Sandstone has agreed with South Africa's top model makers to host a special section on their web site which would concentrate on areas of interest for railway locomotive model makers worldwide. The idea was proposed by Andries Keyser, whose introduction features below.

One of our most steadfast supporters over the years and someone who has been of immense assistance to model makers around the world with respect to the provision of technical information is Hannes Paling. As a summary to the outstanding contributions that Hannes has made and continues to make he has prepared this introductory statement for us:

Since the start of the industrial revolution man has created many types of machines, the steam locomotive was one of these. The steam locomotive has held a special fascination to young and old for more than a century. With the withdrawal of the steam locomotive from active service a vacuum was formed which was ably filled by the Sandstone Heritage Trust's Unique collection in this country, especially narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock. It has from the smallest locomotive, a Decauville type 1, which is the only working example in the world, two examples of Lawleys with a rich history spanning more than a hundred years each, again the only working examples in the world and narrow gauge super power in the form of the NG15 and various Garratt classes, which don't need a introduction, with a good spread in between from all major manufacturers world wide.

Sandstone narrow gauge railway and website has been a inspiration to many model builders around the world, examples of Sandstone engines are built in Australia, the UK, the States, Europe, Germany and of course South Africa, from small H0 gauge models to one third size working models are built. Many of the models built in other countries were inspired by photo's on the Sandstone website.

To all model builders around the world, please let us have pictures of your work, perhaps we could share some of our experiences.

Best regards,
Hannes Paling

Please direct all queries, contributions and questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wings, Wheels & Whistles 2011

2011 August the 6th and 7th once again saw the marquees go up at the PMES and from the Friday, a steady stream of models and machinery started to fill every last square meter. Saturdays miserable weather kept the huge crowds away, but Sunday the sun came out and the place was soon bursting at the seams. Passenger queues caused the public to wait up to 40 minutes for a ride and we soon had to reroute the track to avoid the steep inclines in order to haul longer trains. It was a mad flurry of steam and smoke as the trains rolled in with blowers blasting to raise steam as quick as possible. The watering points had to be operated with formula 1 precision, otherwise stationmaster Fred Schoon would soon be over to give the drive a talking too. 

Miss Brakpan is now complete

Lukas Nel and his team have completed Miss Brakpan.  Lukas sent us the following photographs.

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Rob Steiger's SAR GEA in 5gge

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Rob Steiger started building his GEA in 2002 from original SAR drawings and worked feverishly on it, as we all know Rob to do, producing parts to show off every week. He machined all 16 spoked drivers by hand and had a rolling chassis by the time of the National Live Steam Meet in Pietermaritzburg in 2003. 

 

Don le Roux’s 15F in 5"gge

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Don le Roux was a master craftsman, a steam lover and good friend. He built a few engines in his lifetime but his last project was particularly close to his heart. Two magnificent SAR 15Fs in 5 inch gauge.

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