After 12 long years of waiting, Maureen, Umgeni Steam Railway’s 112-year-old Class 3BR locomotive has returned to service.

Maureen’s engine was being built in Scotland in the same year the Titanic was under construction in Ireland. But while Locomotive Number 1486 successfully made the journey to South Africa, the Titanic never managed to complete its maiden Atlantic crossing.

This Class 3BR locomotive is the oldest locomotive in regular service in the country.

Ashley Erich Peter, the chairperson of Umgeni Steam Railway (USR) and train guard, was excited about the recommission of the train.

Peter is a founding member of USR in September 1982 and first began running trains for the public in January 1984, as Cyclone Damoina hit KZN.

He said Locomotive No. 1486 was one of ten Class 3B locomotives built for South African Railways by the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1912.

“They were designed by Mr DA Hendrie, the chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the Natal Government Railways until 1910, and the South African Railways after Union. These locomotives were more or less midway through a series of ever bigger, more powerful and efficient engines required for hauling the rapidly increasing traffic (mainly coal) on the Natal Main Line.”

Peter said in the 1930s the Class 3B engines were reboilered as part of a standardisation project, and then became reclassified as Class 3BR locomotives.

After serving the SAR for more than 65 years, No. 1486 was sold to a private company and over the next 20 years saw service on a number of collieries, the last being the Umgala Colliery in Utrecht.

“After withdrawal from colliery service, she was donated to USR for eventual preservation. After a hasty restoration project (USR was critically short of serviceable parts, funds and proper workshop facilities) No. 1486 was placed in service and named Maureen, after the wife of Gordon Lumsden, USR’s CME at the time.”

“In 2012 (the year Maureen turned 100) it was determined that the loco needed major boiler repairs ‒ running repairs were no longer sufficient and it had to be taken out of service. A decision was made to give the locomotive a much more intensive overhaul this time, bringing it up to top-class running order.”

This labour of love took a vast amount of hard work, the majority of it being done by a small USR engineering team, working in their spare time, usually on Saturdays.

“As the same team was also responsible for maintaining the operational locomotive, and crewing public trains to raise funds, the 3BR restoration project took much longer than anticipated.”

“Virtually all the internal boiler tubes and superheater elements had to be replaced. To have a locomotive that would serve the preservation group for many years, there was also an extensive overhaul of many of the moving parts and replacement of rusted plating etc.”

A small USR engineering team of volunteers, headed up by CME Simon Anderson and his understudy Ryan Gillett, did most of the work.

“Only certain tasks that required specific skills and/or qualifications, such as coded welding, had to be contracted out.”

But even with all this volunteer labour, the restoration project cost USR more than R1 million.

Peter said he was glad the long wait was over and Maureen can now become USR’s mainstay motive power, working longer and pulling heavier passenger trains over tha Natal Old Main Line route.

He said the route had very steep 1:30 gradients and sharp 90m radius curves, for which this locomotive was specifically designed.

“Although our normal route used to be the 25km from Kloof to Inchanga, the April 2022 floods have limited us to the 12km Inchanga, Botha’s Hill section.”

Because the USR’s financial resources are limited, they could only repair the Inchanga-Botha’s Hill line which cost R1.5 million.

“The damage to the line beyond Botha’s Hill is estimated at more than R6 million, so we currently have no means of effecting repairs. Appeals to the Departments of Transport and Tourism for assistance have unfortunately fallen on deaf ears.”

Peter said it was great to have a genuine mountain-climbing locomotive back in their roster.

“The train should be more at home on our line and thus subject to less wear and tear, giving our engineering team more time to work on other restoration projects. It is also an engine that would have run over this part of the Old Main Line until the 1930s, so we are effectively re-enacting some authentic railway history.”

The longer train hauled by Maureen can carry up to 420 passengers. Their other locomotive is not designed for the steep grades and curves of the Old Line, so now they were limited to 280 passengers per train before Maureen returned to service last week.

“Our vintage trains consist largely of authentic 1930s wooden passenger coaches, with which we aim to recreate the golden age of steam train travel. Our route is also most scenic, with views over the Valley of a Thousand Hills and includes the oldest operational tunnel in the country, dating from 1879,” said Peter.

The crew hope to have equal success with their next project, the restoration of a Class Dŭbs A tank engine, which has already started. This engine also began its life on this line back in 1892, three years before the Natal line actually reached Johannesburg.

The roughly 75-minute trip departs from Inchanga Railway Station, meandering along the rolling hills of KZN, through one of the oldest operating tunnels in South Africa, with the sights of the Valley of 1000 Hills in the distance, before turning around at Botha’s Hill for the return to Inchanga.

Before or after your train ride, you can browse through the Inchanga Station Craft Market for various treasures on sale, food to suit most tastes and activities for the whole family.

Visit the Inchanga Railway Museum in the Old Station Master’s House or find Thomas & Friends in the Modeller’s Shed on the platform.

Please ensure you bring cash or use Zapper as there are no card facilities nor ATMS. Please arrive 30 minutes before departure to collect your tickets.

Book and pay within 48 hours to guarantee seats ‒ spaces are limited.

The Umgeni Steam Railway is a proud member of, and supported by, 1000 Hills Community Tourism Organisation.

For more information & bookings visit www.umgenisteamrailway.com

Plan ahead for the festive season trains:

Sat Dec 14: 9am, 11am and 1.30pm (Santa special trains)

Sun Dec 15: 9am, 11am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm (Santa special trains) and 5.30pm (carols by candlelight)

Mon Dec 16: 11am and 3.30pm (Santa special trains)

Sat Dec 21: 9am, 11am, 1.30am, 3.30pm (Santa special trains)

Sun Dec 22: 9am, 11am, 1.30am, 3.30pm (Santa special trains)

Thurs Dec 26: 11am (Boxing Day special)

Sat Dec 28: 11am, 3.30pm

Sun Dec 29: 9am, 11am

Sun 5 Jan: 11am, 3.30pm

Sun 26 Jan: 11am