International Railroad Discussion > South Africa. 1973.

We live in a world, of troubling times. So one's mind wanders back to a period, where one was young and you thought you never had anything to worry about
but the task in hand. And that was to capture on film South African steam, and in particular those magnificent "25" Class 4.8.4 Condensing machines. South of DeAar
in the Great Karoo was the domain, of these magnificent machines.these 3 shots were taken at Meriman.
1. "25" crossing.
2. the sun had gone in less than 5 mins after we got this shot.
3. all roads were occuppied.

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Very enjoyable steam shots!!

Larry

Interesting beasts, the 25NC's also.

Thanks for the look, wonderful images.

Great photos.  By the time I got over there in 1983,  the first of eight trips, the condensers were all gone,  save 3511 for excursions.  They they had all been converted to 25NC,  with the long odd looking tenders.  But what a show.  On any Sunday at DeAar there would be 40 or so 4-8-4s getting boiler washes and other maintenance,  being readied for the six-day work week.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/25 04:45 by masterphots.

Thank you for those.  I never made it there, but have immensely enjoyed the photos of others who were able to make the trek.  SA was an amazing place during the steam era with incredible landscapes as backdrops.  The angle of the sun at that latiitude worked magic for Kodachrome photography. 

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

Very nice!  Southern African lighting is great for photography.

In 1979, I had the good fortune as a nineteen year old backpacker to spend a couple of days with South African steam guru Charlie Lewis at his home in Kimberly.  When he picked me up off the Trans-Karoo from Jo'Burg, his first question was "have you ever seen a steam engine at full speed?".  I hadn't, so we went bombing down dirt roads in his combi to a trackside spot a ways out of town to catch the Trans-Karoo as it continued on to DeAar and Cape Town.  I remember hearing a sound  I initially thought was helicopter rotors approaching from the east, then the train came blasting around a long curve in evening sunlight behind double-headed 25NCs.  I'll never forget the sound and sight of that first encounter.

Dave