EARLY RAILWAYS AT THE CAPE. Jose Burman

1984. Hard cover. 162 pages. Very good condition: tightly bound, neat and clean. Under 1kg.

Scarcely 150 years ago this country was still being explored by ox-wagons and post carts, coaches and horse-drawn carriages, and it was not until 1860, with the advent of the railways, that the country was finally tamed. The railways played a vital role in establishing and maintaining a link with the interior - an interior previously isolated by near-impassable mountain ranges and plains. It was a link that proved indispensable for the prosperity of the entire country.

Jose Burman vividly recalls the saga of the Cape Government Railways, from its humble beginnings in 1860 with Wellington as its first goal, to 1910 with Union, when the system was taken over by the South African Railways. Yet this is more than the story of the railways: interwoven are the political issues, economic considerations, the surge for power, and most important of all, the history of the men behind their big, lumbering machines. Lavishly illustrated, Early railways at the Cape will delight all steam locomotive enthusiasts.