All aboard the Inchanga Choo-Choo
Steam train ‘shorties’ help Wesley, the vintage locomotive, get back on track.
THE Fundraising Open Day Festival on Sunday, 26 June 2022 was a huge success.
The ‘shortie’ trips (mini steam-train trips) were run hourly by Wesley – the beloved, refurbished, vintage steam locomotive. He puffed in and out of Inchanga Station from 09:00 until 14:00.
The recent KZN floods caused serious damage to the Old Main Line between Kloof and Inchanga, leaving the usual Umgeni Steam Railway train trips suspended. There are many places where landslides occurred, sinkholes developed and the foundation beneath the railway line was washed away.
“Parts of the track have been severely undermined and are requiring round-the-clock extensive (and expensive) rehabilitation. It is a monumental task involving large teams of workers and hundreds of tons of landfill material to rectify. Support of our shortie trips was hugely helpful to us in being able to fund the rest of the track refurbishments,” said Marc Bouchier of Umgeni Steam Railway.
READ ALSO: Inchanga steam train is heritage in motion
Along with the steam-train trips, the festival included a busy craft and food market with dozens of stalls, a resident DJ, tours at The Inchanga Railway Museum and a working model railway in the Modellers’ hut.
The Umgeni Steam Railway is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of railway heritage in South Africa. Run by volunteers, the NPO relies on donations for the maintenance and upkeep of the locomotives, coaches, railway line and infrastructure.
How to help?
They require the use of earthmoving equipment, fill material or monetary donations.
Email donations@umgenisteamrailway.com or message through social media.
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