Model Railways In South Africa

April 1, 2020

Peter Field from Pietermaritzburg, the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa sent in this article and these photos to share with readers and hopefully inspire others to get involved in the wonderful hobby of model railroading. He even has a KIWI RAIL locomotive from New Zealand in his collection. Thank you Peter for sharing.

Peter writes –

In 2009 I wrote on the article that was published on your blog on my Love Affair with trains and model railways.

I built a demo layout for shows , however this turned into a more permanent layout, the layout was extended to its present size of 1.8m x1.2m then extended it and extended it yet to its present size of 5.5mx1.5m in 2018. This gives me +-14m of open trackage plus the shunting yards and run to the loco sheds. The layout is based on the South African railways in the 1960’s to 2018 or there about. Steam diesel and electric motive power operate on the board together as the layout is based on a small rural town near Pietermaritzburg in Natal.

I operate a fleet of 4 steam locomotives Class 16E the grey hound of the railways for its speed Class 15CA and classes 8-15. On the diesel side I have Class31,35,34,36 he electrics Class5E,6E, and the mighty Class 4E which was the largest Elec locomotive built for the SAR by England in the 1960’s. The layout is a single track with dual track in the station as a holding track. The layout consists of a small rural village, shops, houses farms factories and a station. The factories are a small furniture factory, Cat facility, and the container deposit with a fuel deposit.

The operation of the board is that I make up the freight or goods trains in the yards and bring them into the station to be hauled. The passenger stock consists of three types one vintage wooden balcony coaches of the 1950 – 1960’s and then the 1970’s steel bodied coaches of the old SAR and lastly the Trans Karoo train which is todays train which operate long distance Johannesburg – Cape Town – JHB – Durban etc. Which are shunted in the tards and made up and taken to the station to be hauled. If I am using a 1950’s – 1960’s Wooden stock, then the motive power would be steam or early Class 31 Diesels. Steel body coaches Class 5E-ClassE motive power and if the trans Karoo (which means barren Land) then Class 34 Diesel is used or Class 7E.

How do I operate the trains if I use a Goods train then it is made up and hauled by either Diesel or Elec motive power some times by steam the train is operated for +-0 15-20 minutes brought into the station and uncoupled and loco returned to the sheds and the Class 36 shunter brings the train to the shunting yards where it is shunted into the various sidings or side lines next to the factories. The speed depends on the load and quantity of wagons being hauled +- 80kph. The Passenger trains also start from the station and are hauled by Class 34-35 or Class 6E or 7E. I operate the passenger’s trains for 15 – 20 minutes with stops every so often to represent stations, when completed the locomotive goes back to the sheds. The class 36 locomotive is a shunter and stays into the yard but ventures to the main station every so often to collect or deliver coaches or wagons to be hauled., so I can hold one train whilst the other is in operation on the passing loop. The Hilton station has two lines one is the main line and the other is the passing loop to hold trains whilst the other is operating on the main line.

Another fact is that the Hilton station was built in the 1880’a as the main line from the coast to the hinter land was being built. It is a wooden and corrugated iron building which is still in operation today as a coffee e shop and has a large Model Railway museum housing some three large layouts. Which is on my layout today.

I have a piece of history that someone gave me some years ago. Some may recall that in the 1918 WW1 the peace treaty was signed in the dining salon 2419D in France by Germany and France. At the start of WW2 Hitler signed WW2 into operation in the same car at the same place in France and duly hijacked the dining salon which was part of the Wagon de Lits train Orient Express. This was used as his mobile war room during WW 2 and after the war was put in tunnel and burnt to ashes, however a sister to 2419D, was located in a museum in France after the war and duly named 2419D and is now a museum. There is never a dull moment as modellers know always something to do on the layout be it track work, scenery, erecting buildings painting and wiring etc.

Lastly, I have a visitor on my SAR system a Kiwi rail Diesel which is identical to the Class34 SAR. Many thanks for the wonderful news each month and the suggestions on model railroading in general.