Industrial Railways and Locomotives of South Africa Volume 1

From the 1960s until the 1990s South Africa was famous not only for its main line steam operations but also for its industrial lines which boasted an amazing diversity of locomotives, from diminutive narrow gauge engines hauling sugar cane to massive 190 ton Beyer Garratts hauling 1,000 ton or more trains of ore or coal.

Including underground mining locomotives the number of industrial locomotives that have seen use in South Africa is around 20,000. A significant industrial locomotive building industry developed in South Africa, particularly after 1945. It was always the author’s intention to produce a definitive history of South African industrial railways in handbook format.

The data includes primary research at all the major South African locomotive builders and archives as well as many visits made throughout the country. The author worked in the mining industry in South Africa from 1981-1994.

This amount of material is such that it has been divided into two volumes, of which this is the first, covering the South African provinces of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu Natal and North West, listing all known industrial locomotives and the companies that operated them. It also includes preserved locomotives.

494 pages, Including many maps and B&W and Colour photo's. Hardbound.