The melancholy sound emanating from the whistle of a steam train rushing through the night always fascinated me. As a child, I recall going to the Canadian National Railway Station in Edmonton to watch my Grandma board an old C.N. steamer bound for Vancouver. The steam and smoke rising from the engine swirled around the platform and the air smelt of burning coal. We were allowed to board the train to help Grandma settle in. As the train chugged out of the station and into the night, I wished that I could have been a passenger too.
My wish to ride a train pulled by a steam locomotive came about in my adult years while I was serving in South Africa as a missionary and lived in Louis Trichardt in the Northern Transvaal province. It was necessary for me to travel to Pretoria to pick up my renewed Passport and make tentative reservations with Sabena Belgian Airlines for my soon return trip to Canada. I decided I would take the train. It would be an overnight run to Pretoria with the next day allowing plenty of time to do my business and then return the same evening. The train was on, what we use to call in Canada, 'a milk run' meaning it stopped at most of the towns between Louis Trichardt and Pretoria. This particular train was in no way comparable to South Africa's famous 'Blue Train' but the ticket agent did suggest a first class ticket which put me in a compartment with berths so I would not have to sit up all night, Sharing my compartment was a person I had met previously and so we talked, read, and enjoyed the passing scenery before the porter came to make up the two lower berths. The train lacked a dining car so you could not enjoy a meal or get a nice hot cup of tea which is so much part of South African hospitality. Sleeping on the train was uneventful except for my waking up at every stop to see where we were. By this time, the smell of the burning coal from the engine had permeated the entire train. and I thought the train needed a better ventilation system. The train pulled into Pretoria just as the sun was rising. In the station, there was a kiosk where you could buy breakfast and a restroom where you could have a shower and change clothing.
That evening, when I arrived at the station having completed my business, I noticed there were fully equipped soldiers milling around the station and I wondered why. I learned that they were on their way to postings up north along the boarders that South Africa shares with Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Terrorism was a constant threat in South Africa and they were always on guard. This deployment was a few months after the incident at Entebbe Airport in Uganda when Israeli soldiers swooped in totally unexpected to rescue the passengers from a hijacked airliner. The soldiers occupied a day coach but when night fell. they were allowed to occupy any empty berths on the train. My compartment was suddenly filled with three fully armed soldiers who, without a word of explanation, bunked down for the night. When I left the train at Louis Trichardt the next morning, they were still asleep but I felt that terrorists would not have a chance against that crew.
SAR Locomotive
credit: bing.com images
