South Africa - Steam Railtour Derailment

This is just unbelievable, can't come up with any forum friendly words right now:

"Yes, FotR Father's Day Steam Special, led by 15F 3117 was derailed due to the removal of wooden sleepers, in the cutting about 1km short of Cullinan station, around 11H00 this morning. Fortunately no passengers or staff have been injured, however, the locomotive and water tank has been damaged. Damage assessment will only be completed once the locomotive and water tank have been righted, and towed to a safer assessment area!"

Some photos here:

http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=106&t=7131&sid=eb916c104dd30cafd7a283ace72dd13c

http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=106&t=7134

http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=106&t=7137

Also see:

http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=7129

http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=106

 

Yes, it's a tough old climb out of Cullinan so speed wouldn't have been much.

 

Well, it is mid winter out there. And wooden sleepers make a nice slow burning fire.

Did see a SAR lorry going down a service road once with a nice blaze in the back. The lads had got an old large oil drum, punctured some holes in it, and set up a fire inside. Was really going nicely. No problem with a draught over it either at 40 mph.

I assumed the lorry was diesel powered....................

 

Speaking to an SAR veteran about this and apparently it's also quite common for the hardwood sleepers to be turned into furniture for sales to well off westerners.

 

Hi folks,
Just stumbled across this interesting forum. Thought you might like more information on this incident.
I was part of the crew on that that train. The derailment happened at about 11:00 on the Rayton to Cullinan branch line, on a sharp right bend in a cutting. This line is the most scenic part of the trip out from Pretoria. The train was coasting downhill at the start of the 1:50 gradient towards Cullinan quite slowly at the time partly to allow pax time to look around, partly because of the sharp curve, partly to reduce the possibilities of grass fires due to cinders and partly because we were approaching Cullinan and a dangerous level crossing. The line at that point is very close to a main road and that, together with the cover afforded by the cutting, created the perfect spot to remove sleepers unseen and quickly load them on a nearby truck. It also meant that the loss could only be spotted right at the last second.
Most of this 11km line is laid with steel sleepers, but at this point to allow base-plates that acommodate a check rail to be used, the track is on wooden sleepers. Although steel sleepers have been stolen in the past, it is the wooden sleepers that easiest to sell and have the most attractive commercial value. Steel sleepers essentially have to be sold for scrap whilst wooden ones are used in rustic furniture, garden landscape supports, etc. Sleepers are mostly stolen from non-operational lines and sidings rather than lines that are in use.
Thank goodness no one was hurt. There were about 630 people on board and being Father's Day many were kids sporting brand-new Thomas Tank Engine toys and books. So far as the loco is concerned, the rock cutting wall prevented a total roll-over and stopped the train quite quickly although inflicting much damage to the loco itself. We are still evaluating that damage.
Steve Appleton, Board member, Friends of the Rail, Pretoria.
Link to FOTR forum with pics on the subject: http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=330

 

Indeed I can confirm that there were no serious injuries at all. Just a couple of scrapes and bruises. All the pax detrained and walked the 500 metres (some got a lift) or so into Cullinan and continued their day as though nothing had happened. Although travelling slow down the entire branch, it could have been a lot different, and I shudder to think about it, had the (alleged) theft taken place elsewhere, such as on a culvert or embankment.
Location of derailment was on this curve:
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-25.681394,28.518421&spn=0.002412,0.004823&z=18