Put myself through varsity as a stoker. Occasionally worked on GMAM's out of Pietermaritzburg. Amazing engines.

@steamfreak

4 жыл бұрын

Would have been amazing working the lines out of PMB...

Morning thanx it is so beautiful

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

It was worth the climb!

Gotta love big South African steam. Thanks for posting. Two big thumbs up!

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

There's nothing like a big Garratt on Montagu!

Garratts make a distinctive sound.

@steamfreak

4 жыл бұрын

They certainly do! 4 cylinders and only one way out...

@ferdiemeyer5282

Жыл бұрын

Can speak nice with firemen though mountains

My old dad built the boilers on most of these Garratts,I still live 500 yards from Beyer Peacocks old site.Brings back many childhood memories.

@steamfreak

5 жыл бұрын

He did a great job, those Garratts are amazing machines...

@scotchegg3419

5 жыл бұрын

is that sunny Gorton you live in.

@fredarrandale2003

4 жыл бұрын

@@scotchegg3419 FOR MY SINS

Yes it brings back memories for me

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Great memories

Jouw filmpjes zijn mooi als altijd, dikke duim omhoog van een Garrat fan uit Nederland, baie dankie Trevor. (Ook voor je andere filmpje met de GO op de Caledon lijn, vet geniet was dat)

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Tom, glad you enjoyed them!

What a locomotive. Like a horse on rails

@steamfreak

Ай бұрын

A mountain climber for sure!

Did this in 2000, an unforgettable experience. The Garratt was a bit sick on the pass and we had a banker. (19D?) Stood in the grass at Camfer for a run by, to overhear two passers by discuss Cape Cobras - Oh-Oh! Dreadfully sick at Oudshoorn, after eating an Ostrich steak with prawn sauce. Prawn sauce a bad idea in the desert... Missed the whole of the next day while lying in our compartment with my eyes closed. Lunch in Protea, the restaurant car, was always wonderful. Stood on a rock at the red wall and saw a short, fat snake skin at my feet... Told it was probably from a Puff Adder. How long have you got if you get bitten? About an hour. Is there any serum on the train, miles from anywhere? Er, no, so don't step on one. What a great trip! I wonder if this beautiful stock (pre-war blue train?) still survives?

@steamfreak

6 жыл бұрын

:) yes don't step on a Puff Adder... Your final hour would not be pleasant! Steam over the pass is amazing, love that trip. Some of that coaching stock is still running with Ceres Rail now.

@brucewilliams8714

4 жыл бұрын

I had three meals a day in Protea on our rail safari in 1991. Great food and service.

Great sound effects

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I wish I could hear that again...

@johnbeck2042

2 ай бұрын

They are not sound effects, boet. They are the real thing.

Oh my WORD! Just LISTEN to those double-beats as she claws her way up the pass - WHAT a locomotive the GMAM/GAMMAT/KRAP (CRAB) was in its day....

@pigeonlove

6 жыл бұрын

UFEZELA she? it is a machine, an inanimate object not a female...

@royreynolds108

6 жыл бұрын

Ships have always been referred to as "SHE" so why not locomotives? They have a personality just like a ship.

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

It sounded amazing!

I love this steam locomotive model

@steamfreak

6 жыл бұрын

+Umesh Sukode the GMAMs are awesome!

I see they're running it technically 'backwards'. I remember reading they did this with the Garratts in NSW Australia as a way of making conditions in the cab cooler and with reduced smoke, especially through tunnels, so much so that some were fitted with dual controls so the engineer could face the direction of travel no matter how they were running. Did they do this on the SA ones at all? We still have 6029 running here in NSW. An impressive sight, too, very similar although 6029 was one of the so-called super Garratts here that had some modifications made that resulted in even more power. Also has a mechanical fireman and some other 'modern' features for a steam engine, although that makes the cab surprisingly noisy when operating.

@garypeter5110

4 жыл бұрын

Steeltrap we also have 6040, however they no longer run

@kentrobison588

4 жыл бұрын

@@garypeter5110 6029 is the only one running, owned by the Canberra Railway Museum.

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

They usually ran "backwards" in SA. They didn't have dual controls, the driver sat sort of sideways. These GMAM Garratts did have mechanical stokers.

Great stuff

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Okay, At one point I owned a HO set of this train. I knew that it was from SA, but I did know what train it was. Now I understand why it did go for such crazy price when I sold.

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Would have been a great model

Most unusual looking locomotive the bayer garratt, very powerful loco basically it is two loco,s in one.

@steamfreak

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks Barry - yes they are very unusual looking. They are great to see in service on the mountains where they belong!

@inyobill

4 жыл бұрын

On curves the weight of the locomotive is carried to the inside. With our American style articulateds, the weight tends to be thrown to the outside. Oher than stability, there are other benefits. After seeing them for the first time some while back, I've become accustomed to them and I now find them handsome and extremely interesting in action.

@thewierdlemon5956

3 жыл бұрын

look up the triplex its 3 trains in 1 lol

Wonderful

@steamfreak

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

I wish I could have done this

@steamfreak

Ай бұрын

😕 I wish I could do it again!

Excellent photography.Is it a metregauge.

@steamfreak

6 жыл бұрын

+Vishwajit Pawar it's 3'6" (1067 'm) gauge

😎

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Of to be back there now...

รัก รถไฟการ์แรตต์ ครับชอบมากอยากให้มาวิ่งที่เมืองไทยบ้าง

@Mail2elr

3 жыл бұрын

Nou praat jy!

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Hello steamfreak3450, I am working on a podcast episode about Beyer-Garratts and wanted to ask if it would be possible to feature some of your excellent video clips? I would of course credit and link back to your channel. Please do let me know, all the best.

@steamfreak

4 жыл бұрын

You can contact me on loco@steamfreak.com, happy to discuss.

Nog altyd gese: Garratts vat nie nonsense nie.

@steamfreak

7 жыл бұрын

+hawkeye0248 Ja en klink ook lekker!

I'm... confused. Is it going forwards or backwards?

@steamfreak

6 жыл бұрын

+ziiofswe it's a Garratt running bunker first...

@ziiofswe

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah, hadn't seen one before, had to read up on them... cool construction idea.

Baie daar gery toe ek in George skool gegaan het. Verlang nou sommer

@steamfreak

3 жыл бұрын

Such a beautiful area - such a pity the Knysna line is still closed.

How do people BREATHE in that tunnel with all that smoke??

@steamfreak

7 жыл бұрын

+David Rohrer they inhale the glorious aroma of coal smoke!

@delinagreyling6171

7 жыл бұрын

You slam the windows shut as soon as you see the tunnel coming up ! I grew up as the daughter of a 'spoorie' (S.A.S. werker) and all our vacations were by train ... I'm now 73, so lots of railroad trips (and living near the shunting yards and train stations) ... in late forties, fifties, and sixties. I LOVE steam engines.

@e.gonnermann4646

Жыл бұрын

Did the engineer not blow the whistle just before the tunnel... somebody would jump up and slam the window down!

4128 baie op haar gewerk saam met Piet Steyn 1974 baie goed gestoom

@steamfreak

Жыл бұрын

Klink lekker. Baie mooi loko!

WhAT A FANTATIC HERITAGE. This could have been a major tourist attrction. Thanks to the ANC's incompotance we have nothing - nothing at all. What a shame that these and other reminders of the past fell into the hands of total incompotance and don't care. Shame on you Nelson and your cronies

@steamfreak

Жыл бұрын

Yes, such a great shame... 🙁

Poor passengers when they were in the tunnel.

@steamfreak

5 жыл бұрын

Ja, lekker black smoke! The scent of coal smoke... Magnificent!

@VestedUTuber

4 жыл бұрын

@@steamfreak Magnificent, but not exactly good for your lungs. Enjoy responsibly. For me personally, that means I can't really enjoy it much at all. I used to be asthmatic and while I don't get attacks anymore my lungs still haven't fully recovered. And since I'm getting into 7.5" gauge that means I'll have to go with Propane should I ever eventually buy or build a live steamer.

A lone sar class 34 or 37 would have outperformed this GMAM garratt. As these giants aged they seemed to lose much of their pulling power. (2022.03.18-17:39-socalled South Africa)

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

But the Garratt sounds so much better!

2:01 CO2 for you too.

@steamfreak

4 жыл бұрын

It's just so beautiful!

I'm pretty sure that's diesel smoke not Cole

@steamfreak

7 жыл бұрын

+Jesse Heilman that was definitely coal smoke! It smelled great!

@8353732

6 жыл бұрын

It's coal. With a few experimental exceptions South African Steam all used coal.

@thewierdlemon5956

3 жыл бұрын

look in the tender its full of cole

@jesseheilman

3 жыл бұрын

I don't remember making this comment or what prompted it I'm not looking for trouble but you can clearly see That the tender is a fuel tank and directly behind it is a fuel tanker Tell me which part of this video shows coal in the tender

Only thing more impressive would have been 2 or even 3 of those beasts together. :-)

@VestedUTuber

4 жыл бұрын

Well, there's always the twin fired, twin boilered 0-6-2+2-4-4-2+2-6-0 Franco.

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

I've seen 2 go up there, very impressive!

can someone explain this set up to me ? the loco looks reversed, and what's that added thing up front? sorry, just recently took a liking to old steam trains so i don't know proper terminology lol

@steamfreak

5 жыл бұрын

Hi Richard, the locomotive is a Garratt type, an articulated design with driving wheels at each end with a suspended boiler in the middle. The bunker at the leading end carries coal (and sometimes water), and the tank at the trailing end (in this video) carries water. The loco is running bunker-first (backwards) in this case, as there are many tunnels on the pass, and it keeps the exhaust behind the driver's cab.

@ferdiemeyer5282

Жыл бұрын

Op haar gewerk 4128 voorbaai saam met Piet Steyn baie goed gestoom no 2 en 5 tonnel baie gas in cab gekry

Gaswagen.

@steamfreak

2 жыл бұрын

Yep. Amazing machines!

All that black smoke shows incomplete combustion - i.e. not enough air or too much coal. Looks like poor firing. A beautiful sight otherwise.

@steamfreak

5 жыл бұрын

You're right! I guess with a mechanical stoker it's easy to just keep the coal rolling!

@984francis

5 жыл бұрын

Hmm. I so often read this comment, made from the comfort and anonymity of a chair in front of a computer. If you have 10 years daily experience firing a coal burning loco under all conditions then I will respect you. Do you?

@ferdiemeyer5282

Жыл бұрын

Some time they ask for black smoke pass or some time bad coal but I was working on 4128 and she was steams very good

@BackwardFinesse

Жыл бұрын

@@ferdiemeyer5282 Thank you, Freddie. I happily withdraw “poor firing” - it’s a job demanding skill, strength and stamina none of which I possess. Hats off to you!