We have had many comments about the state of the R26 road leading to Sandstone Estates and roads in the surrounding area. It seems now that the DA has got a commitment for the Free State Government to undertake an upgrade of the R26 from Bethlehem to Ladybrand. We hope this is not just electioneering for the next General election in South Africa!
Make a date in your diary for our next event. The Easter Steam and Cosmos Festival from Friday 7th April to Monday 10th April 2023. We shall be running a longer section of the Sandstone Steam Railway to Vailima Siding with a variety of locomotives for a longer round trip. We shall also be offering flips in a vintage aircraft during the weekend as well as our other attractions, the Sandstone Oxen, Military Vehicles, Vintage tractors, Cars and Buses plus full catering at the Waenhuis Restaurant.
Easter is also the time when our Cosmos will be in full bloom! Enjoy our photo gallery!
Self-catering and campsite accommodation is available. For more details and bookings contact Mariette on 064 752 3852 or via the "Contact Us" tab on our website. www.sandstone-estates.com
Sandstone-Simply Unforgettable!
Mark and Gary Ruddy are from our railway support team and hail from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. In between their hard work for Sandstone they captured a number of short video clips of the recent Cherry Festival. Enjoy the show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm675BgfeVs
Gerhard Van Der Gryp was one of our volunteer team for the Military Vehicles action at the recent Chery festival. His wife , Marie, was left to her own devices for a while and put together a video scrapbook of short clips of the weekend happenings. Enjoy the show!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIjtzGmsj5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1zrGuIY6EQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAR0vMOKlEA
Go Trip Tours, run by Caro Meiring, brought two separate groups of visitors to Sandstone Estates just before the Cherry Steam Festival on the 18th November. Both groups enjoyed a train ride and a tour of all the Heritage Collection. They had a wonderful time and were extremely complimentary about their experience at Sandstone. Caro Meiring tells the tale of two visits!
Go Trip delivers a professional service for unique travels throughout Southern Africa and was founded in 2021. We really love what we do and it shows in the intense passion we have for people. We work with a network of amazing establishments, excursion enthusiasts, transport companies and extraordinary guides to create a perfect getaway.
Gawie van Schalkwyk, from Voetspore Tours, brought a group of 19 tourists to the Cherry Steam Festival on Saturday 19th November who enjoyed immensely their day with us. Gawie sent us a picture gallery from the day plus a short video of the train arriving at Hoekfontein to end the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90KOTdhrULY
Sandstone’s Railway Manager Gert Jubileus and our Visitor Coordinator, Mariette Palmer sent us a photo gallery of some of the activities on the 18th and 19th November. Garratt locomotives NGG16 number 153 and the red NGG16A number 155 provided the traction for the weekend’s trains. Classic Flying Connection entertained the visitors with two Tiger Moths and the McLaren Traction engine proved a great attraction. A Military Vehicle Display and the Sandstone Oxen completed two great days.
The recent Cherry Steam Festival was an outstanding success with a great effort made by all the Sandstone staff. The railway ran faultlessly thanks to the planning by Gert Jubileus, our Railway Manager, and the dedication and efforts of our volunteer crews who travelled from Johannesburg, and the Eastern and Western Cape to keep the railway moving.
The volunteer railway crew, from left to right, Mark Ruddy, Gary Ruddy, Shawn Spaan, Ryan Fincham and Andries Keyser.
As a warm up to the Cherry Festival we are running a train for the Kindi Pre-primary School in Ficksburg for 180 children. NGG 16A locomotive number 155 will haul the train.
Its Cherry Festival time! An added attraction at Sandstone will be the Classic Flying collection team with two Tiger Moth aircraft and two Chipmunk aircraft in action. Flips may be available but this is subject to weather conditions.