Song of the Rails

Sandstone Narrow Gauge Railway is South Africa newest and boldest steam preservation project, you will be amazed!

Over the past five years, narrow gauge railway preservation in South Africa has been gaining new ground: fourteen kilometres of two-foot gauge track on one of the country’s biggest and most aesthetic commercial farms – Sandstone Estates.

With the Great Maluti Mountains presiding, and their rugged foothills giving narrow gauge engineering the topography it likes best, the Sandstone Narrow Gauge Railway is Africa’s newest and boldest steam preservation project.

In this video, we explore the history of the railway and its stable of locomotives: we join the Sandstone drive to locate and give sanctuary to precious railway relics; and we witness the transformation from scrap metal into gleaming, fully restored engines hauling payloads on a working commercial farm.

With its combination of spectacular mountain backdrop, pristine rural environment and brilliantly clear skies, the Eastern Free State is a prime photographic destination.  This video shows steam at its exuberant best, and attempts to explain why people feel they way they do about the SANDSTONE NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY.