Sandstone Extends Its Line
After the Stars of Sandstone 2019 event the famous mountain section, with its double headed NGG16 Garratt hauled trains, had suffered major damage from the inclement weather of that year. The line was in need of major repairs. The very nature of the terrain and ongoing changing weather patterns meant there was no guarantee that similar damage would not occur again. Towards the end of 2021 it was decided to lift the whole loop and terminate the line at Vailima Siding.
The loss of this exciting section of 2ft Narrow Gauge railway will be sorely felt by many Sandstone visitors, particularly the many photographers who filmed it and the few steam drivers who demonstrated their skills in driving trains around it.
However, exciting news was to emerge from this! A rail project that had been shelved many years ago came back into the future planning of the railway. When the mountain section was lifted 200 metres were left in situ beyond Vailima Siding and a view down that line looked straight at an historic landmark of railway photography in years gone by. Sekonyela!
Probably one of the most photographed landmarks in South Africa, Sekonyela was a magnet for steam photographers in the heyday of the Bloemfontein to Bethlehem line when operated by the South African Railways Class 25NC 4-8-4 locomotives. The numerous photographs have led many to believe that the strange shaped mountain in the pictures was named Sekonyela, but not so. The lineside location was at the site of Sekonyela Station. The mountain became Sekonyela as the backdrop in thousands of photographs but is correctly known by the locals as Soutkop.
