Umzinto – Donnybrook narrow-gauge railway

Umzinto – Donnybrook narrow-gauge railway
Route length:	150 km
Gauge :	610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Maximum slope :	30  ‰
Top speed:	20 km / h
Legend Donnybrook Carthill Eastwolds Maxwell Mabedlena Lufafa Road Crystal Manor Loch Buidhe Vause Junction to Madonela Ixopo Allwoodburn ( PCNGR Museum Railroad ) La Trappe Stainton Etterby Carisbrooke Glen Beulah Ncalu Rydal Madonela ( Umzinkulu ) High flats Kunatha Knockagh Hlutankungu Jolivet Njane Kenterton Dumisa Mbulula Zavoti Glenrosa Braemar Inverugie Nkwifa electrified Cape gauge line Kelso Esperanza electrified three- rail track Umzinto

The narrow-gauge railway Umzinto – Donnybrook is a former railway line with a track width of 610 mm in South Africa . It led from Umzinto via Highflats and Ixopo to Donnybrook . A branch line , which continues to be operated as a museum railway  under the name Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway , runs from Ixopo to Madonela (Union Bridge). The 150 km long railway line was built in 1908.

construction

The main line was built with used rails taken from refurbished Cape Gauge lines, so the mile route cost approximately £ 3,200. The construction of the railway including the vehicles cost a little more than £ 300,000.

The 28.2 km long branch line to Mandonela was built for a maximum axle load of 5.1 t and a top speed of 20 km / h. The cost of the branch line, opened on February 2, 1914, was £ 50,000.

A three- rail track was laid between Esperanza and Umzinto so that Cape gauge trains from the Durban - Port Shepstone coastal line could reach the terminus in Umzinto. This section of the route was electrified with 3 kV DC voltage for the Cape gauge locomotives .

business

Museum train with NGG 11

In the 1970s, there were usually three trains running: the first train ran from Ixopo to Donnybrook and returned to Ixopo - a cycle that corresponded to a day's shift of the train crew. The second train ran from Ixopo to Madonela and back. The third train started in Umzinto and headed for Ixopo. He crossed with the fourth train from Ixopo heading south in Highflats, where the drivers were switched between trains so that they could return to the starting station at the end of the shift. During the train crossing , the steam locomotives were also supplied with water and fuel. Each trip lasted more than five hours.

Although there was officially no passenger traffic on the train, travelers sometimes drove in the support vehicle .

In Umzinto and Donnybrook there were reloading facilities for goods that were transferred to the adjacent Cape Gauge routes.

closure

The main line was closed in sections between 1985 and 1987 after flood damage, only the branch line from Ixopo to Madonela was reconditioned by the Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway (PCNGR) in 2000 so that regular museum railroad operations can take place. Most of the mainline tracks were dismantled and used for the Welsh Highland Railway . Remaining material was taken over by the PCNGR.

Used locomotives

• Tank locomotives of the NGR 4-6-2T series (Hawthorn Leslie)
• briefly a locomotive of the SAR Class NG 6 - used by the Beira Railway bought
• Garratt locomotives of the SAR class NGG 11 - the first Garratt locomotives used in South Africa
• Garratt locomotives of the SAR class NGG 16 - the largest Garratt locomotives on a 610 mm gauge.

literature

The route is mentioned in Alan Paton's novel For They Should Be Comforted , which describes the view from Carisbrooke on the branch line .

Web links

Commons : Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Patons Country Narrow Gauge Railway. PCNGR, accessed on February 9, 2016 (English, official website of the museum railway). 
• John Ward: South African Railways narrow gauge steam locomotive class NGG 16 Garratt No 150 on an up goods train on the line from Donnybrook to Umzinto near Joliet, Natal Province, South Africa. July 20, 1974, accessed on February 9, 2016 (English, picture of a freight train near Joliet). 
• South african two foot gauge railways - Narrow Gauge Modeling & Prototype. In: RMweb. Retrieved on February 9, 2016 (pictures and track plans in the lower third of the page). 
• Steve Hayes: Narrow gauge railways of KwaZulu-Natal. In: Notes from underground. September 21, 2013, accessed February 9, 2016 (English, a picture of Carisbrooke and a picture of the route between Hlutankungu and Jolivet in the middle of the page). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2ft gauge Little Titans for the Welsh Highland - The 'NGG16s' . Martynbane.co.uk. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
2. ↑ View topic - Our Railway Gauge . Bettertransport.org.nz. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
3. ^ The History . Futurenet.co.za. February 2, 1914. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 11, 2013. 
4. ^ South african two foot gauge railways - Narrow Gauge Modeling & Prototype. In: RMweb. Retrieved February 9, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Work In Progress . Futurenet.co.za. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 11, 2013. 
6. ^ Class NG 6. In: www.pcngr.co.za. Retrieved February 9, 2016 . 
7. ^ Alan Paton: Cry, The Beloved Country . Random House, 2015, ISBN 978-1-4735-2449-1 , pp. 13 ( Google Books [accessed February 9, 2016]).