The Cape Central Railway, later known as the New Cape Central Railway, was a railway in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, now part of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It linked the

Cape Government Railways The Cape Government Railways (CGR) was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways (SAR) in 1910. History Private railways The first railways at the Cape were privately ow ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, first to

Ashton Ashton may refer to: Names *Ashton (given name) * Ashton (surname) Places Australia * Ashton, Elizabeth Bay, a heritage-listed house in Sydney, New South Wales * Ashton, South Australia Canada *Ashton, Ontario New Zealand * Ashton, New Zealan ...

, then extended to

Swellendam Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...

and eventually to

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay () is a harbour town of about 170,000 people on the Garden Route of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the country's seat of parliament, Ca ...

. This privately owned line of 205 miles was bought by

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a Rail transport in South Africa, South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed h ...

in 1925.

History

Construction of the first part of the line of the Cape Central Railway from Worcester was paid for by a combination of share capital and a subsidy from the Colonial Government of £50,000. It opened to Robertson in January 1887 and to Ashton in October of the same year. It very quickly ran into financial difficulties and went bankrupt around 1889. The liqidator was Sir

Thomas Charles Scanlen Sir Thomas Charles Scanlen (9 July 1834 – 15 December 1912) was a politician and administrator of the Cape Colony. He was briefly Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, from 1881 to 1884, during an especially turbulent period in the Cape's histor ...

and in August 1892 was sold to the New Cape Central Railway which was registered in England in 1893. By 1896 the railway had gross earnings of £15,815 and net earnings of £6,294. A 40-mile extension of the line to Swellendham was funded by mortgage debentures, share capital and a further subsidy by the Colonial Government at £1,500 per mile. It opened on 12 April 1899.

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly United Kingdom, British railway magazine, aimed at the Railfan, railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the ...

of 1901 reported that the line was complete to Riversdale, but not yet working, and noted that construction was rapid compared to State-managed railways. In 1902, Parliament agreed to subsidize the final 57 mile section to Mossel Bay at the rate of £2,000 per mile. It opened on 22 Jan 1906. The company was purchased by South African Railways for £1,100,000 on 1 August 1925. In 2023 a tourist steam train began operating out of Robertson station under the name New Cape Central Railway.

References

External links

New Cape Central Railway (PTY) Ltd
Tourist steam train

History

References

External links

Further reading