Sandstone played host to the International Police Association (IPA)-Free State National Council  meeting recently. The IPA has been in existence for over 60 years and has a membership of 420,000 members worldwide. In South Africa the IPA branch was started 37 years ago but the National Council meeting was being held in the Free State for the first time. Although attending a four day meeting event, the IPA is a non-profit organisation with a goal of outreach to charitable organisations as well as visiting some places of interest. At Sandstone our Team hosted the 46 strong IPA group as well as 16 children from David’s Place in Ficksburg. David’s Place is a children’s home and NGO that relies on donations for its good work. The children and the IPA guests were treated to a train ride plus an Ox wagon ride. At the close of the visit  the IPA presented each of the children from David’s Place with a gift hamper, which included clothing. A most welcome donation for the children. All in all, a wonderful day out for the IPA and the children from David’s Place, Sandstone salutes the International Police Association South Africa for their good work!

Our gallery shows a selection of the day’s activities.

John Batwell, who was the Editor of the latest Sandstone book, sadly passed away recently. John was a personal friend of mine and a major contributor to railway preservation in Southern Africa. He was an acknowledged expert on Rhodesia Railways and its locomotives as well as a senior editor at SA Rail magazine. John also covered preservation matters with Railways Africa magazine. He edited a number of books on railways and was my first choice to edit Sandstone’s second book, The Sandstone Steam Railway, the story continues. John had retired from teaching at Redhill School in Johannesburg some time ago.

John had not been well for some time but was pleased to take on the task. We spent over four months from late 2021 into 2022 having weekly meetings and finally we had a finished manuscript. John’s attention to detail was impressive and he certainly added immense value to the quality of presentation in the book. As time progressed I could see and feel  that his health was failing and after a short bout of pneumonia  he  passed away peacefully in late August. He did, however, see the finished product of the Sandstone book as he was presented with one of the first copies from the print run. I  was extremely pleased that he did see the results of his hard work. My thoughts and condolences are with his widow, Pam.

His memory will stay with me and the Sandstone book is a fitting tribute to his skills.

John Batwell (seated) and author, David Richardson take a look at the final proof copy of the new Sandstone book.

A Sandstone Wetland

For the first time in memory our small  wetland  next to the main complex has been full for the winter months.
Click here to read the full story.

The Sandstone Visitor Management team, led by Mariette Palmer, has been strengthened by new arrival, Sam Gilson. Sam has experience in tourism management and is currently studying Hospitality Management and will be a welcome addition to the team. Mariette has singlehandedly managed all visitor enquiries and walking tours as well as accommodation bookings for nearly two years and is most appreciative of some assistance!  Our Visitor Experiences will certainly be enhanced by Sam’s arrival. We wish her all the very best in her new role.

Caption; The Sandstone Visitor Management Team, left, new member Sam Gilson and right, Mariette Palmer.

An exciting new book on The Sandstone Steam Railway. The Sandstone Steam Railway-the story continues
This 220-page hard-back coffee table book in landscape format encapsulates in words and photographs the Sandstone Heritage Trust collection that nestles in the vast, rich agricultural grain and cattle Landscape of South Africa’s Eastern Free State. This new publication illustrates the grit, determination and vision of the founders to save a representative cross section of the transport history of Southern Africa. By virtue of its location this living collection complements the beauty of the area with its 3.5 million old Sandstone cliffs, lakes and snow-covered, cosmos-clad farmlands in the winter months.

The book documents the history of the Sandstone Heritage collection of transport relics from the days of European imperialism and empire-building. Almost a generation back, the need by the then Transnet Heritage Foundation to secure a safe home for resources at a collapsing museum in KwaZulu-Natal saw Sandstone Estates being approached to rescue the exhibits. The embryo was ‘alive’. Over nine chapters, the glossy publication looks meticulously at the history of every single locomotive (both narrow and Cape gauge) as well as each piece of acquired rolling stock, coaches and dining cars together with other complementary heritage categories such as Military vehicles, Cars, Trucks and Buses, Vintage Tractors, Earth-moving equipment all surrounded by the crops, flora and fauna of the extensive Modern Farming operation at Sandstone Estates.

The text is rich in recollections and memories of challenging expeditions to rescue artefacts throughout South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The time consuming negotiations that typifies African politics, the topography and relocation under tough conditions of representatives of British and German locomotive engineering for example in post conflict zones, makes this book more than a catalogue of assets. Almost without exception Heritage items saved would otherwise have seen the cutting torch or been lost to pervasive rust and neglect.
The book also deals with the significant challenge of moving heavy items on poor roads over long distances. Sandstone’s most recent innovative challenge was to move by road two massive Garratts and other heavy locomotives representing the old days of the renowned South African Railways.

The Sandstone Heritage Trust has facilitated skills training to young South Africans of all creeds in active workshops in both Bloemfontein and at the estates. The collection has contributed to South Africa’s tourist industry and community development in the local Free State area. European tour operators have brought locomotive enthusiasts and other transport buffs to experience the live, working railway on the farm by way of regular shows and open days. Huge agricultural fairs, record-breaking ploughing competitions and what has become known as the ‘Sandstone experience’ are featured in the book.

Time to get a copy of the book, the second but much grander production on the Sandstone story, and enjoy......

THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE HERE

In the UK the book costs £29 including post and packing.
In South Africa the cost is R795-00 including VAT and delivery.
The book is available in the USA at US$34. Delivery on quotation.

“The Sandstone Steam Railway, the story continues”. Compiled by David Richardson. Hard Cover, 340mm x 280mm.
Published by Sandstone Heritage Trust, 2022.
ISBN 978-0-620-95820-2

Although Covid is no longer an issue, we were obviously unable to host the number of events that we normally would have held at Sandstone Estates over the past few years.  However, the demand is returning and we did have a successful Easter Festival. 

Our next event will be the Cherry Steam Festival which has always been well attended. We will again be partnering with a number of local attractions as in 2021. The Cherry Steam Festival will run from Friday 18^th November to Saturday 19^th November 2022. - Click here to view full details and how to book

One of Sandstone’s long time European supporters is Svatopluk Slechta, an engineer from the Czech Republic and a great rail enthusiast. He has visited Sandstone many times on his tours of South Africa, most recently at our Easter Steam Festival. We were pleased and honoured to be presented with a brass Skoda works plate by him. Today most people imagine that Skoda, founded in 1859 by Emil Skoda, just made cars but, in years gone by, they also built many steam locomotives including a batch of South African Railways (SAR) 19D class. To this day they are still in the rail transportation arena producing trams and propulsion units for trolleybuses, albeit now a separate company from the car manufacturing arm.

Svata, as he is known, is also currently writing a book on the history of Skoda steam locomotives and was looking for assistance in obtaining pictures of the fifteen Skoda built 19D locomotives. These were manufactured in 1938 and carried SAR numbers 2626 to 2640. Three examples survive today of which number 2633 is plinthed at Sandstone. This was sold by the SAR in the 1980s to become Sappi No. 2. It was donated to Sandstone in 2019.

Through our connections with railway photographers, both in South Africa and overseas, we were able to obtain a large number of photographs of Skoda 19Ds in service in South Africa. Sandstone’s thanks Svata, for his generosity and wishes him well with his new book.

Our gallery shows the presentation of the Skoda plate to Sandstone, L to R, Mike Myers and Dave Richardson from Sandstone and Svata Slechta.

Our second picture shows Skoda built 19D number 2633 plinthed at Sandstone.

Torsten and Ilona Eggert from Germany arrived at Sandstone on Freedom Day, 27^th April, with their Hanomag camper van that they restored themselves to travel the world. They started their journey in  2017.This year they arrived via ship at Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and started their journey through northern Africa and SA and then  back to Gqeberha to take a ship back to Germany. Torsten Eggert has a passion for Hanomag and Lanz Bulldog machinery, so our Visitor Coordinator, Mariette Palmer, took him to the tractor shed area and he was all over/underneath/on top of the Lanz machinery and couldn't believe that Sandstone has such a variety of items. He advised that his home in Germany is just 20km away from the original Lanz Bulldog factory that was later bought by John Deere. There they have a lot of show days where all friends come together and display their pride and joy machinery. He advised that the crawler in the Sandstone collection is a very rare item. At the conclusion of their visit they asked that we thank the owner for all the kindness and friendliness they experienced at Sandstone. Sandstone thanks Torsten and Ilona for their visit and wishes them a safe journey back to Germany.

You can follow their adventures on their web page eggert-koronczi.de  It’s in German but can be translated and follows their travels around the world.

As excitement builds for our Sandstone Easter Steam Festival we are working hard to bring other attractions into the limelight.  Our oxen are well known but our donkeys and mules less so.  We hope that they will be out and about as much as possible during the show.  We obviously consider their welfare as a priority but they seem to enjoy it and we believe they are looking forward to it.

Military vehicles, vintage tractors, a traction engine or two and old trucks  and buses are all part of the line-up plus, of course, the world famous 2ft narrow gauge Sandstone Steam Railway.

We look forward to seeing you on the farm.