1895 LOCOMOTIVE RESTORED

The Sandstone Heritage Trust's Sandstone Estate near Ficksburg is well-known for the preservation of steam locomotions and trains. Earlier this month, another locomotion, a Falcon dating from 1895, arrived in Ficksburg, from Bloemfontein. Lukas NEL of Bloemfontein worked for the railways for 42 years. Now he restores old locomotives and trains. Restoration work on the Falcon took five months, working mostly from old photographs. It was restored to its 1914 state. It was originally bought in 1895 by Cecil John RHODES because President Paul KRUGER would not let trains through the Transvaal to Rhodesia. So RHODES built a narrow gauge railway line from Beira to Rhodesia, and bought the Falcon. In about 1914, the South African Railways bought the locomotive to use in South West Africa. In the 1920s a narrow gauge railway line was built between Upington and Kakamas, and the Falcon saw service there. For the last 30 years or so, the Falcon was at the James Hall Museum in Johannesburg. The Sandstone Heritage Trust obtained permission to restore it and bought it. The only other Falcons in working condition in the world are also at Sandstone Estate.