15AR 1962 and 2022 Schoombie, June 1977

[Steve Appleton]

Posted for the photgrapher Dennis Mitchell:

This is the East London - Cape Town train in the Burgesdorp - Rosmead section at the water stop at Schoombie. It was the coldest I had ever been in my life. There were rumours of minus 15 degC but the shots were worth it. It was too cold for the movie camera (the batteries froze) and some of my friends were having still camera problems too. I slept with mine, a tad uncomfortable but it stopped the batteries freezing.
Nr 2022 had a plaque claiming it was the last steam overhauled at East London. But the pair were in fine fettle, maintaining an average 90-100 km/h.