Free Sate news

Hi all.

We left Welkom this morning and left for Hennenman. Being Thursday we wanted to catch the Economy Orange to Cape Town. Hennenman platform was deserted and all signals red. We saw passengers carrying their luggage from the station, so we though we had just missed her. A speedy trip to Virginia proved us wrong, here were still plenty of passengers on the platform. The people at Hennenman must have been from a late running train to Johannesburg, so we thought. What we did not know then was that these passengers had actually given up on the train ! Read on...

From Virginia we had a leisurely trip to Theunissen. Still no Trans Orange. What we noticed was the endless stream of vehicles on the road and the shiny ribbons of steel lying there almost unused.

From Theunissen we headed towards Brandfort - still no trains. At Brandfort we decided to give operating in Kroonstad a call. They told us that the "snel" had not even left Bethlehem yet ! So a quick call to the guys in Bethlehem. They told us that between Harrismith and Bethlehem overhead catenary was stolen last night. The Orange was stuck somewhere between Harrismith and Bethlehem They told us that a goods train that was also stranded only just pulled into Bethlehem and that the diesels were heading back to fetch the Orange. She was going to be between 8 - 10 hours late !!!! So no Orange for us today.

From Brandfort we headed to Karee. Just the two main lines remain, all the other track has almost been uplifted. There is a rusted foot bridge over the empty station area where plenty of rails once were. The signal cabin is still locked and the panel remains together with a chair and bunk, phones ect. There is a brand new TFR 2009 calendar in the cabin against the wall. The re-lay rooms' fans were going full blast and were also locked. This station seems to be used for some thing or the other. The rest of the station has been destroyed with the safe being ripped from the bricks, broken windows and missing floors and the like. All the signals were still red. Rows of sifted ballast lie all over the station and yard area. The goods shed still stands.

Next stop was at the Modder river double girder bridge just before Glen. The river is green and should be called the slimy river.

Glen station has been destroyed, but not as bad as some stations. The footbridge is rusted quite badly. There still are wooden counters and shelves in the old ticket office and even a old bench in the waiting room. Nature is starting to reclaim the area for herself. The line next to the cabin has had all the wooden sleepers stolen / removed and the rails lie buckled all over the ballast, the same has happened to some other loops. Glen has or had 4 high platforms. The ballast sifting machine has been here too and heaps of sifted ballast lie all over the platforms. Plenty of empty loops are lying covered under weeds. Even noticed the old dams for the water treatment for the steam locomotives. the goods shed still stands. The signals have white crosses on them. The old railway houses are still inhabited. Still no trains on the Free Sate main line. Just down the line the N1 crosses the rails and the amount of road traffic was unbelievable.

We left the sad and lonely station and headed to Bultfontein Here we found orange 34 028 and maroon 34 067. They had just finished the shunting at the silos, the marker was attached to the back of the train and she was ready to leave for Kroonstad. The driver then proceeded with both diesels and turned on the triangle, thus heading back in the same locomotive they came in. Must be some reason for not wanting to drive back in 34 067 ? They headed out of the station at 1300 and we got the same train coming through Mothusi at 1600, flat out on the way to Kroonstad.

Enjoy your Easter weekend.

Greetings.
John & Jacque.