PLEASE NOTE - Cherry Festival 2010 Train :
The popular Cherry Festival Train for 2010 is already over 50% booked as of January 2010.
Book early to avoid dissapointment.  See the Trips and Events Page for details.

   NEW!   Photo Essay - Maluti Magic 2009 :  

The Reefsteamers were invited to send an operational team along to the private Maluti Magic function, with was a narrow gauge and vintage machinery extravaganza.  The event was held to show case the possibilities of private preservation to high profile overseas preservationists, as well as introducing then to us Reefsteamers.          

We sent a dozen people down, including guards and a dispatcher - to operate over a dozen locmotives and often two trains simulatneously.  I was the Team Photographer, as usual, as well as pottering around with a bit of foot plate work.  However, I was commissioned by Wilfred Mole to focus my attention on the Locomotive Shed and the associated yard.  His reasoning was that most of the official invited photographers would naturally tend to be out riding on the trains, or lurking in their favourite lineside vantage points – and the locomotive workshop would tend to be neglected     .

This then is a Reefsteamers style report that covers the locomotive action and the people at the workshops, trying to capture the beauty of the garden surroundings, the vast sky, and of course, the charismatic little locomotives themselves.

Click here to go to the Photo Essay's Download Page

   DEPOT REPORT – 24 January 2009 - ‘Just a little run' :                                >> Click here to see Older Depot Reports. 

This report actually covers work done on the Sandstone Heritage Trust’s GMAM Garratt No.4079 Lyndie Lou’ over several weeks.  Much of the work was of a ‘medium level’ running shed type work with many minor repairs and improvements, including cosmetic work.  However some poorly fitted pipe work, possibly from the repairs after No.4079 gold mine era accident, was finally modified and placed in the right position.  The pipe was abrading the soft brass of a lubrication fitting of the uopper crosshead slide for the left front cylinder.

Only half this report covers the repair work.  The second half of the report is just a collection of pictures that show great machine being steamed up.  The theme of the report is ‘Just another run.’ And that’s what it was – preservation era steam being fired up and running on an ordinary, not-so-photogenic day with no fanfare or announcements...

Click here to go to the Depot Report’s Download Page

   DEPOT REPORT – 20 December 2008 :  

The Staff and Baggage Van had had most of the attention, with the transverse full-width kitchen wall being removed and the entire kitchen and guard compartment flooring lifted up to expose the rusty horrors underneath.  Michael Thiel, has been tasked with upgrading the built in water transfer couplings on the buffer beams on the GMAM Garratt No.4079.  They are to be changed to match the our standard of bell-and-claw agricultural water couplings

Click here to go to the Depot Report’s Download Page

   NEWS - Reefsteamers Day Trips – Expanded Venue – FREE Picnic ground                           14 Jan. 2009 

Reefsteamers continues to expand our repertoire of day trip destinations within the confines of Transnet’s imposed limits of steam trains on commuter lines.  A recent improvement was the arrangements to use the Magaliesburg Station Picnic Grounds – for free.  On this run, we normally drop passengers off at the Magaliesburg Country hotel or the riverside picnic grounds.  Passengers can now stay on the train, ride through to the preserved old Magaliesburg Station and use the picnic grounds right opposite. There are braai facilities available, with piped water and toilets, as well as a covered pavilion – but passengers must supply their own foods, drinks, charcoal and utensils. 

Luckily the Magaliesburg Village is only about 8 minutes walk away so supplies are easy to top up.  The grounds have tables as well as a fenced kiddies playground – you’ll also be able to see the steam locomotive be serviced and visit ‘the Old Goods Shed

Click here to go to the Trips and Calendar Page.

As a part of our Depot Improvement program, the rarely used water tower was refurbished and has been put back into service. It has been waterproofed, the leaking swivelling elbow removed, the valves rebuilt and new water lines laid.  An extra water line has been routed into the Top Shed as a new high volume feed for boiler washouts and filling thereof.

At the end of a hard work day, we decided to have a bit of railway fun, 'playing trains' a bit and to use the tower for the first time with our Class 25NC No.3472 'Elize'. Some final adjustments had to be made to the water level, and a coach was shunted to clear the line for the photographers. The activity of filling up a locomotive's tender from a real water tower, which was once a mundane task, is now rare and took on a life of its own in the setting sun.

Click here to view the photographs

A brand new book has just hit the rails in South Africa! 'Steam Passion' is the first book that deliberately chronicles the current preservation era of South African steam and the information contained therein is correct up to early 2008.

This a limited edition work - only 1000 copies have been printed. This 160 page book was written by Paul Hloben, a Reefsteamers member. It has many beautiful photographs of 52 classes of steam locomotives. Each photograph has extensive annotations, and there is ample descriptive text.

This book lists all active South African steam of 2007-2008, according to the clubs, including the Reefsteamers' locomotives. It also has a section that describes how a steam locomotive is driven and also a section (the iron horse) that describes how a steam locomotive actually works. The development of South African steam locomotives is traced, according to the chronological progression of the SAR's chief engineers.

A highly unusual section describes the hobby of train chasing and train photography, with many practical tips and techniques for that ultimate atmospheric steam locomotive picture.