Friends of the Rail Forum

Apologies for not posting in the last few months.

The fact is, I am in a rented house, and the realisation that moving my layout is out of the question ( it will have to be taken apart ), I have concentrated more on getting SAR rolling stock modelled. It is a mission, because everything takes 8X longer than expected.
So, I am stockpiling all my scenic stuff for my hopefully upcoming home purchase.

Modelling SAR locomotives from various periods has highlighted something that never occured to me before : The SAR has more color than I gave it credit for. Below is the first of two 5Es in Blue train colors, and a 4E as color schemed in 1955 layout.
The original 4Es were plain green. This was disasterous for farmers in the Cape whose farm roads crossed railway lines. They were used to the sights ( smoke, steam ) and sounds ( piston beat ) of steam engines to be aware of at their crossings. The 4Es, sadly, killed a number of people. One of the solutions was the first yellow stripes on the SAR, as seen on the model.

Looking at my models, I think I will go against my own original plans, and model stock after '82. I now need a 36 diesel in orange, and an 18E in SA RailFreight red, with gold and yellow stripes........

Oh, yes.......

This week I received Jean Dulez's 'Railways of Southern Africa 150 years'. What a book. There are 1000's of photos, none of which I have ever seen before. It is the ultimate reference on SA locos. Interesting facts and anecdotes and photos. As a modeller, I appreciate that each class has a side and front line drawing of it as well.
I bought the book directly from the author, and then a few days later I thought "Hey!!! I should have asked for an autograph on the front sheet." Anyway, when the book arrived, he had signed it. Plus!!