Outeniqua Transport Museum

From school Baxter went to the General Botha naval training ship in Simonstown and served in the South African Navy in World War II.

After the war he joined Clan Line and was master of one of its ships when he took early retirement in 1967 and returned to South Africa with his English wife, June, and children Nigel and Debbie.

So when the guards van needed lettering he commissioned a competent member of the Poole Model Railway club to do the job.

Having returned to South Africa, Baxter was soon signed up by SAR & H who appointed him master of a dredger in Durban Harbour.

This left him ample time to continue modelling and over the years a wonderful selection of locomotives and rolling stock was built up which ran on a layout in his garage in Westville.

During 1947, the South African Railways Administration placed an order with the Canadian Car & Foundry (CCF) for 113 model IC-37/41 intercity coaches, costing £7000 each.

Intercity coaches were specially designed for long distance journeys, providing maximum travel comfort combined with outstanding mechanical reliability.

Type = PrivateName = TafelbergTotal built = 1Built by = ImportedNumber = 5Date in service = 1903Tare = 75,500lbsDRG No = 1682(Date 1941) Place for 6 people and 1 Attendant Used by the System Manager Cape Town South Africa-renamed in 1973 to Tafelberg.

Also carried the name Sandveld Type = PrivateName = ConstantiaTotal built = 1Built by =Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Company, EnglandNumber = 14 (CGR NO - 521)Date in service = 1896Tare = 63,200lbs This coach was also used by the Minister of Railways.

In the 1970s and 1980s it was used on the Free State Region by the Operating Department Type = PrivateName = MiddleburgTotal built = 1Built by = JJ Beijnes, Haarlem, HollandNumber = 18Date in service = 1897 The original saloon of the late C.A.A Middelberg, Director (1890-1899) of the Nederlandsche Zuid Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatskappij.

Under normal conditions, delivery of such luxury vehicles would be effected in about two and a half years but in this instance the contractors were given nine months to do so!

Hendrie as Chief Mechanical Engineer it was understandable that all these cars should bear a strong resemblance to their NGR predecessors - SAR type A-16.

Notwithstanding their obvious NGR ancestry, these vehicle's could lay claim to being the first dining cars built purely under the auspices of the SAR.

[2] Twin Dining Cars Type = A-22/AA23Total = 13 (Series 1)Number = see table below (Series 1)Built = Pretoria shops (195-200), Durban shops (201-206)(211 Built by Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company, EnglandDate in service = 1924-1980 One coach of the twin unit contained the dining saloon and bar, while the second vehicle provided the pantry, kitchen and staff quarters.

The dining saloon was characterised by seven pairs of carved roof-supporting pillars and archers - a feature which would, in time, represent a Victorian atmosphere much sought-after by rail enthusiasts who thrive on living in the past.

Conventional chairs provided seating for 46 passengers and a small bar was fitted at the outer end of the saloon.

Niet roken gedurende de maal tijden" were painted in gold leaf at regular intervals on the varnished panels above the windows.

Car 588 was obvious choice for this role, but it required certain modifications and refitting to make it suitable for service on the Blue Train.

The interior was altered as follows: the two original glass-paneled dividing arches were removed altogether while a cocktail bar was installed to one side in the middle of the saloon.

This livery replaced the Imperial Brown and was not far removed from the colours in which this car was painted some years earlier when she worked on the Union Limited.

In later years, loose contemporary style chairs and tables were placed in the lounge and the walls were covered with cocoa-coloured laminated plastic sheeting similar in colour and patterns to the material used in Drakensberg coaching stock.

One legacy from her earlier days of glory remains - this the lounge is still illuminated by the original Cornish lights running the length of each side of the saloon.

[2] Type = M-19Total = 4Number = 5092 to 5095Built in = Pretoria ShopsDate in service =1909 Four coaches of this type were placed in service during 1909 and 1910, the first being 5092 on 27 July 1909, having been built in Pretoria works of the then (Central South African Railways), the very progressive civil administration under which the railways of the two republics, Transvaal and Orange Free State were placed after the Boer War, on 1 July 1902.

Although classified as suburban stock they were divided into compartments but had neither upper bunks, wash basins nor fold down tables.