Locomotives of the South African Railways. A Concise Guide

(Cape Town: Struik, 1985) 0869772112. 12mo; laminated pictorial boards; pp. 168, incl. index; liberally illustrated with photographs in monochrome and full colour. Near-fine condition. "At long last the railway enthusiast has access to all the information he ever dreamed of finding. Here, for the first time within one book are all the classes of locomotives that ever operated on the South African Railways - steam, electric, diesel - even odds and sods - interestingly described and illustrated as well. A good deal of the information has been gleaned either from archives or from railway lovers here and overseas, some of it never before published. The authors, themselves enthusiasts for as long as they can remember, were inspired to produce the book after years of frustrating attempts to find 'missing' engines, even though Leigh Paxton had become an authority on 'steam' in the process. Each reference contains information on the locomotive's maker, designer, year of purchase, where it spent its working life and its eventual fate. Included, too, are narrow gauge and ex-German South West African engines, preserved as well as in-service, proposed designs but never built and the reasons why, even locomotive builders' plates and colour schemes." .