About this episode

This episode explores the history and engineering of South Africa's railways, intertwined with personal anecdotes and reflections.

Welcome back to the History of South Africa podcast with me your host, Des Latham. This is episode 291, The miracle of South Africa’s railway engineering and a little bit of commentary thrown into the mix. This episode is part history, party histrionic. Play sound - old steam train Yes, it’s the instantly recognizable sound of a steam train which I have traveled in around the world. First trip, pre-school from Nkwalini station to Empangeni where one of the main sugar mills of Zululand could be found. My grandmother Mavis Alport was the chaperon as young Desmond and brother Gary clambered aboard the snorting beast, a visceral experience. Exciting stuff, this steam-train business — except for the small matter of my eyes, which had been staring rapturously out of the window towards the engine, drinking in all that romance of steam trains. What everybody who has actually ridden behind a coal-fired boiler already knows, is that romance travels with shrapnel. Tiny incandescent shards of burnt coal, riding the slipstream like malevolent little embers with a grudge, aimed directly at my cornea. Granny Mavis warned me, of course. But I was a farm boy possessed of that particular strain of…

People in this episode

Host: Desmond Latham

Topics covered

• railway engineering
• history
• steam trains
• transportation
• military strategy

Keywords

• South Africa
• railways
• steam trains
• history
• transportation

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Nkwalini, Empangeni, Zululand

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• Episode 288 - Squabbling Europeans Dissect Africa and the Sultan of Zanzibar gets Shafted · August 16, 2026 · 20 min
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