At Sandstone Estates, steam engines still run under the Maluti Mountains
Enthusiasts from around the world gather in the Free State in mid-November to drive old locomotives on 26km of track.
Ficksburg — Trains, planes, cars, tanks and tractors will gather at Sandstone Estates near Ficksburg in South Africa's Eastern Free State in mid-November, to celebrate old machines and the farm's cherry season.
The farm keeps a working collection of narrow-gauge steam locomotives on more than 26km of track, with the sandstone peaks of the Maluti Mountains behind. Among them is No. 153, built in 1968 by the Germiston firm Hunslet-Taylor as part of the last batch of steam engines ordered by South African Railways.
Writer Chris Marais, reporting for Daily Maverick, describes an earlier "Stars of Sandstone" week, when steam lovers from around the world paid to fire the boilers, shovel coal and work the levers. One visiting Australian electrician and trainee driver told him each engine is different and needs hours of preparation before it can move.
Marais also gathers South African railway lore: migrant miners tossing coins into the Orange River from the train, and drivers in De Aar blowing a signature whistle so their families knew to start supper.
Source: Daily Maverick, 29 October 2026.
