Sunday 30 May Creighton Day 2

Today we took a ride behind the GMAM Beyer-Garratt to Donnybrook, travelling along sharp curves and steep gradients through an area of Zulu settlements. The scenery was magnificent and many locals turned out to see the train and its passengers.

The scenery was magnificent and many locals turned out to see the train and its passengers.

The steep hillsides were a challenge to the intrepid photographers.

The gentleman in red pants here used his excellent English to extol the virtues of cultural exchanges such as this. He was a very effective marshal of a large group of children spectators who he instructed to keep out of the way and be quiet for the benefit of the photo line, receiving a small consideration for his efforts.

This lady in Sunday best and barefoot was intent on her daily business and gave little attention to the excitement on the railway.

Donnybrook, once a busy and well appointed junction station with a locomotive depot for both the 2ft and 3ft 6ins gauges, is a shell of its former self and the narrow gauge has disappeared. However, a memorial to apartheid remains in the shape of the two footbridges – one for whites and the other for non-whites.