Red Devil, Class 26 no 3450 with express passenger train

Here we see yet another great clip of that magical South African Railways class 26 no 3450 Red Devil. I worked her on a number of occasions and had some magical trips with such trains between Kimberley and De Aar. All this lasted until steam ended in 1992. The line went to the dogs after that. Clip taken by Jean Dulez

[@sirbarongaming2138]

18 fully loaded coaches without Diesel assistance, God what a beautiful sight

[@boxcarthehusky420]

That exhaust is so sharp, it's a shame she's a shell of her former self

[@irfanqadir3840]

The sound of this red steam beauty is unique and superb with a marvellous look

[@davidvlok1755]

Fantastic footage 👏 👌

[@henri4324]

This was the Orange Expres which traveled between Johannesburg, Durban to Cape Town.. If not mistaken it was a 40 hour trip. The catering service, food, everything on board, was outstanding.

[@Adventurescot]

Henri, the Orange Express only ran between Durban and Cape Town, it never went to Johannesburg. Even still it took over 42 hours for such a journey. Two nights and 3 days if you think of it but what a great trip it was, especially behind steam. Saying that it was even better being one of the crew up front. I worked it many times

[@henriquertygp3958]

Hi, you are 100% correct, it ran from DBN to CPT. We had to go from JHB to DBN to catch the Orange Express. My view about the train. It was better than the Trans Natal and the Trans Karoo. Once again, my opinion

[@Isochest]

@@Adventurescot You should be proud of that. No wonder you loved your time on South African steam.

[@1hermannk]

Those were the days my friend!

[@trevormaxwell8134]

That's real power 🔋

[@halumi2002]

迫力がありすぎ。

[@mercury7590]

What a sight. The Red Devil certainly lived up to her name with the noise she was making. I’ve read that she’s rather light on her feet and very prone to slipping, is that true?

[@Adventurescot]

Red Devil was an amazing machine and sure could rocket along. As for driving and firing she was not much different from a standard 25NC other than that she needed to be worked harder to draw the fire and make it burn better and also when drifting she had to be in mid-gear. She certainly was light on her feet but it just meant being more gentle on the regulator. My regular 25NC no 3488 was extremely light on her feet due to worn wheels but we compensated just the same as RD and drove her more gentle and we got by with her everyday. Some drivers were just too eager to get going. As my great driver said to me "never force a steam locomotive, just let it take its time and she will get you there".
You can hear in the clip her slipping on the points slightly as we left Orange River. John Gilberthorpe (my driver) always eased the regulator when going over points on pull away to prevent slipping but on this day she still lifted her wheels.

[@hans2406]

I hear that all lines are going to the dogs.
As expected.

[@Adventurescot]

Virtually no trains left in SA nowadays. Long distance passenger trains are a thing of the past. A totally destroyed country

[@sabrar123]

Lovely

[@viviennehart14]

My favourite Loco

[@abhayjoshi3935]

I do not forget steam engine days

[@ethan5305]

(hears wheelslip in the distance) yep that's her

[@brucewilliams8714]

Lol!

[@Preyser123]

Ceres Rail have now restored her and she is now doing a weekend trip as we speak.

[@WhyAyeMann]

Rich, what was firing like with that gas producer firebox?

[@Adventurescot]

It was generally the same as a standard 25NC. She was extremely light on water which in turn made her use less coal. However you had to hammer her to make her steam. Take her gently on a short load and you were screwed. Like most 25NCs she would pull wonderfully well with the reverser back at around 30% but you had to give her more regulator to get the fire hot. Too gentle on the regulator and you only got draught through the secondary air holes above the fire and no air through the actual fire itself and before you knew it you were screwed. The only thing to do light engine or with a short train was let the cut-off out more to about 40% for more fire draught

[@WhyAyeMann]

@@Adventurescot Interesting, I know that the primary air for the fire was greatly reduced for this locomotive in order to facilitate coal gasification, but sounds to me like simply keeping the fire alive on anything less than going flat out was a chore. Many thanks for the feedback.

[@AutismTakesOn]

How many coaches was she pulling?

[@Adventurescot]

Most trains were generally 19 in total but now and again we would get 21 or even 22 at peak times. Roughly about 1000 tons behind the tender

[@AutismTakesOn]

Cool!

[@user-gz6hn1kb4y]

and was doing a better job than 2x34 class diesels😂😂

[@user-qg2kl7cg8f]

化け物だ...

[@olafeklund6200]

Suid-Afrikaanse Spoorweë, 'n spook van die verlede. :-(