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Ennersdale-Bergville Branch LineThis branch is 68km in length although trains operate from
Estcourt, a total distance of 81km. The branch was first
planned to terminate in Winterton, being open part of the
way to
Loskop in 1906 and reaching Winterton the following year.
It was extended to Bergville in 1914. A typical low
traffic agricultural branch line, the main traffic
consisted of grain, maize, livestock and forage, wool and
wattle bark.
The branch has a 1 in 50 ruling gradient, and the sharpest
curve is 152 metres. The maximum permissible wagon
axle-load is 16 tons. Normal trains operate with one or
two
Class 35 diesel locomotives which haul a load of 600 or
1,200 tons respectively.
During 1925, some 30,000 tons was hauled while in 1928
this was about 41,000 tons.While general freight traffic
has declined in recent
years – a typical state of affairs for rail in South
Africa - forestry traffic has grown. Grain traffic, which
was formerly the mainstay, has declined due to road
competition. Maize, ground nuts and wheat constituted over
70% of traffic and timber only 10% in
1999/2000. Current traffic for 2005/2006
consisted of
less than 17,000 tons of maize, while timber was 45,000
tons.
Bergville Station
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For Details of
Volumes and Commodities Received
and Forwarded [Table 6]CLICK HERE
Bergville grain silo
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