Inchanga - a short history


44Kms from Durban	Inchanga Station is a historic site, dating back to the 1890's	44Kms from Durban

Our twice monthly excursions from Kloof Station (Stockers Arms & Restaurant) take you through some beautiful scenery to the station where you can spend your time at the picnic site (with tables and chairs), visiting the craft & food stalls, having ponies rides for the children or to get their faces painted, see the model railway exhibition, or visit the old station masters office (now a refreshment centre) housing some interesting railway artefacts

History of the Old and New Main Lines

Courtesy and Copyright of Bruno Martin and Mike Cottrell

Map © Bruno Martin

A comparison between the Old Main Line and the New Main Line

Click here to download full size map in PDF format - needs Adobe Reader

also found at http://www.sa-transport.co.za/trains/maps/NML-Dbn-Pmb.pdf

Click on this icon to download the latest Adobe Reader version

	History of Old and New Main Lines Historical information supplied courtesy of Mike Cottrell
Local Main Line
26th June 1860	Point - Durban	Natal Railways Company - Private Concern
January 1877		Formation of Natal Government Railway (NGR)
4th September 1878	Durban - Pinetown	Passenger and Goods
24th March 1879	Pinetown - Bothas Hill	Passenger and military supplies
June 1879	Pinetown - Bothas Hill	General goods
October 1880	Bothas Hill - Camperdown	Passenger and goods
December 1880	Durban - Pietermaritzburg	The official opening in Pietermaritzburg
March 1881	Durban - Pietermaritzburg	Passenger, mail and goods
Beyond Pietermaritzburg
July 1884	Pietermaritzburg - Howick (now Merrivale) via Hilton Road
2nd December 1885	Howick - Estcourt	Passengers
21st December 1885	Howick - Estcourt
21st June 1886	Estcourt - Ladysmith	Johannesburg established - discovery of gold
30th June 1888	Ladysmith - Elandslaagte	Coal traffic
12th September 1889	Wesselsnek - Biggarsberg (now Glencoe)
15th May 1890	Biggarsberg - Newcastle
7th April 1891	Newcastle - Charlestown	Reverses Ingogo - Mt. Prospect eliminated 1937/38
14th October 1891	Laing's Nek tunnel (674.5M)	Officially opened - longest on main line until 1941
14th December 1895	Durban - Johannesburg	Passengers. NGR constructed the line to Heildleberg and Netherlands South African Railway constructed the remaining section

Main line improvements
NGR
1897	Durban - Dalbridge deviation and new Durban station terminal building
South African Railways
1914	Mooi River - Estcourt
1916	Boughton - Cedara
1919	Umlaas Road - Pentrich deviations
1921	Booth - Cato Ridge, new main line opened, doubled in 1935, electrified 1936
October 1924	First electric trains ran between Daimana (Ladysmith) and Chieveley
2nd May 1936	Last train ran Point - Durban line, Esplanade line opened
December 1936	First electric train arrives in Durban
3rd October 1937	Restricted electric service to Volksrust
14th August 1938	Full service to Volksrust
	It was, at the time, the longest electric line in the British Empire at 526Kms.
1946 - 1985	Project to deviate parts, and double the remainder, of the Durban - Johannesburg line
1957	Hidcote and Beacon Hill tunnels opened second double line deviation: Mooi River - Estcourt
1959	Electric traction on Old Main Line Rossburgh - Cato Ridge. Rossburgh - Pinetown remains
1960	6Km long tunnels between Boughton and Cedara open second double line deviation
April 1964	Full electric service between Durban and Johannesburg
1965	Second double line deviation with tunnels Umlaas Road - Pentrich
1984	Langsnek deviation with tunnels opened. This completes (except for 23Kms from Glenroy and Union junctions) bi-directional signalled lines from Durban - Johannesburg which have a daily capacity of 130,000 tonnes.





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