The area around Sandstone Estates saw significant activity during the Boer war of 1899 to 1902,the so called second Boer War. Kommando Nek which is on Sandstone’s property was an escape route for a large Boer force while the Ficksburg area saw a lot of action.
Marc-Henri Andre, from Switzerland, has been a frequent visitor to Sandstone over the years, particularly to our Stars of Sandstone events. As well as being an accomplished photographer, he is also a talented artist and has produced many sketches of Sandstone scenes and our locomotives. He also produced a number of bespoke calendars for us.
Sandstone’s acquisition of the two Royal Train coaches of 1947 came to the attention of one of our readers, Dr Brian Austin, who is a member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Our 2024 Cherry Steam Festival was an outstanding success with record number of visitors. We carried over 2000 passenger on out two rail systems, our main line with the mighty NGG16 Garratt locomotive and Seb’s Railway with new coaches and three different engines. The fly boys were there together with our military machines , earthmoving equipment, vintage cars, buses and tractors.
You’ll see from this video below that Patricia Glyn is on the hunt for the Southern African’s special stories for a video programme entitled “Storycatcher”. If you have one, please get in touch with her at
