TOPIC:

One branch of my QSA collecting has taken a turn towards the operations and staff of the Cape Government Railways, Imperial Military Railways and Natal Government Railways.
As we know much of the available medals are generally overlooked unless there are interesting comments in the 'Remarks' column of the Medal Roll, or perhaps the recipient had an unusual trade.
However, I would very much like to know more about the general operations of the railway system in general and perhaps read more about personal accounts of the people who operated armoured trains etc. And the experiences of men who went out to repair damaged trains, lines etc.
Could anybody on the learned forum please recommend any suitable publications,? Any assistance would be most greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Steve

Steve
Some time ago, I found the two volume "Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War, 1899-1902" originally published by the Royal Engineers Institute (Great Britain). I could not find any originals and settled for a print-on-demand version from an on-line site. There is much data contained in the two volumes; however almost nothing from the personal account aspect. The only actions examined in some detail are those of the RPR's fight at Zand River Bridge and the engagement at Roodeval 7th June 1900.
Armoured Trains were given a whole section in part 5. Employment, reorganisation, administration, tactics, etc. Again, no great stories of derring do - just showing how ATs worked and providing guidelines for any future campaign.
One drawback of the print-on-demand version I obtained was that most of the pull-out maps and diagrams are only partially reproduced. However, I can put up with that shortcoming.
Quick summary: Would I buy the edition again? Answer - definitely yes.
Regards
IL.

Steve
9781345629255 - Detailed History of the Railways in the South African War, 1899-1902, Volumes 1-2
3 copies for sale on Abe Books all in UK
Around 30 to 35 pounds plus postage.

IL,
Many thanks for your recommendation, this pair of volumes sound like exactly what I am looking for. The anecdotal material will be harder to source. Maybe I will have to search through rail enthusiast sites. Although searches on familysearch, ancestry and findmypast can pay dividends.
Dave F,
Thanks for the lead to Abebooks. I'm onto that tonight!
Cheers,
Steve

Hello Steve,

I thought that the attached pages from the medal claims to the Cape Government Railways might be of some interest to you. I came across many pages just as these in the Cape Town Archives Repository recently and as you can see by the remarks they are somewhat better than the general remark found on the QSA Roll page. Much more digging to go but I might unearth a few gems.



Regards
Adrian

Hi Adrian,
Thank you for posting details of this resource new to me.
There is good detail in these reports. Alas, none to any of my recipients. But am eager to see if you do find any more gems! There were so many men involved with the railways during the conflict that there must be some great stories out there.
Cheers,
Steve