On Saturday 28 August, Umgeni Steam Railway (USR) participated in its first “Great Train Race” in association with Lions International and NOSA. Passengers were able to board the train at Kloof, departing at 12:00 midday to Inchanga, where the 27.5km relay race was scheduled to start at 14:00. Athletes competed against the train to Kloof. As the rail route at 25.1km is shorter than the road, the train was assigned tasks along the way, including stopping at strategic points to allow passengers to view the race. Tickets cost R150 with discounts for pensioners and children.
On Sunday 29th August, the regular “Inchanga Choo-Choo” operation was scheduled, with 4-8-2 class 3BR no 1486 hauling side-door timber-bodied wooden coaches through the Valley of a Thousand Hills to Inchanga where the local Conservancy hosted a community craft market at the station. With USR’s bar-coach out of service for routine maintenance, 102-year-old coach no 500 is temporarily in use as a lounge serving refreshments.
Projects currently under way include the refurbishment of brake-end no 7390, extensive repairs to the tender of 3BR no 1486, restoration of 118-year-old Dübs class A tank loco no 134 (NGR 88) and – at Pietermaritzburg – repairs to coaches 233 and 4781 as well as loco no 2637.

Original article [Railways Africa]