Page 23 - SAICE book proof 2 LATEST JULY 2014

s a i c e
EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

transformed into a waterfront facility for the city itself 12. railway lines in this part of the world
since it is situated on prime land, within walking distance follow arduous routes and serve the outlying parts
of the magnificent historic buildings in town. The Port of of this province. As in many other places rail freight
Ngqura about 20 km to the north will then become the and passenger trains were mostly replaced by road
industrial hub. The harbour premises also feature the transportation but the relics are still worth visiting. On
station and train shed of the famous narrow gauge train the 157 km line from Aliwal North to Lady Grey to Barkly
commonly known as the Apple Express that ran right East, there are eight reversing stations due to the fact
into the heart of the Langkloof and its fruit producing that the inclines along the Drakensberg mountain range
farms. This train has been running regularly as a tourist surpassed the limits of technology at grades between
attraction but is currently out of action. A popular event 1 in 35 or 36 and even 1 in 30. Construction started
was the race between the train and runners which at- in 1902 and ended in 1930. From South African Rail,
tracted thousands of competitors and spectators. June 1977, an article titled “The Phantom Passenger
and the Porcupine” by Dick Whittington tells a very
interesting story: “The line only reached Barkly East in
33°57′29″S 25°36′00″ E 1925. Thereby hangs a tale! Near Melk siding 53km
from Barkly East a high level bridge and tunnel were
planned to cross the gorge of Karnmelkspruit. The
11. St Francis Bay and marina developments tunnel was completed in 1911 but, alas, the steelwork
to the southwest of Port Elizabeth have seen prime for the bridge was lost when the ship bringing it from
coastline transformed into beautiful waterfront resi- the UK sank. In the meantime a series of six reversing
dences along man-made canals. There was however a stations enabled the railway to zigzag down to a low-
price to pay since the engineering community has not level crossing of the Karnmelk Spruit – and up again on
been able to tame the sea and its relentless littoral ma- the east bank. Between New England, reached in 1913,
rine drift sands that slowly migrate northwards along and Barkly East the train traverses two more reversing
the east coast and silt up artificial harbour mouths. In stations. On the 156 km journey from Aliwal North
addition the well-intended stabilisation or planting of
dune sands by developers on the Cape portion suffered
disastrous consequences since the windblown sand
supply across the Cape was disrupted and cut off. This
caused substantial erosion of the coastline due to the
littoral drift. Civil engineering is currently heavily chal-
lenged to provide protection and long-term solutions.

34°09’37.94” S, 24°49’26.79” E

◊ St Francis Bay and marina developments

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