Avontuur Railway

Port Elizabeth-Avontuur
Freight traffic in March 2009 near Kruisfontain
Route length:	285 km
Gauge :	610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Legend 0.0 Port Elizabeth 4 m 1.5 Humewood Road 21 m 4.4 Valley (Junction) 51 m former Walmer Branch (1906–1928) 7th Emerald Hill 80 m Walmer 10 Bog Farm (Walmer Road) 116 m 14th Lorraine 150 m 17th Theescombe 163 m Eastern Province Cement Company former EPPC Branch (1927-2001) 22nd Chelsea 212 m 24 Greenbushes 212 m 27 progress 223 m 30th St Albans (Vaalvlei) 235 m 37 Geduldrivier (Gedultz River) 237 m 40 Witteklip 239 m 43 Van Stadens 249 m 44 Van Stadens Railway Bridge 47 Sunnyside 255 m 53 Thornhill 221 m 59 Summit 228 m 67 Kwaaibrand 72 Loerie 30 m End of Apple Express 76 Melon (watertank) 7 m 80 Gamtoos 7 m 83 Togo 13 m 85 Bodker 15 m 90 Wagon drift 18 m 92 Duplex 22 m 93 Hankey 22 m 104 Gonnakop 61 m 106 Sponsorship 55 m 81 Gamtoos River 85 Mondplaas (Boschhoek) 92 m Kabeljousrivier 93 Kabeljousrivier (Codfish) 14 m 100 Jeffreys Bay 100 m 104 The Burns 88 m 108 Three werwe 116 m 113 Humansdorp 153 m 117 Kruisfontein (Corss Fountain) 227 m 124 Kerkplaas (Church) (Kerkplaats) 247 m 130 Billson (Heyns) 207 m 135 Howley 50 m Theprivier 140 Salielaagt 204 m 146 Two streams 280 m 153 Essenbos (Essenbosch) 267 m 161 Majoorskraal 189 m 164 Assegaaibos (Assegaibosch) 204 m End of operation outside of the citrus season 170 Melkhoutkraal 227 m 177 Jagersbos (Jagers Bosch) 276 m 183 Kammiebos 293 m 191 Kompanjiesdrif (Company's Drift) 363 m 201 Heights 533 m 209 Tweeriviere (Twee Rivieren) 526 m 214 Joubertina 544 m 215 Onzer 225 Krakeelrivier (Krakeel) 572 m 232 Louterwater 659 m End of operation from April 1, 1993 235 238 Bruinklip 670 m 243 Nuweplaas (Nieueplaats) (Oudeplaats) 731 m 251 Misgund 746 m 256 Gaviota 774 m 261 Ongend 739 m 269 Haarlem 819 m 273 siesta 801 m 285 Avontuur 871 m

With Avontuur Railway , a 285 km long railway line between is Port Elizabeth and Avontuur in South Africa referred to the regular operation of the South African railway company Spoornet has been set 2,001th The museum railway operation with the Apple Express was maintained until 2011. Efforts are underway to have museum trains run again in 2016 on part of the longest 610 mm narrow-gauge line in the world.

course

Bridge over the Kabeljousrivier

The starting point is the Humewood train station at the port of Port Elizabeth. From there, the route runs west through the suburbs of Port Elizabeth. After 44 km the ascending route in the coastal mountains reaches the 77 m high Van Stadens Bridge , which is known as the highest narrow-gauge bridge in the world, but is only the highest bridge for this gauge. Shortly afterwards, the route reaches its highest point for the time being at the Sunnyside stop at 255 m above sea level. After passing the town of Thornhill after 53 km , the route drops steeply into the valley of the Gamtoos River , and after 72 km you reach the town of Loerie, which is only 30 m high , where there is a turntable for turning the locomotives.

After Gamtoos train station, the route splits. A branch line turns to the northwest, follows the Gamtoos River up the valley and after 26 km reaches the village of Patensie . The main route turns south, approaches the Indian Ocean at Jeffreys Bay up to 1.5 km, then continues uphill to the west and reaches the 153 m high place Humansdorp on the Garden Route at approx. 113 km .

From here on, the route runs in a west-north-westerly direction up the almost dead straight Langkloof valley. However, the topography within the valley is not easy and here, too, requires steep inclines and numerous tight bends and bends .

Regular operation ends after 164 km in Assegaaibos today. The following section of the route to Louterwater is still used during the citrus season. After 214 km, the route passes Joubertina , the capital of the valley.

The section between Louterwater and the terminus in Avontuur, 285 km from Port Elizabeth and 871 m high, is without traffic, but still passable. In Avontuur, a track triangle enables the locomotives to be turned.

history

Class NG 10 locomotive in Port Elizabeth station around 1930.

The line was built between 1899 and 1906 to connect the fruit-growing area in the Langkloof Valley with the port of Port Elizabeth. The official opening did not take place until 1907. The 30 km long branch line from Gamtoos to Patensie followed on April 3, 1914. It opened up further agricultural areas, but also limestone quarries near Patensie, the material of which was carried to the cement works of the Eastern Province Cement Company, which had its own branch line, which in Chelsea with the Main line was connected and was in operation until 2001.

Until 1928 there was a branch line in Port Elizabeth, which led from Valley Junction to Walmer and was used for local traffic.

In the mid-1930s, a new route had to be chosen for a longer section of the branch line to Patensie because the Gamtoos River was repeatedly interrupted by washouts between Centerton and Gonakoop. The new route bypasses the problem area by leading out of the valley with a steep incline and then returning to the original route with a steep incline.

Since the trains mainly transported apples, the name Apple Express has become commonplace, under which tourist trains still run today. In the port, the fruit could be loaded directly from the narrow-gauge wagons onto the ships, so that a disadvantage of narrow-gauge routes - the need to reload to standard gauge (or in this case Cape gauge ) - did not play a role on this route.

Since the 1960s, the trains have been pulled by locomotives of classes NG 15 and NGG 13/16 , which are the world's largest and most powerful steam locomotives for the 610 mm gauge. In the late 1970s, class 91 diesel locomotives took over the heavier trains, and the Garratt locomotives of classes NGG 13 and 16 were largely relocated to other routes. However, the NG 15 remained without exception on the Avontuur Railway until they were gradually taken out of service in the late 1980s.

Station Van Staden

In the mid-1990s, the fruit trains were discontinued and replaced by trucks, which mostly drove directly to Cape Town . This meant the cessation of regular operations on most of the route. However, tourist trains continue to run between Port Elisabeth and Thornhill or Loerie, sometimes only as far as Van Stadens Bridge, and rarely further. One class NG 15 and NGG 16 steam locomotive is available for this; however, due to the risk of bushfires, they may only be used outside of the dry season. Freight trains (as of 2006) do not run daily, but several times a week. The most important cargo is wood, which z. B. is loaded in Louterwater, Assegaaibos and Humansdorp.

Since 1980 the so-called Great Train Race has taken place every year with interruptions , in which groups of athletes compete against a steam train between Port Elizabeth and Loerie. The route is chosen so that it is actually open whether the train or the runners win. The peak running and driving times are around 3:45 hours. The freight trains hauled by class 91 diesel locomotives take around 3:30 hours from Port Elizabeth to Loerie.

NGG 13 with the number 81 as a locomotive monument in Patensie, April 1985

In September 2005, after a journey lasting several days, a train pulled by a steam locomotive reached the terminus in Avontuur for the first time in 10 years. The campaign, known as Avontuur Adventurer , was intended as an effective publicity for the reopening of the entire route. In fact, there are considerations in this direction, and because it is not profitable to operate it only for tourists, a resumption of freight traffic or even scheduled passenger traffic is also being considered.

Several steam locomotives are set up as monument locomotives at the stations along the line: an NGG 13 each in Patensie and Joubertina and an NG 15 in Avontuur.

Web links

Commons : Avontuur Railway  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of Apple Express (English)
• Detailed map of the route
• Picture gallery (english)
• Report of a journey from 1976 (English)
• Report from the Avontuur Adventurer ( Memento from September 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Solis Viaduct on the narrow-gauge Albula Railway is significantly higher at 89 m
2. ↑ ^{a b} The PE-Avontuur Narrow Guage Line - A brief history. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 14, 2014 ; accessed on February 11, 2016 .