no. 4 was a 4-6-2T built by Hawthorn Leslie, whilst the open cab 0-6-0T has something of a Fowler appearance.

 

If it’s ok, I can try some other groups that may have more expertise on this railway.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Yes EddieB, please do what you wish. I am happy for this to be shared.

[EddieB]

Before asking more widely, I've gone back over some of the references.  The Wikipedia page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Western_Railway_(South_Africa) is very helpful.  The book "24 Inches Apart" (Moir, 1963) has a short chapter and three photographs.  (Two of the photographs are of the same train, delivering round corrugated iron tanks; there is an open "safety" wagon in front of the locomotive to minimise recovery time in the event of derailment).

 

I can extend the table on the Wikipedia page in respect of the locomotive stock - adding works numbers and equivalent Whyte notation.  Please note that the "Coffee Pot" article (linked no. 4 from your web page) has the wheel arrangement of the first two shown incorrectly.

 

Number / Year / Builder                        / Works number / Wheel arrangement / Comment

1             1906     Orenstein & Koppel      1775                    B1' n2t (0-4-2T)           Wood fired

2             1907     Orenstein & Koppel      2240                    C1' n2t (0-6-2T)           Wood fired

3             1911     Orenstein & Koppel      4880                    D n2t   (0-8-0T)           Wood fired

4             1934     Hawthorn Leslie & Co    2687                   2'C1' n2t (4-6-2T)        Ex-SAR NG 3 Nr. 4, 1907

 

Spark arresting chimneys would be fairly normal for wood burning locomotives, especially those operating in forested country.  There are good, clear pictures of nos. 3 and 4 on pp 13-14 of this piece: http://www.historycape.co.za/files/7714/3783/3895/RHG_Bulletin_no_129_part_2.pdf

 

Wikipedia mentions one of the locomotives being sold into industrial service in Witwatersrand.  Despite various incomplete and overlapping lists, I've been unable to identify which one it was and where it went.

[rogerfarnworth]

Interesting EddieB.

[Nearholmer]

Yes, I was going to mention Moir's book. Don't  some of the maps you've used originate in that?

 

Kevin

[rogerfarnworth]

Not aware of this Kevin. You may well be right.

 

I have searched around over the internet and may have picked things from another site rather than from a primary source. If so, my apologies.

 

I can only plead ignorance.