Sandstone Estates wins tender to recover freight wagons from Port Shepstone from the Alfred Country Railway Port Shepstone to Harding line.
A number of freight wagons have come out on tender. Most of them are flats and timber wagons but there are a few interesting items. These include two tankers – one at Port Shepstone which is in a very poor state. The tanker is located in a difficult place to try and remove. It will require some sort of earth moving machine to drive it through a swamp and onto a line that is completely overgrown by trees. We are currently contemplating whether it is actually practical to move this item or not.
There is also a caboose at Harding which is in a very poor state but we have purchased it and we are contemplating whether it is worth investing in the transport to recover it.
The items at Harding actually look very good. We are renting a roll back truck to recover the items.The tanker is located in a lumber yard with some logs that are in the way. We have contacted Douglas Vanaaswegen from R&B timbers and he will remove the logs for us when we have to load. We do not think the low bed will be able to enter the area where the tanker is situated as there is only one entrance and it is very small with drainage ditches on both sides. The truck will have to make a 90 degree turn to the entrance with very limited space.
The two flat wagons are also in some thick bush. We will have to pull the wagons with a cable onto a road to be able to load them.
Timber trucks at Harding.
The tanker at Harding
The photos below show a close-up of the state of these items that have been abandoned for many years now.
