Braamfontein dynamite explosion: 120 years on

[Steve Appleton]

Unanswered Questions 120 Years after the Great Braamfontein Dynamite Explosion.

"On 19th February 1896, a freight train left stationary on a siding at the then Johannesburg Railway Station (it was in Braamfontein and today is known as the Braamfontein Station) carrying dynamite exploded. The train comprised of eight trucks of dynamite (Norwich says ten) or 2300 wooden cases adding up to between 56 and 60 tons of dynamite (AP Cartwright gives the statistics of 3000 cases of blasting gelatine amounting to 80 tons). The trucks had been left standing in the sun for three and a half days (why is a crucial question) and, when a shunting engine was backed into these trucks, the impact apparently caused the dynamite to explode in the hot afternoon sun (is this the only plausible explanation?)."

Read the fascinating story and the questions it raises on the Heritage Portal here: http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/arti ... -explosion