TOPIC:

The 149 page book by Lt Col E P C Girouard, Director of Railways, has been added to the books section: www.angloboerwar.com/books/269-girouard-...e-railways-1899-1902 .

The book is rendered as two PDFs.



Contents

1. Creation of a military controlling staff
2. Cape Government Railways
3. Natal Government Railways
4. Imperial Military Railways
5. The organisation and use of armoured trains
6. Organisation of the Army Labour Depot
7. Miscellaneous

Appendices:

a. Table showing distances of principal military stations from base ports
b. Some extracts from Army Orders affecting railway working
c. Tables showing details of temporary, semi-permanent and permanent repairs to the CGR, NGR and IMRs
d. Table showing minor interruptions to railway traffic due to the enemy, 6 June 1900 to 4 July 1901

The PDFs are searchable.

My thanks to Smethwick for highlighting the availability of this information. Source images from the Hathi Trust.

My thanks for the thanks.

Having found it I now find it is of no help to me regarding the rebuilding of the Colenso Railway Bridge. It gives details in the Appendix about the rebuilding of every other railway bridge the Boers blew up but the words Colenso or Tugela do not appear in the Appendix or the book - did they have alternative names?

Men of the Black Country played a vital role in the rebuilding of the Colenso Railway Bridge claiming a world record in so doing and putting the Americans in their place - well that is according to British newspapers across the country.

David,

I'm afraid even the full-fat two-volume "Detailed History of the Railways in South Africa" has surprisingly little to say about the work at Colenso. For what it's worth, here are the three relevant paragraphs (p. 63), along with the accompanying Plate 14 and Photos 5 & 6.














..

Once again Neville - just clicking a "Thank you" is totally inadequate. Since I joined the Forum two to three years ago I have been looking for photos of the Princess Christian Hospital Train in South Africa - until now this is the only one I had managed to find taken at Durban Station:



Why am I especially interested in the Princess Christian Hospital Train? THE SEVEN CARRIAGES WERE ALL MADE IN SMETHWICK BY THE MEN OF SMETHWICK WHO WORKED ROUND THE CLOCK AND DELIVERED THEM WELL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

From evidence I have found it would appear the trestle "deviation" bridge across the Tugela near Colenso had a very limited life and had been replaced by something more substantial by 13th April 1901. Does the "Detailed History of the Railways in South Africa" have anything to say about the replacement of the trestle bridge? In a previous post started by Rob Davidson you posted a photo you took in 1981 of the "modern" railway bridge which I believe was built in the 1950's and I think was replaced again in the 1990's - but I might have got muddled on these last two dates/events. I have looked high & low for other photos of the Colenso Railway Bridge from 1901 to the present day but been unable to find anything. I will sort out my evidence and follow up with another post.

Smethwick,

There is a 2 page description of the Princess Christian Hospital Train on pages 64-65 of Nonqgai, Vol 10. No 4A (1)

www.angloboerwar.com/images/pdf/Nongqai-Vol10-4A-pt1.pdf

These are the sources used:

• The Princess Christian Hospital Train, by G.J. Stoker, Railway Magazine, February 1900.
• Princess Christian’s Hospital Train, South African Transport, April 1997.
• Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains, by Lt. Col. John Plumridge, 1975.
• Princess Christian Hospital Train, The Locomotive, 15th May 1915.
• Hospital Train for South Africa, The Locomotive, January 1900
• Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War, 1899-1902. Vols. 1 + 2; Royal Engineers Institute, 1904.
• Wikipedia, Princess Christian and family.
• Princess Christian Hospital at Pinetown Bridge, by S.A. Watt, Military History Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, June 1998.
• SA Rail, various issues, but particularly Vol. 44, No. 4, 2006.
• Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. – A Century of Achievement – 1855 - 1963, by John Hypher, Colin & Stephen Wheeler, 1995.
• British Carriage & Wagon Builders & Repairers – 1830 - 2006 by Chris Sambrook, 2007.

Thank you David - one source of info on the Princess Christian Hospital Train they missed is the Lady's Realm! I have a 7 page illustrated article in a PDF - not sure where I found it and the actual date of the article but when I have found that out I will email it to you for loading onto the site at your discretion. It has excellent illustrations based on photos, mainly of the interior but also two nurses who went out with the train to SA. The one of the exterior is in the factory yard of the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co - the factory was actually in Middlemore Road, Smethwick.