A.E. „Dusty“ Durrant
Western Transvaal System Southern & Western Transvaal areas
A South African Railways GM class 4-8-2+2-8-4 Beyer-Garratt locomotive heads a freight train from the Western Transvaal attacking the final climb towards Krugersdorp in 1967. This class - which entered service in 1938 - was designed specifically for this important "international" route Johannesburg-Zeerust-Mafeking - for Botswana, Rhodesia and the north that required light axle-loading, where a solution was found by trailing an auxiliary water tank. From this view at West Rand, the first glimpses of Johannesburg’s gold mining dumps / slimes dams could be seen in the distance.
#270002