General News

One of the joys of Sandstone is when young school children visit us and see what life was like in the past. Recently 51 pupils from the Maseru Preparatory School, under the Leadership of teacher Margaret Matlole and four other teachers, visited us for a morning. The children were shown the Steam Railway depot and Road Steam shed with its trucks and buses. The highlight was a ride on an Ox wagon and the Donkey cart after which all the children and teachers settled down for a picnic before their return to Maseru. Our picture gallery tells the story. Pictures taken with permission

Shortly after our Easter Steam event we were saddened to hear of the passing of Gavin Brown. Gavin was the driving force behind Classic Flying Collection who have partnered with Sandstone on many events since 2014. Their vintage aircraft collection of Tiger Moths, Stampe and Chipmunks have given many hours of flying pleasure to visitors to Sandstone. Gavin had been unwell for some time but did visit our Easter event. With his illness, his son Steve organised Classic Flying Collection to visit at Easter and also at last November’s Cherry Festival. Sadly the Cherry visit did not happen as the inclement weather made Sandstone unsuitable for flying over that event. We will remember Gavin with affection and his efforts in promoting classic flying and his enthusiasm for our Sandstone events. Our thoughts are with his sons Steve and Kyle and Gavin’s partner, Rose for their loss.

Seb’s Children’s Railway with a new dimension!

At our recent Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival, our smaller children’s railway was reopened after repair to the Hippo Dam Wall over which the line runs. The line is now enclosed within our new Game Camp and has been renamed in 2023 as Seb’s Children’s Railway. Imagine a sundowner trip viewing game by rail in the beautiful eastern Free State!

Click here to read the article and view the locomotives for the line.

An exciting photographic event at Sandstone with Stimela Photographic Events! August 5^th & 6^th 2023.

Stimela Photographic Events (SPE), in collaboration with Sandstone Heritage Trust, presents The Maluti Wanderer. On the weekend of 5 to 6 August 2023 SPE have chartered two Lawley 4-4-0 locomotives (NG97 and BR7) and a consist of wagons to recreate spectacular scenes of yesteryear and narrow-gauge operations. Truly an adventure not to be missed by photographers nor rail enthusiasts!

For further details and bookings download the PDF with the booking form or  contact Stimela Photographic Events by e mail on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

DOWNLOAD PDF

Aubrey Malden visited our Easter Event and sent us this short photo gallery or all to enjoy.

Our next event!

The Cherry Steam Festival. Friday 17^th November to Sunday 19^th November 2023.

After a very successful Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival we are pleased to announce that our next event for 2023 will be The Cherry Steam Festival.  We will keep you posted on the information and attractions for this event through our web site and Face Book pages.  Diarise the dates now! Friday 17^th November to Sunday 19^th November 2023.

Some great coverage of the recent Sandstone Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival in the Free State’s own newspaper, Volskblad.

Click here to read the PDF :
Part 1
Part 2

Our annual Easter event was a great success this year with good weather for three days but heavy rain later on Sunday rendered much of the Farm waterlogged for Monday which limited activities to train rides. To compensate our visitors we offered free entrance for the final day.

After a recruitment drive for volunteers before the event, we were able to offer more military vehicles in action plus more tractors and a portable steam engine that was fired by mealie cobs!

The Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival played host to our first photographic charter for 2023. Stimela Photographic Events, run by Jade Wilson and James Attwell from Johannesburg, spent the Saturday afternoon of the event at Sandstone. They chartered our Bristol bus which followed the various service trains running at the festival for the afternoon. James Attwell wrote to us after the event.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to each and every one of you for your outstanding efforts in making our photographic charter on the 8^th a resounding success.

Your tireless dedication, attention to detail, and unwavering commitment to excellence were truly remarkable. The level of professionalism, friendliness and expertise that each one of the Sandstone team brought to the table was second to none.

From the initial planning and logistics to the execution of the actual event, your hard work and expertise were evident in every aspect of the charter. The feedback we have received from our clients and guests has been overwhelmingly positive, and that is a testament to your exceptional skills and efforts.

I want to specifically commend Lucky for driving us around the estate in a safe and professional manner. My sincere thanks also to Mr & Mrs Mole, Mariette, Gert and every other member of staff that helped.

Once again, thank you for your dedication and hard work in making this photographic charter a huge success. We look forward to an exciting future!”
James Attwell

The Easter Steam & Cosmos Festival features on OFM.

The Free State’s leading radio station, OFM, is featuring the Sandstone Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival in the week  leading up to the event and Shandor Potgieter will be broadcasting live from Sandstone from 11h00 to 15h00 on Saturday 8^th April.
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE