1876 HEX RIVER PASS RAILWAY TUNNEL - EXPLORING THE OLDEST RAILWAY TUNNEL IN SA with

South Africa's oldest railway tunnel is situated at km 35 between De Doorns and Tunnel Station. It was built by Brounger and Pauling in 1876 to penetrate a buttress that was too tight and steep to bring a line around. The tunnel portals are of dressed stone masonry but the tunnel itself is unlined - testimony to the economical use of masonry and cement. In 1929 the track was diverted for a short distance and a second concrete lined tunnel built to accommodate larger locomotives. The latter tunnel served the line thereafter until its closure in 1989.