Eskom is looking to lease five of its heritage steam locomotives as it lacks of financial resources to maintain these historic locomotives on its own. (Eskom/Sourced).

• Eskom is looking to lease five of its heritage steam locomotives that it can’t afford to maintain.
• Successful bidders will need to pay Eskom to lease the locomotives and will need to cover maintenance costs themselves.
• Some of the trains are over a hundred years old.
• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

Eskom has announced its intention to lease out five of its heritage steam trains – some over a century old – citing a lack of financial resources to maintain these historic locomotives on its own.

The utility released an invitation to tender last week, calling for bidders to lease the heritage locomotives from the utility’s fully owned subsidiary, Rotek Industries, for five years. 

Successful bidders will not only need to pay the utility to lease the locomotives, but will also be obligated to perform maintenance on the locomotives on their dime.

Eskom owns six heritage locomotives that shuttled coal from collieries to power stations through the 20th century – the power utility’s golden years. At its height, the utility had 25 steam locomotives, 18 of which were still in use by the mid 1980s.

But, by 1989, steam locomotives had become redundant, and those trains that didn’t find a home at a heritage site by 1989 were scrapped.

La Moye was the utility’s best travelled locomotive, having been deployed for 16 different work assignments during her 65 years of service. La Moye was manufactured in Jersey in 1907. (Eskom/Supplied)

Eskom sent at least six locomotives to be looked after by the now-defunct SA National Rail and Steam Museum (SANRASM) in Krugersdorp.

Two of the engines, Kitty and Hunslet, were still regularly taken out to be shown off on open days into the 1990s, according to a Sunday Times article from 2021.

Manufactured in 1902, Hunslet delivered coal to the Vereeniging power station for over 40 years until it closed in 1967. The locomotive was affectionately known as ‘Mitzi’. (Eskom/Supplied)

But problems at SANRASM, with scrap metal thieves targeting locomotives, meant that Eskom stepped in to take the shunters back in 2010.

“The unfortunate turn of events led to the closure of SANRASM, halting the restoration process and leaving the locomotives in less than ideal condition,” the Eskom media desk told News24.

Henschel, also known as Vierfontein, is one of the newer steam engines, having arrived in South Africa from Germany in 1950. Henschel operated at Komati for over a decade before being taken to Hendrina, where she was used as a backup locomotive. (Eskom/Supplied)

The locomotives were taken to an Eskom Rotek facility in Rosherville, near Germiston, where they have been ever since.

The crown jewel of the locomotives, Kitson – commonly known as Kitty – was built in 1879, and declared a national monument in 1983. It was aesthetically restored by Eskom in 2016, and given a certificate of compliance by the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) as recently as March this year.

Kitson, affectionately known as ‘Kitty’, was built in 1879 for the Natal Government Railways, making her the oldest of the steam trains that remain. The first record of kitty operating was in 1913, when she supplied coal to the Brakpan power station. From 1920 to 1966, Kitty hauled coal to the Rosherville power station until its closure. Kitty was then used to haul light loads in the same area. Kitson is not available to lease from Eskom at this stage. (Eskom/Supplied)

However, the utility did not have the funds to maintain the other locomotives, which is what prompted the decision to lease them out.

“Eskom intends to lease five of the six locomotives due to lack of financial resources to maintain these steam locomotives,” the tender document reads.

Built in 1926, Komati spent the majority of its working life at Eskom’s Witbank power station until it was closed in 1969. From 1974, Komati remained at Witbank, but was leased out to private firms. (Eskom/Supplied).

Stoking the firebox

Successful bidders won’t have an easy ride. 

The winners of the tender will need to organise transport for the locomotives at their own cost and will need to restore the trains to SAHRA standards within the first year of winning the bid, and Eskom will come to inspect the condition of the trains on a biannual basis.

In Avonside’s long period of active service, the locomotive worked at Witbank power station, collected cement for the Rosherville Central Workshops, hauled coal at Grootvlei and Camden. Avonside was manufactured in 1926, meaning its centenary is approaching. (Eskom/Supplied)

There may be more than one winner of the tender, as bidders don’t have to put in an offer for all the trains in one go.

Bidders won’t be able to make any adjustments to the locomotives that interfere with their historical value.

The five locomotives that are available to lease and the dates they were manufactured are:

Mother coddles infant

The image captions in this article used information from an Eskom document that traced the history of its steam locomotives.

The forward of the document was written by the late Dr Ian McRae, who worked at Eskom for 47 years – serving as chief executive for the last nine years of his tenure, which ended in 1994. McRae won numerous awards during his time at Eskom, from private and public sector institutions alike.

The first paragraph of the foreword is copied below: