Soul of A Railway - South African Railways

[Bill Jamieson]

This website appears to have been in existence for a number of years but I have only just come across it - https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/

 It's a mixture of history and photography - much of the latter is quite superb.

Bill

[MikeRich]

Amazing photographs, the black and white photography really suits those machines and the harshness of the South African landscape.

 

And oh my, lots and lots of photographs of my favourite locomotives ever, the incredible Class 25 condensers. Hulking great beasts - and narrow gauge too!

 

Not sure what I would do with it, but I'd love a model of a condenser.

 

Thanks for sharing the link,

 

Mike.

[Mikkel]

Quite an effort by the authors, and some very evocative photos. Thanks for the link.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I came across this when on holiday in South Africa a couple of years back. It is a fantastic collection of pictures and memories, but it does leave me a little annoyed at such a wonderful network that was extant until reasonably recently has been left to rot, mainly though mismanagement.

[Bill Jamieson]

10 hours ago, MikeRich said:

Amazing photographs, the black and white photography really suits those machines and the harshness of the South African landscape.

Agreed - and some of the monochrome shed shots at Bloemfontein in this section are simply out of this world! https://sites.google.com/site/soulorailway/soul-of-a-railway/system-5-orange-free-state/part-1b-hump-retarder-yard-running-sheds-mechanical-workshops

Bill

[jhb171achil]

This is an absolutely superb website, especially for those of us lucky enough to remember main line steam in South Africa - but even if you dodn't, look it up.

 

The authors have a quite unique and very informative style of writing, their own personal experiences really bringing this fascinating and complex system to life. Absolute gold dust for any modeller too.