Enthused by the hiss of steam
Kids fascinated by the rail travel of yesteryear
FANCY taking a ride on something that’s as old as the Titanic? Well, the younger ones are increasingly fascinated by just that – except it’s not a ship.
It’s the country’s oldest locomotive – a 1912 steam train called Maureen, which runs on the Inchanga to Kloof line.
Interestingly, not only does Durban have the oldest train but it is also restoring an 1892 model that will then take the crown for the oldest in the country. That’s fitting, considering the city pioneered the train industry when it ran the first train on a line between Durban city and the Point in June 1860.
“We just love facts, and trains are so interesting, and the link to our history is fascinating. The best part is that people, especially our youngsters, are increasingly wanting to know more and learn more about trains,” said Bruce Bennett, of the Umgeni Steam Railway, a non-profit organisation run by volunteers and associated with the Railway Society of South Africa.
Trains run on the line between Kloof and Inchanga at least once a month, on the line that was once the main line to Pietermaritzburg.
Volunteers also run the library and a museum dedicated to rail history.
The organisation has collected historically significant rolling stock, including 10 locomotives, 50 coaches and a variety of goods wagons over the years. Some require restoration.
One of their major projects is the restoration of the 1892 train that had been parked in Umbilo.
“The train was donated to us and we are busy rebuilding it to its original specifications. The wheels are original but the cladding and water tanks will be rebuilt.
“Once she is completed she will run beautifully and will definitely be the oldest in the country,” said Bennett.
While the group works to promote rail interest and document history, they also run the popular Inchanga Choo Choo, which snakes its way between Kloof and Inchanga, where the Inchanga Conservancy runs a craft market at the station.
“It’s very popular with families and children, and it’s so nice to see how interested young people are in trains. They want to learn more. When I ask them why they are so interested, they say they are bored with PlayStation and the phones,” said Bennett.
Recently a team of documentary producers from Australia were in KZN to film scenes for an upcoming historical documentary based on the lives of Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi.
“They were here to record some scenic shots of a train on the railway line”, which was the same one where both men experienced historic incidents.
In 1893, Gandhi was forcibly removed from a train in Pietermaritzburg, bound for Pretoria, for sitting in the first-class carriage. A white man had objected to Gandhi sitting in what was classed a whites-only carriage, and he was instructed to move to a different section, to which he objected.
He was forcibly removed and spent the night in the station’s waiting room.
Churchill had been a war correspondent for London’s Morning Post and was on an armoured train with British soldiers in November 1899, returning to Durban from Estcourt, during the Anglo-Boer War.
Soldiers from the Boer camp placed a huge boulder on the track, into which the train crashed, and the Boers opened fire on the train and its occupants. Churchill was captured.
Decades later he became prime minister of the UK, from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.
“So much history occurred on these lines, so it’s important to remember that, and we were very happy the film team was able to record scenes here,” said Bennett.
History lives on the lines, and Bennett and the team are stimulating the interest of new generations in rail travel and trains.
For more information, visit www.umgenisteamrailway.com