Hilton (KZN) Railway Grave yard

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

A friend of mine visited Hilton last month and sent these photos of the Steam Engine Grave Yard.

[Chris Janisch]

This stock is stranded here as, the Old Main line connection to PMB needs to be reopened at a cost of 50G to move them. The whole exercise will cost about 250G-money that Umgeni Steam do not have..

[Stefan Andrzejewski]

That's a shame, as they look in good nic from the exterior.

[Brendon Anderson]

Cosmetically the locos are not too bad, but the boilers are in a terrible state. 19AR 696 and 15AR 1963 have no boiler tubes. The 15AR also needs a driving wheel boxes re-white metaled. The best locos there are probably the 19B and the ERPM tank. The steam crane pictured was returned to full working order (at USR's) expense a few years ago and is still pretty much in tact.

A few months back a team of USR members spent two weekends removing all the remaining valuable fittings and pipework (Brake ejectors, injectors, lubricators, clack boxes and steam turrets etc.) from the hilton locos. These are all now locked away safely at Masons Mill.

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Another Millsite SANRASM problem. Now what?

[Aidan McCarthy]

Normally when somebody removes all the tubes from a loco they are planning to re-tube the boiler as the boiler shell and locomotive are in good condition and a new set of tubes are not cheap. So I find the comment strange that the boilers are shot because the tubes have been removed.

[Brendon Anderson]

Normally when somebody removes all the tubes from a loco they are planning to re-tube the boiler as the boiler shell and locomotive are in good condition and a new set of tubes are not cheap. So I find the comment strange that the boilers are shot because the tubes have been removed.

Correct a new set of boilers is very expensive. My comment about the boilers was not limited to the tubes. Nowadays, these old boilers are needing more than tube replacement. Reading newsletters around the country of late have highlighted that flexible stays have become and increasingly common problem. FOTR own 3094 is an example (already posted on this forum.) The latest Reefsteamers newsletter also mentioned several locos with "leaky stay caps".

Remember these locos have stood in the open without turning a wheel for 10 years now in a particularly tough climate.