The very last runpast of a phantastic 9-days steam journey of about 1500 kilometers through the Western Cape province of South Africa, perfectly organised and operated by the Ceres Rail Company of Derrick du Toi, for FarRail Tours of Bernd Seiler. About 50 photographers/videographers from 10 nations were part of this legendary trip with perfect, but very mild, weather. The leading 19B # 1412 has an almost empty coal tender, the 19D # 3322 in contrast is oil fired. The train consist is of classic suburban passenger rolling stock, several freight cars and a sleeping car for the staff. The train is running through the Breede River Valley gorge in the Skurweberg and Witzenberg mountain range. The road through the gorge was opened in 1848, designed and named after Charles Michell, one of the Cape’s most accomplished military engineers. The Ceres Railway track was originally built at the turn of the 20th century, starting in July 1910 and was completed in May 1912. The line was built using second hand material and the engineers responsible for the building work was Mr’s Heatlie, Warren and Bromley.
