Caledon Goods Story - 1

[John Ashworth]

All photos and text by Chris Janisch, January 2008. In his own words, "Enjoyed a little diesel perversion!"

CALEDON GOODS 10/01/2008

On Thursday 10 January 2008, Dylan Knott and I chased the afternoon goods train from Caledon to Cape Town. This train is of interest even to a steam enthusiast, as it involves a real thrash from four 30+ year-old Class 35 diesels, hauling a full load of 30 grain hoppers over Sir Lowry’s Pass. The scenery along the line is stunning, and one can only long for the day, hopefully in the not-too-distant future, when the fledgling Elgin Valley Railway begins to run steam trains on the line.

Out first stop was at Elgin, where a number of trolleys have been parked under the old goods shed. This shed will be the base for rolling stock. It currently has one line but two more lines will be added. At the moment EVR are sourcing locos and rolling stock. The plan is to offer daily trolley and loco-hauled services.
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We the headed on to Bot River, which is a well-kept station housing the local police force with a one-man drunk-tank! The station claims to offer a railway museum, all we managed to find was a semaphore signal and some flared chimneys used as rubbish bins! The station still has water columns which can apparently be repaired for use by EVR.
PIC3