Jacque Wepener reporting on sar-L:
“We left Welkom this morning [9 April] bound for Hennenman. Being Thursday we wanted to catch the Economy Orange to Cape Town. Hennenman platform was deserted and all signals red. We saw passengers carrying their luggage from the station, so we though we had just missed her. A speedy trip to Virginia proved us wrong, here were still plenty of passengers on the platform. We thought he people at Hennenman must have been from a late running train to Johannesburg, but did not realise then was that these passengers had actually given up on the train we were looking for!

“From Virginia we had a leisurely trip to Theunissen. Still no Trans-Orange. What we did notice was the endless stream of vehicles on the road and the shiny ribbons of steel lying almost unused.

“From Theunissen we headed towards Brandfort – still no trains. At Brandfort we decided to give Kroonstad a call. They told us that the ‘snel’ had not even left Bethlehem yet ! So a quick call to the guys in Bethlehem. They told us that between Harrismith and Bethlehem overhead catenary was stolen last night. The Orange was stuck somewhere between Harrismith and Bethlehem.

“From Brandfort we headed to Karee. Just the two main lines remain, all the other track has almost been uplifted. There is a rusted footbridge over the empty station area.. The signal cabin is still locked but there is a brand new TFR 2009 calendar on the wall. The relay rooms’ fans were going full blast and were also locked. This station seems to be used for something or the other. The rest of the station has been destroyed with the safe ripped from the bricks, broken windows and missing floors and the like. Rows of sifted ballast lie all over the station and yard area. The goods shed still stands.

“Next stop was at the Modder river double girder bridge just before Glen. The river is green and should be called the slimy river.

“Glen station has been destroyed, but not as much as some stations. The footbridge is rusted quite badly. There are still wooden counters and shelves in the old ticket office and even a old bench in the waiting room, but nature is starting to reclaim the area. The line next to the cabin has had all the wooden sleepers removed and the rails lie buckled all over the ballast; the same has happened to some other loops. Glen has or had four high-level platforms. The ballast sifting machine has been here too and heaps of sifted ballast lie all over the platforms. Plenty of empty loops are lying covered under weeds. Even noticed the old dams for the water treatment for the steam locomotives. The goods shed still stands. The signals have white crosses on them. The old railway houses are still inhabited. Still no trains on the Free Sate main line. Just down the line the N1 crosses the rails and the amount of road traffic was unbelievable.

“We headed to Bultfontein Here we found orange 34 028 and maroon 34 067. They had just finished shunting at the silos, the marker was attached to the back of the train and she was ready to leave for Kroonstad. The driver then proceeded with both diesels and turned on the triangle, thus heading back in the same locomotive they came in. They headed out of the station at 13:00 and we got the same train coming through Mothusi at 16:00, flat out on the way to Kroonstad.”

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3. KZN REPORT
4. RIEBEECKSTAD TO PRETORIA & BACK
5. TRANS-ORANJE VIA MODDERPOORT
6. CHRISTMAS TRAVEL 21 YEARS AGO