Civil Engineering October 2021 | Vol 29 No 9

Civil Engineering October 2021 47 Q Q A similar Yorkshire tractor (maker’s plate no 2031), but without steering wheels and a different boiler arrange- ment, was dispatched from Leeds on 23 November 1923. This too was rebuilt by Britannia Engineering Works to be fitted with steering bogies at both ends to allow for bi-directional rail use. It became RR1155, shown in Figure 11. Although earmarked for regular operation, this tractor was also used for construction duty from 21 February 1924, about two months before the regular operation started on the first 19 km of the line. During construction, with Works Inspector Duff in charge, repairs to the vehicles were undertaken on site under his supervision; occasionally a fitter was sent from Johannesburg for this purpose. The two tractors worked hard during construction: Both tractors were utilised during con- struction and as the line was naturally in a rough state, the tractors would be subjected to greater strain than when utilised in ordinary working. The wagons were transferred from the Pankop line, but they were in a bad state of repair and 36 new pairs of wheels had to be provided to 59 bogies before they could be utilised. In accordance with the original plan, provision was also made for a rudimentary passenger service. For this, Dutton had a red bus body with seating for 30 passengers fitted to an FWD lorry Figure 10 SAR roadrail tractor RR973 (Credit: THL P1279_10) Figure 11 SAR roadrail tractor RR1155 (Credit: THL P1279_11) Figure 12 The roadrail passenger coach built on a FWD chassis (Credit: THL LS_18_046 / 058)