Join us at Reefsteamers!

The Reefsteamers Association is a volunteer organization that is always ready to welcome new members. 
It may naturally (and erroneously) be thought that we would seek only those with engineering or workshop experience.
However, the only real qualifications required to join our group are enthusiasm, a positive attitude and a genuine love for steam trains. 

We have people from different walks of life currently involved.  Our club membership spans a wide range of ages.  Some of the skills we can use include; painting, masonry, carpentry, upholstery, fitting & turning, diesel mechanics, welding, electrical, plumbing, boiler work, drafting, photography, computer-based work such as documenting, DTP and web, financials, advertising, safety, marketing and sales. We even have work for veterinarians!  There truely is something for everyone to do.

The work performed can admittedly sometimes be heavy and sometimes dirty, but it is always challenging and worth the satisfaction of keeping our grand old ladies and their coaches going.  Many of our club members find the exercise therapeutic, and for the office-bound members, it is the only exercise some of us get!   But for those that are less agile, or unable to handle heavy loads, there is a wide variety of non-physical or light duty activities and work that can be performed and enjoyed.  You can work alone or work with other people as you wish.  Most of the work is performed under cover.

You can get an idea of the work we perform, and also of some of our people, by reading the Depot News Letters, where the major Reefsteamers projects are documented as well as including pictures around the depot that show us, our environment, our culture and the way that we do things.  We now have a monthly general Newsletter.

We meet at the old Germiston Steam Locomotive Depot (Established in 1895!) on most Saturdays from about 8am-9:30am until whenever.  We usually spend a full day together (with sometimes overly-frequent tea and snack breaks!) and usually close-up shop at about 7pm, but one can actually arrive or leave at any time.  There is usually a small crew at work at the Depot on Sundays should Saturdays not be suitable for you.  The Depot is usually open until 3:30pm during the week - manned by those of our members who are retired.  Obviously we would love for you to visit us regularly, but we are not pedantic about regular attendance. 

We have a caboose that is habitable, and is often used for overnight accomodation.  Your webmaster often sleeps there himself and can vouch for the accomodation.  The faciltiiy os often used by some of our younger men who travel from far off such as Potchefstroom or even Durban.  It has clean bunks, a dining are and an intact kitchen with a working cats iron coal stove.  The caboose has electrctiy but admitted, does not have water.  However, the ablution blocks are only about 30 meters away, and a kitchen a little further.  So we have overnioght accomodation available as well.

Reefsteamers is fortunate to have much valuable human capital in extensive engineering skills and the treasured lifetime of railway experience held by our retired ex-Spoornet members - who are always willing to pass it on.  We take pride in engineering excellence.  We maintain our locomotives rigorously and have a strong safety focus concerning the locomotives and the rolling stock.  We also confirm to Transnet Regulations as a guest on their lines.  But in amongst all this serious sounding stuff, and the work and planning that goes into restoring and running our locomotives, Reefsteamers is a club with a good sense of fun.  We know how to enjoy each other while we enjoy our steam trains!

Reefsteamers is a place where personal investment is repaid, where one gets out of the cluib in proportion to what one puts in.  One can enjoy friendships with different people, learning intimate knowledge of our rolling stock, locomotives, railway related tools and the railway culture.  One can try out different skills and use tools that one has never used previously.  For those who are interested in operations, one can train as a Coach Controller, a Safety Officer (Conductor) or a Train Manager.  We are also currently training new footplate crew members, so one can become a Locomotive Firelighter, a locomotive Minder, a Fireman or even, eventually,  a Steam Locomotive Driver!

Interested?  How does one join?

Send an email to one to the linked email addresses below or call one of these numbers and we'll arrange to meet you at our gate and do a tour of the depot with you.  We supply a map, (also available in the links shown at the bottom of the page), as the route can be a bit tricky.  One of our friendly club members will give you a casual guided tour around our extensive yards and depot.  You can see and speak to our members at their work, clamber around our locomotives and poke around the yard.

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(Michael Thiel - Membership Liaison.)
or
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  
Les Smith - Marketing Manager)

if you don't have an email service....

 Attie De Necker at 083 651-5424
(Senior Driver and Depot Grounds Manager
or
SMS Lee Gates at 083 630-6618 (Web Master)

The Membership Form is a four page PDF download, but for  those with slow or erratic web connections,
the Membership Form Page also has additional links to download each one of the four pages individually.

We have various levels of membership schemes available, form simple email membership, local membership and international membership with an accompanying newsletter.  The Membership Form has all the contact details and the membership details explained.  (Which is why it is a four page document!)

If you do plan to work in the Reefsteamers Depot, you should get yourself kitted out with some basic safety gear.  A good set of overalls, some leather gloves and a pair of safety goggles with which you are comfortable.  The one mandatory item you need to provide for yourself is a pair of oil resistant steel capped safety shoes.  We will provide you with a personal  hard hat (cleaned weekly), which is mandatory wear for workshop and depot work.  (But not required for shunting or train crews.)  Locomotive-sized tools are provided by the club - just wait until you see the size of our spanners!

I look forward to seeing you at the depot soon!

- Lee Gates -
(Web Master)