After a successful engine rebuild the Dodge moved under its own power for the first time in over 20 years. Enjoy the read and video of the Dodge on the move.

When the current owners of Sandstone purchased the farm a Unimog 406 was part of the sale. This has been used as a Fire Engine for a number of years. In late 2023 it was time to give the Unimog a refresh and the Modern Workshop at Sandstone, under the guidance of Janki Palmer, took on the job together with a respray.

Sandstone’s AEC bus returns home

                                         The AEC amongst the Cosmos at Stars 2014. Photo by Alex Reichle

This very interesting road container vehicle, which was obtained from the railway authorities direct, is currently being restored by the Steam Workshops. It is in remarkably good condition and the upgrades are purely cosmetic.

Manufactured by Henred, probably back in the 1950's, it would have been designed to haul freight from Kazuni Siding in Johannesburg to addresses in and around Johannesburg's industrial areas. We are not sure what would have pulled it but we will find out in due course and try and source one.

It has the lovely name Pakwa. Translated in Afrikaans it means simply package wagon.

Unfortunately the date in service item isn’t always on the vehicle nameplate.

I took a couple of photos of the two buses that were out for the Stars of Steam event and dig a bit of digging on their history. The Bristol from Welkom is very interesting as the last survivor of some 100  or so exported to South Africa just after World War 2. However, the other single decker far from its original home in the Welsh Valleys also intrigued me as its original owner - Bedwas & Machen Urban District Council was a very small operator and only ever had a handful of buses.

The reason I am writing is that in my earlier life before focusing on steam, I did have quite an interest in buses and I knew that somewhere in my collection I had a photo of a Bedwas & Machen vehicle. This is the only photo I have from this operator and when I dug it out over the weekend, I discovered that it was No. 7 - the very same bus that you now have at Sandstone - quite a coincidence.

I took this photo (age 13) in Caerphilly in March 1969 with my first slide camera - a Kodak Instamatic. The result is surprisingly acceptable, may be due in part to using Kodachrome film !! I also attach the photo of No. 7 taken on May 5 this year.

Rare and very special Bristol Bus transferred to the Sandstone Heritage Trust

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Old SAR Container trailer recovered..

To add interest to our NG Consists we have located and purchased an early Railway Container which would have transported goods from stations to freight clients.

It would have been hauled by a truck or tractor of suitable vintage.

Sandstone’s workshops have applied themselves to the refurbishment of the cosmetics on our Kenworth T900. This truck was purchased new in 1990 in Melbourne Australia and shipped from the Paccar factory where it has been ever since.

It is the pride and joy of our Heavy Truck fleet.

Sandstone Heritage Trust - Rail News

Peerless 4t truck

Peerless set the standards for engineering in the Auto Industry and had many firsts in design, such as: an engine under the hood; a drive shaft with floating rear axle; a stamped steel frame; the first side entrance touneau; a tilting steering wheel; an accelerator pedal; the use of aluminum to save weight; and the first enclosed body. The first starters and electric lights, and the list goes on and on.
Barney Oldfield was hired in 1904 to race the Peerless Green Dragon. For two years Barney and the Green Dragon broke track speed records all over the USA and made Peerless a name to reconcile with. In August 1905, Peerless dropped out of racing and began competing in reliability runs called the Glidden Tours. With three cars competing, the Peerless's finished with perfect scores, again putting the Peerless name above all other marques in automobile reliability.