I've always been very interested and amused by trains since a little boy. I used to
travel with the popular Trans-Karoo to school, from Johannesburg to Worcester, about 1400 km,
four times a year, sleeping over night on the train.
I always loved the locomotives, and especially long freight trains passing by. I enjoy
Electric and diesel-electric trains, but my heart, like many train enthusiasts still lies with
the old steam loco. I recently took a steam trip from Knysna to George, and that just
re-sparked my enthusiasm in trains.
South African trains run on what is known as narrow gauge tracks, 1067 mm (3"6)apart, instead
of the standard international 1435 mm.
The following are links to some interesting pages on SA rail:
South African Railways page by David Forsyth
Click on the below links for further details on older SAR and more current Spoornet trains:
Current Spoornet Electric Locomotives (with slower loading photos)
Facts about SA Rail by David Forsyth
SAR and Spoornet photo and model in HO archive by Francois Kritzinger
Leon Croukamp's page
Reef Steamers Web Site
Friends of the Rail home page
Current Spoornet diesel-electric Locomotives
Currently running steam Locomotives (With slower loading photos)
Current SAR and Spoornet rolling stock (No info yet)
Metric conversion table