New Member
Hi, My name is Donald Sydney better known as Syd. I have been a railway fan from about the age of 4 when I stoped the Mail train from Cape Town to Bulawayo by sitting on the line at Westgate in Bulawayo. I wanted a ride on the Engine. I later worked on the footplate of the Rhodesian Railways. Most of my working days was between a place called Thompson Junction (TJ) in Rhodesia and Livingstone in Zambia, across the Victoria Falls Bridge. I then moved to Dett which is in the biggest game park in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe now). Most of my time was on 14th - 15th & 20th class Garratts. The 14 & 15 classes were hand fired and had fire grate areas of 38.6 and 49.6 sq ft, and a fireman could move over 8 ton of coal on a 15 class in a 8 hour shift.
I am also into N gauge model railway and have 22 MSTS CDs which I use very often. I have also had the privilege of driving on the dock railway in Bristol, and on the Ravenglass & Eskdale railway.
If there any other Ex-Rhodesian Railway people out there I would love to hear from you.
P.S. I did get my ride on the engine, a 12th class loco & also a good tanning from my dad
Syd
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