[Kasane]

Hi Ralph,

<<When I was a kid we used to take the overnight train from Durban to Johannesburg and return for the July holidays...Very memorable experiences, unfortunately train travel is no longer the same in S.A., except for a few very expensive rail enthusiast societies.>>

I have just joined the group ( you will probably recognise my user name), I was in Cape Town in 1990 and needed to get to Durban to run Comrades the next week.

Having time we took the train ... the Orange Express (forget the fulln ame). Leaving late afternoon from Cape Town, we enjoyed dinner in the restaurant car (including a bottle of Cape wine) and retired to our cabin. Next day, we had a two hour break in Kimberley and were able to walk the dusty streets then continued.

If I remember right we were steam hauled for the following section - seeing many steam engines at work before heading down towards Durban.

A second evening in the restaurant car - the menu was already wearing thin, it was not the Blue Train and back to our cabin.

After 27 hours we arrived in Durban - a bit tired by now but would not have missed it for anything!

Ted