South African Steam: Alfred County Railway NGG16A Garratt hauling timber

Visit the Alfred County Railway at Port Shepstone, South Africa where we see super-Garratt NGG16A 141 heading for Paddock with a load of empties. At Izotsha it was discovered that somebody had turned on the valve overnight and had emptied the tank. So 141 dropped most of her load there and continued to Paddock with only one wagon. On the return, 141 had a full load of timber to take back to the coast.

[@alantunbridge8919]

I was a shareholder in the Alfred County & know Charlie Lewis fairly well. My family spent our holidays from 1988 to 1992 at Port Shepstone,we rode the “Banana Express” regularly & I chased & photographed trains from many of thr same spots as yourself. Your video brings back fond memories

[@steamfreak]

Thanks Alan, it was an amazing railway.

[@Retaud21]

Trevor, I loved this one as well. Pity these loco's are no longer operating on this, most interesting line. As always, my compliments to the photographer on some wonderful shots.

[@steamfreak]

Yes that was a great line

[@olafeklund6200]

Rode on the Banana Express about 30 years ago, hauled by the same loco on the same line. Fond memories.

[@steamfreak]

Fantastic trip!

[@johnmerry4666]

One of the most interesting railways I have ever traveled on. Thank you for sharing.

[@steamfreak]

Thanks John. It was a great railway in a fantastic spot. Very sad that it is now gone.

[@mzwandilemahlaba5029]

What did you transport except Banana and Timber?

[@tergniet]

I grew up at Usakos, Namibia when the NG was still operated between Usakos and Grootfontein / Tsumeb. I think the locomotives utilised were the NG 5 and 15 classes. There was a full passenger train as well as normal cargo trucks. We called it the ROCK N ROLL EXPRESS because of the rolling moves the train made.

[@steamfreak]

That would have been amazing!

[@stephensmith799]

These locomotives are so darn good that none should have been scrapped, but all mothballed. We just don't know what the future holds and circumstances in which they may be needed again.... modified to burn wood pellets in automatically fed modified fireboxes to run carbon neutral.

[@steamfreak]

At least here are a few still operating overseas now.

[@GarrattHamster]

Thank you for uploading another great clip.

[@steamfreak]

No worries! Glad the video is being watched instead of sitting in my cupboard...

[@GarrattHamster]

Yeah. well thank you for doing so. Please keep them coming.

[@steamfreak]

:) Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, it was an interesting drive that day! Fortunately the top speed of the train was not that high...

[@articulatedloco]

Hi Trevor ! This was some of the best I've seen. You must have had to drive like hell to get ahead to the various spots . I know the country quite well.

[@steamfreak]

Yes, rally driving was a part of the deal! 🙂

[@mzwandilemahlaba5029]

I miss the days from.Nqabeni

[@ajaypatil1654]

Where are you from 🤔🙏

[@mzwandilemahlaba5029]

@@ajaypatil1654 i am from Nqabeni Alfred country railway passes by home between Harding and Izingolweni

[@ajaypatil1654]

@@mzwandilemahlaba5029 oh... OK you know I'm from India I love see Train's of the world I saw such a beautiful video

[@mzwandilemahlaba5029]

It is very good. You see this was like 20 years ago and it brings memories of seeing steam train passing .we would cheer at it

[@steamfreak]

They were good days

[@articulatedloco]

Superb Trevor ! Did you ever get any video of the Umzinto Donnybrook line before it closed? It was even more spectacular. Any possibility of buying a DVD of the Alfred County one?

[@steamfreak]

I never got to Umzinto unfortunately. I never actually got to making DVDs of this footage, hence sharing it on KZbin.

[@mmandmcb14]

Do you have any videos of 141 with the Banana Express.

[@steamfreak]

Yes, on my channel here somewhere.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Very nice video, I traveled this line as well, and it's sad that it's in such decay now. Any hope of reopening this line seems unlikely?

[@steamfreak]

I doubt that this line will ever reopen, sadly...

[@Tom-Lahaye]

@@steamfreak I will have to do with the Welsh Highland Railway then, but this is a very nice railway too and I can it travel more often as it is not so far from The Netherlands.