The Railway Magazine – July 2019

96 •The Railway Magazine• July 2019

South African loco back in

steam after 59-year gap

BALDWINBUILT 2ft- (610mm)

gauge 4-6-2 Class NG10 loco

No. NG61 was the star of the

recent Sandstone Estates 2019

Festival in South Africa – 59 years

after it was last steamed.The

loco was restored earlier this

year and operated as a pair with

Beyer, Peacock-built Class NG G11

‘Garratt’loco No. 52, re-creating a

scene that may only have been

possible when both were new in

the 1920s.The‘Garratt’locos only

worked on the Avontuur system

(Port Elizabeth to Avontuur) for

the first six years of their lives,

apart from one returning as a

shunter in 1946. Most of the NG10

class locos remained there until

withdrawal in 1962.

Pacific No. NG61(Baldwin 42633/1916) leads Class NG G11 2-6-0+0-6-2‘Garratt’(Beyer, Peacock 5976/1919) with a departure from Grootdraai

on the Sandstone system on April 7.The Drakensberg mountains of Lesotho are rising on the right of the picture.JOHN MIDDLETON

RebuiltSimplexlocosstillatwork

in Malaysian palm oil industry

MALAYSIAN United Plantations Berhad’s
(UP) use of rail transport meant it became
the first palm oil producer to gain
a sustainable palm oil producer certificate.
UP uses a fleet of 700mm-gauge
modified Motor Rail Simplex locomotives,
originally built in Bedford, which have had
their original Dorman engines replaced by
more powerful ones made by Deutz, Ford
or Perkins.
Some retain their original mechanical
gearbox, while in others this has been
replaced by a hydrostatic transmission.
UP transports several thousand tonnes
of fresh palm fruit bunches to their four oil
extraction mills and associated refineries
each day by rail.
The network of 700mm-gauge lines uses
20lb rail mounted on steel sleepers, and is

laid out as a grid-shaped network covering

the company’s plantations.The network has

been in use for more than a century.

Trains comprise 40 or more flat wagons

carrying demountable tub-like bodies

known as‘cages’, each holding around two

tonnes of fruit.

Block trains are assembled from several

loading points within the area of the

plantation being harvested, before being

worked as a block train to the nearest mill,

often several kilometres away.

Malaysia is one of the world’s leading

producers of palm oil, which is used around

the world in food processing.

■Thanks to Mark Hambly for the

information in this report. He visited the UP

oil palm estates as part of a group hosted by

the company.

MAJOR changes to operating contracts

in southern Germany on June 9 mean

Go-Ahead’s German subsidiary is now

operating multiple routes from Stuttgart,

replacing DB Regio push-pull trains.

Abellio also took over routes in the

area on the same day, and more routes

will switch from DB in December.

For the German national operator, the

changes mean large numbers of older

electric locos have become redundant.

Many Class 111 locos have been stored

or scrapped already this year and more

will follow next year.

The Class 111 dates from 1974 to

1984 and was ordered for West German

Deutsche Bundesbahn, with 227 built

and fewer than 100 remaining in use.

In the short term the RE4 route

between Dortmund and Aachen (via

Düsseldorf) is one of the best places

to see the remaining Class 111 locos,

although these will be replaced by new

EMUs from December 2020.

Modified Simplex LMSC No. 13 seen heading towards the‘Optimill’on UP’s

Ulu Bernam estate in Perak with a loaded train on July 13, 2018.MARK HAMBLY

DB Class 111 No. 111 158 passing Düsseldorf Friedrichstadt on April 10 with empty

stock to work a peak-hour RE 4 Düsseldorf to Aachen service.KEITH FENDER

DB Class 111 electrics locos losing

passengerworkinsouthernGermany

Australia’s first

metro opens

THE first section of Sydney’s

new metro opened on

May 26 betweenTallawong

and Chatswood.

The 23km section

betweenTallawong and

Epping, north-west of

the city centre, is newly

constructed, with 15.5km

in tunnel and 4.4km on

viaducts.

From Epping to

Chatswood a conventional

railway has been rebuilt to

metro standards.

All trains are driverless

and stations feature

platform edge doors.

The 36km line cost $AUS

8.3billion.

Alstom has supplied 22

six-car‘Metropolis’EMUs,

built at its Indian factory in

Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

RUSSIAN Railways has ordered 13

more‘Velaro-Rus’high-speed trains,

known as 'Sapsan' (peregrine falcon)

from Siemens.

It is working with Russian partner

Ural Locomotives in a contract worth

€1.1billion. Siemens has previously

supplied 16‘Velaro-Rus’trains to Russia.

More Siemens 'Sapsan' sets for Russia

World Track Record

COMPILED BY

KEITH

FENDER

Call: 01507 529589

email: railway@

mortons.co.uk

Your reports and

pictures are most welcome.

Highly competitive rates

are paid, especially if

exclusive toThe RM.