DAMRAIL (Pty) Ltd The steam trains CAN return one day...but it won't be easy. Our 1937 Suburban Dining Coach in our new blue and white livery, drawn by our Funkey Deisel loco Inside the Dining Car on our first passenger trip in it since partial restoration, at a dinner honouring AJ Carruthers, author of 'The Magaliesburg' The passengers dissembark at Meerhof during shunting operations 44 sleepers slolen at the end of November caused our Wickham inspection trolly to derail 600 Mtrs east of our Nefdt boarding starion and has temporarily closed our operation (in 2002 we had 26 Km open but reoccuring theft has held us back).

Dam Rail has brought back the trains to the Hartbeespoort local railway line in South Africa's North West Province, 55 Km from central Johannesburg and 38 Km from Pretoria. The line is crossed by the road route to Sun City, 105 Km away. This meandering line, passing through a wooded and bush lined valley under the gaze of Boer War forts into the 'Cradle Of Mankind', was opened in 1925 and links two areas served by the local two tourist routes - the Magaliesburg Meander and the Crocodile River Ramble. Almost 89 Km of historic railway line which crosses the dam, the Hek, Leeuw and Crocodile Rivers, a waterfall and passes through unspoiled African bush, forests, game farms, battle fields and mountains, lies unused and is being vandalised between Pretoria and Magaliesburg Village. Why are we trying to restore the line? To encourage tourism, create jobs, ensure a national and local asset remains intact and preserve some of our railway locomotives, coaches and other equipment like our railcar. Here's our Station Distance Table... Our security team guarding the track. (A bit of humour, but sleeper and rail theft are two of our biggest problems at present). How can you help? * Spread the word that the line is alive, running, creating jobs and giving the residents and visitors to the area a unique experience. Today we have 12 km of line operating - from an original 600 metres. Sadly in November 2002 we became victims of 'The South African Disease' - over 500 wooden sleepers were stolen, setting us back by a year and needing a lot of money and work to repair. Happily 3 of the thieves were caught red-handed, prosicuted and jailed after we alerted the police. Any volunteers to help with the hands-on job of replacing them with steel sleepers will be very welcome. Members of our weekend work parties and a few guests get to ride our Whickham trolly along a scenic, unique stretch of rail track. Call us to see if we can book you a seat... * Sponsor the acquisition and restoration of track, equipment, locomotives, coaches and railcars.

Our first vintage railcar, c.1970, a 9 seater Wickham, built in the UK, designed to get staff down the track for maintenance work, parked at the Nefdt Siding, 4 September 2000.
Unfortunatly the siding track has been stolen, but we're hoping to restore the track and points and establish a platform and perhaps even a small station.
If you or you company would like to sponsor us and get naming rights for this prime tourist site (an average of 16 000 passing visitors per weekend), give us a call.

Click here for history of these rail cars and some other private African railway operations.

Click here for a little of the history of our first dining car, soon to be seen on these tracks...and Yes - STEAM IS COMING!

Click here to see some of the views on the route.

Click here for some of our most recent photos.

Click here to see the difference we are making to this line.

Click here to BOOK A RIDE on our train (no set fee but we would appriciate a donation).

Coming soon - Dam Rail souveneers, including plaque mounted original track parts.

Click here to see other tourist venues in this fast growing area.

You can also: * Sponsor plant, materials and labour. * Get involved in ensuring this becomes the finest railway tourist experience in the region. * Invest in the rail company directly, to help tourist development and bring prosperity to the area . CLICK to check out the standard railway map symbols. After viewing, click on your browser Back button to return here. . There are many personal and corporate sponsorship and advertising oportunities available. * Trackside signage * Railcar stickers * Ride certificates and tickets * Tee shirts and souveniers * Uniform patches * Baseball caps(NOW AVAILABLE) * Station signs And you can be sure that we'll pull out all the stops on getting full media coverage for this exciting project - after all, who can resist the romance of the railway? And when you see how magnificent this lake is you might want to stay just a little longer to explore it's 54 Km shoreline. How do you find us? Click here for our basic map and here for a detailed map. . After viewing click on your browser Back button to return here. Where are we going? We are hoping to offer... * Tourist trips, with authentic local catering * Corporate/Team Building events and days * Birthdays, weddings and other parties * Local transportation * Commercial/industrial transport links The people of Dam Rail CC Call Barbra on 073 228 6297 or Andy at 012 244 0255 or on 082 778 6355 Join the DAM RAIL Email public discussion group OR The images, text and any other material on this site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without Dam Rail's written permission. Information may be saved and/or printed for personal use only. Copyright © 2000-4 Dam Rail CC & Andy Grudko. All rights reserved. .

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