23rd November 2007
A contract was awarded to Sandstone some time ago to supply Rabie Properties Group who own Century City in Cape Town with two aesthetically refurbished locomotives for a new development at Century City called Central Park. The two locomotives are plinthed in Grand Central which is a part of the Central Park development which is the gateway to Intaka island. The contract was recently completed with the delivery of a Douglas Colliery Tank Engine which travelled by road from Sandstone in the Free State and which now joins the first locomotive, a Narrow Gauge Garratt No.112 which was delivered at the beginning of October, on the specially designed plinth.
The two locomotives will have plaques erected on the plinth which provide the provenance of the locos and Century City have advised that further plaques describing the history of steam in the Cape will be erected so that the locomotives are not only for show but will be there for educational purposes. As a part of the development of Grand Central, and building on the steam educational theme, granite slabs depicting parts of locomotives on them will be laid into the paving and school children will be able to do rubbings of these. In this way children will not only learn about the old steam locomotives but this will hopefully help them to appreciate the wonderful steam heritage that South Africa has.
The project was originated by Greg Deans and was managed Mark Besancon of Rabie Property Group. In a call to Sandstone Mark Bezencon reported that Rabie property group were delighted with the finished product and that he had notice that the locomotives were already becoming a gathering point with adults and children alike having their photos taken with the locomotives.
As a follow up to the successful completion of the project Sandstone and Century City are in the process of negotiating a maintenance program to ensure that the locomotives are always kept in perfect condition.
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