Re: Pacing one

Yep these have been compared to 2 US engines. NYC Niagara, and to a lessor degree a UP 4-8-4. They were mostly built in 1953, with some built by North British and the others by Henschel. I think South Africa actually built 100 2-8-4's after 1953, but not sure about the year. You see South African Steam, especially these 4-8-4's on the mainline, and you forget its 3 foot 6 inches. A trains magazine article once did a "What If" sorta thing scaling these engines to standard gauge and they would have been bigger than most of our engines. Thees engines have 60 inch drivers. Sadly a bunch of them were scrapped in 2007, only 11 years ago. Luckily several have survived and once in awhile get to run on excursions. Overall SAR is a shadow of its former self. It was great while it lasted and for someone like me who only saw the big show in the US as a kid, it gave me a chance to experience and photograph 30 days of steam in regular service. A few years we released a show "South African Steam 1980". With a really nice film transfer(Off Site), this stuff shot on film looked better than stuff I shot on video in 1984. This 1980 material is some of the first sound footage of S.Africa. Here is a preview clip. Nice stuff.