Vale John Gilberthorpe - Kimberley 91 

I lived in South Africa for 11 yrs when steam was king (and went on the footplate of a class 25 in the Karoo) .. What a great video this is.. I had never heard of John Gilberthorpe until by chance and fate my wife and I met him in the UK around the early 2000's ..We became good friends with John and his wife. What lovely people... Johnny was such an interesting uplifting chap , passionate about his interesting career and life, and boy what a life he'd had. Sadly taken from us 2.5 years ago, ..RIP my friend.

The steam railway at its best: big, bold and brutal with courteous and enthusiastic crew happy in their work.

I wish I could ride in a train one more time where I feel safe. I traveled from Mafeking to Kimberley, often in the 70s, Mafeking to Durban a few times in the 70s.

It amazes me watching this video, which reminds me of the UP across Nebraska, to realize this is narrow gauge. Spectacular!

Wholesome stuff. And there was lots of black smoke!!

An old friend of mine Peter Sidebottom was a part owner along with the 2 on the footplate of this NB locomotive. I was fortunate to ride behind 3482 on the Trans Oranje about the same time as this video was made.

Thanks for posting this great footage 👍 - MEMORIES

What an appropriate name for that enchanting machine. I could watch that all day. They certainly have a class 1 railroad there and that crew sure loved what they were doing.

Wonderfull Video, thank's a lot.

Goeie kamerawerk! Ek wens mens kan dit weer vandag eerstehands ervaar.

Good old days in SA.....

Pragtige kwaliteit. Verstommend oor die 'modder water' wat vir verkoeling gebruik is.

Man this video is fantastic, i just read the article that Richard wrote about him and this engine, i think thats what i call determination, but no spoilers if you want to read the article here it is www.sandstone-estates.com/images/stories/sandstone/Railway_Heritage/20100513b/The_story_of_Class_25NC_3488_-_Formatted.pdf well worth a read, I really hope i can have a regular engine and fireman when i become driver at Puffing Billy, My engine will definetaly be 6A Thank you for uploading Cheers Lucas

Why not move to the end of the train? I don't know the true awesomeness of this steam locomotive.

Wat happened to the 15 F that was taken down by rail and shipped to Glasgow any feed back John

Nice video but I'm not a fan of swart rook. Wasted energy.

Real enchantress

Great video, wish I had seen this action myself. Have traveled this line but reduced to single track and stations derelict

Wonderlik

Baie mooi.

Miss my fireing days

The water they're taking on at 0:38 looks like sludge