South African Railways class GEA garratt no 4023 on 22 wagon goods 1996

Описание: This was a video I made while out testing the newly restored class GEA garratt no 4023. The line from Mossel bay to George is no no easy railway and has some very steep 1 in 35 grade banks along it. In 1996 we were given a load of 22 grain trucks which normally had 2 or 3 diesels at its head to work as far as George. Even though the hand fired garratt steamed better than I could ever have wanted, this day turned out to be the hardest days work I have ever done in my life. After packing the firebox with over 600 shovels of coal before leaving we just get out the yard and realise we have left our drinking water behind and the temp outside is above 30 celsius. As we head up the steep banks the loco is down to walking pace and we have no sandboxes to help with traction. As fireman its a round of 20 shovels on the fire then out the cab and up the track ahead to place sand onto the track for traction then back into the cab and another 20 shovels and so it went on all the way. Finally we pass a class 24 heading for Voorbaai where we stop. I am now in desperate need of some liquid and in desperation I pay the local children to bring me some water. It arrives in bottles and looks fresh enough and so it was drunk as fast as it could come out the bottles. From there we continued onwards to George and later back on another freight without any problems and a great day was had by all.