160 pages  31cm x 22cm   hard cover,   colour and b & w photographs,  ISBN 978  0 620 39106 1. 
Published by Rexxon, Bryanston South Africa, price R260 (R210 for Reefsteamers members), and
obtainable from Paul Hloben at: fre@global.co.za; and Jean Dulez at: JDulez@weirminerals.com

A brand new book has just hit the rails in South Africa and will soon take its place amongst the persistently sought after classics that document South African Steam.  ‘Steam Passion’ is the first book that deliberately chronicles the current preservation era of South African steam and the information contained therein is correct up to early 2008. 

This a limited edition work – only 1000 copies have been printed. 

This is an unusual review, suited for an unusual book.  As this limited edition work will not be available from general retail stores, but only by order and individual arrangements, many overseas lovers of South African Steam may not be able to get their hands on a copy for a preview.  Thus, I’ve outlined the sections and given you a selection of scans to show the layout and styling of this book. 

This book, ‘Steam Passion,’ is jam-packed from loco to caboose with history, current data, technical details, operational documentaries and above all, is steeped with the persuasive passion of steam.  In the years primarily covered by this beautiful book, there is no steam power operated by the state, and the response to efforts at active steam presentation have been met with apathy, obstructive bureaucracy and sometimes even hostility from both the state and the national rail carrier.  Any steam locomotive that is still running in 2008 South Africa, from the diminutive 2ft narrow gauge gems to the mighty Cape Gauge 25NC’s and Garratts, are all still running entirely because of the passion of the people who persevere in restoring, maintaining and operating them.

The book’s front over.

As the book’s fly leaf states, (The dedication reproduced above) first-time author Paul Hloben’s work not only covers the locomotives, but the people that love them and preserve them under difficult circumstances.  There are many quotes within the book, all of them from people who have proven to really love steam by their free offering of time, talents, money, materials, creativity and skill-sets.

On the face of it (which features a GO Garratt scene) this book would appear to be just another steam train themed coffee table book. 

However, although the photographs therein are certainly of coffee book quality, this book is actually a well rounded documentary of current steam activity in South Africa as of the recent years 2006-2008. 

There is a generous amount of writing to accompany the fully annotated photographs.  There is a tremendous variety in the layout and the scenes within the photographs, all beautifully presented on a dramatic black background. 

You’ll see a selection of double page spreads, full page pictures, triple stacks, doubles and singles.  The layout allows the photo commentaries to reside on the same page spread as the photos for the most part.       

Typical Section Header, each one with
a quote from ordinary people who
have an extraordinary love of steam.

Most of the photos are contemporary colour photos taken over the last 4-5 years.  Added to the mix is a selection of expertly taken classic black and white photos from present day back to the later hey-day of steam.  There are 54 classes of locomotive illustrated.  This is a remarkable feat considering the limited localities of remaining active steam power in 21^st century South Africa. 

You will enjoy an incredible variety of photographs from many angles, all kinds of lighting, including night time shots, patiently captured ‘glint’ shots at sunrise and sunset, views of locomotives high-stepping on the main line, where they belong at stations and at depots.  There are many operational photos too, of people and the controls in the cabs, as well as detail close ups of these great, charismatic machines.

Most ‘coffee table’ type books are sorted according to South Africa’s regions, which, in the early years of steam, also sorted out the locomotives.  But that regional sorting becomes arbitrary when class displacement and downgrading began in the later years.  This unique book, sorted in a very different fashion.  The main section is sorted according the active steam preservation centers and lines in South Africa.

Presented below is a list of each of the book’s sections in the   
order that they are presented, and a brief introduction to each.

A typical double photo spread.  
(Annotations for this page layout
will be found on adjoining page.)

1).

2).

3).

‘The wonderful world of steam.’         
This is the short introductory section that sets the tone for the entire book.  It attempts to explain the essentially unexplainable passion that many people have for the steam locomotives and the age in which they ruled the rails.

‘World History in brief’           
A brief history of the invention and development of the Steam Locomotive around the world, from the earliest days right up to the later days of world steam.  This section has a variety of pictures of non-South African steam locomotives to illustrate forms of steam locomotive development on other continents.

‘South African Railways and locomotive development.’            Getting into the ‘meat’ of this book, this is a chronological overview of the development of the steam locomotive in South Africa, from the Boer War era NZASM days to the experiments on the unique Class 26, the rise of the condensers and some seriously big Garratts.  This section explains the motivation for the individual locomotive designs and the characteristics thereof.        

It also chronicles the careers of the various Chief Engineers       
and their design contributions to South African Steam.    

Both contemporary and historical
black and white photos are included.

4).

5).

‘Demise of Steam’       
A sad but necessary section that covers the decline of steam in South Africa.  Here, Hloben writes with passion, but with honesty  as well and enumerates some of the disadvantages of steam traction from the Railways point of view.  (Some of them are surprising until one has actually attempted to service and\or operate such a locomotive – multiply the problems by several hundred for a big depot and the motivation for the elimination of steam traction is not as arbitrary as we may think.)         

This section has a very interesting illustration of the changing rostering ratios between steam, electric and diesel power – and the costs involved per ton-mile.

‘Preservation’
This section covers the rise of what Hloben terms to be ‘The Preservation Era’, where the vast majority of restoration and operation of South African Steam Heritage is done by volunteers and private individuals and organizations, and with private funding..  This book has write-ups of the current functioning steam clubs and organizations who continue to power South Africa’s steam heritage in 2008.  Each one of these sections describe the locality and original functions of their lines and the depot(s) from where they run.  The locomotive rosters are correct as of 2007.  The jewel collections of pictures are obviously of the locomotives loved and run by the relevant club under discussion. 

A symphony of Garratts.  Although the preserved ‘conventional’ locomotives in 2008
far outnumber the preserved Garratts, the articulated engines receive ample coverage
in this book as appropriate for the way they
were once so prevalent on South African rails

6).

7).

8).

9).

10).

11).

12).

13).

14).

15).

Reefsteamers – Germiston.      
(Focus on technical excellence.)

South African National Rail and Steam Museum.  (SANRASM)(Preservation for future generations.)

Friends of the Rail – Capital Park, Pretoria.        
(Keeping the spirit of steam alive.)

Rovos Rail – Capital Park, Pretoria.      
(The pride of Africa.)

Sandstone Steam Railroad – Sandstone Estates, Ficksburg     
(Preserving the best of our past for the future.)

Umgeni Steam Railway – Durban and Pietermariztburg.             
(Steam and a thousand hills.)

Paton’s Country Railway – Ixopo, Kwazulu Natal.         
(Bringing tourists to the rural people.)

Banana Express – Port Shepstone, Kwazulu Natal.       
(Sea breeze, sugar cane fields and steam.)

The Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe – George, Western Cape.     
(Scenic steam spectacular for generations to come.)

The Apple Express – Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.      
(Embraced by picturesque scenery.)      

The narrow gauge gems of South Africa
are also celebrated, as well as an extensive
private narrow gauge collection from the
 neighbouring Southern African States.

16).

17).

18).

19).

20).

‘The Iron Horse.’        
This is a layman’s level descriptive essay          
on how the steam locomotive actually works.

‘Locomotives at home.’          
An unusual essay and a photo sequence describing the fascinating world of the Steam Locomotive Depot and the work that takes place within.

‘On the Footplate.’      
An illustrated essay which takes you away on an imaginary trip from when the locomotive first moves off from the service pit, right through the hills and grades, a stall on an up-grade and a stray cow on the tracks.  Not only does this section cover the responses of the crews – but what they must look out for in terms of fuel economy, track-side hazards, locomotive performance, time keeping and the niceties of safe, smooth train handling. 

‘Steam Paparazzi.’     
This highly unusual section covers the photographic side of the hobby – discussing the phenomenon of a typical steam rail tour with the staged run pasts, as well as the more casual but equally addictive adventure of train chasing.

‘Steam Photography.’
A practical introductory section with tips on how to take great steam train and steam locomotive photos – written by the author, who’s authority is shown by his magnificent photography.

Close-up and detail pictures of locomotives and their parts.  This is an extract from photos from the section ‘On the Footplate’, which describes how a steam locomotive is actually driven.

This is an unusual book and a delight to read from cover to cover.  However, the systematic       
sectioning makes this book a natural to simply to dip into and indulge in a nip of steam passion. 

This book is bound in an attractive glossy hard binding but does not come with dust sheets.  However, the           
robust high gloss is finish should be easy to keep clean under normal use, making dust sheets unnecessary.

This book has full fly leafing both front and rear.

The page format is slightly larger than A4, making this 160 page book a substantial but compact package.  The body text uses a generous equidistant guttering.  For those who struggle to read light text against black backgrounds, the text used in this book are three sensible shades of white, 15% grey (picture captions) and pale orange.  It is both dramatic and easy reading.

To round up, there is one more feature included in this wonderful work, a feature that I believe the Author has managed to retain through each of the pages.

….Passion.

About the Author :

Paul Hloben is the publisher of a technical journal in South Africa. 

His hobbies include photography and videography.  Steam locomotives and volcanoes ( ! )  are his two favourite subjects.  He is an active member of the Reefsteamers Association, based at the old Germiston Steam locomotive Depot, east of Johannesburg, South Africa.  Reefsteamers is one of the team preservation groups featured in his book.  Paul is a frequent sight pottering around with his camera and video equipment.  You never know when you’re about to be suddenly face to face with an intimidating looking zoom lens and asked to speak into the microphone!

Although this is Paul’s first book about steam locomotives, he has already written an internationally acclaimed book about metallurgical industries.  He has been published in articles in travel and technical magazines.  He has also produced six videos (DVD’s) about steam locomotives in South Africa and is currently busy co-producing a documentary on African volcanoes for a major international television channel.           

Ordering your copy :

As stated, this limited edition book will not be available through retail outlets.  The current price of the      
book is R260 in South African Rands.  (R210 for author Paul Hloben’s fellow Reefsteamers members.)

To arrange for a copy, payment and postage, please email the Author, Paul Hloben, at fre@global.co.za.  
You may also contact Jean Dulez at: JDulez@weirminerals.com           

To see a list of South African steam related DVD’s made by the same Author, please     
visit the Reefsteamers website at http://www.reefsteamers.co.za/content/view/47/83/

This book copyrighted in 2007 – Scans made for review with express permission of the Author.
Reviewer- Lee Gates (Reefsteamers Webmaster.) – Aug 2008