1.
Cape Government Railways
–
The Cape Government Railways was the government-owned railway operator in the Cape Colony from 1874 until the creation of the South African Railways in 1910. The first railways at the Cape were privately owned, the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company started construction from Cape Town in 1859, reaching Eerste River by 1862 and Wellington by 1863. Meanwhile, by 1864 the Wynberg Railway Company had connected Cape Town, for the moment, railway development at the Cape did not continue eastwards beyond Wellington because of the barrier presented by the mountains of the Cape Fold Belt. The discovery of diamonds, and the consequent rush to Kimberley that started in 1871, in his very first speech to the Cape Parliament he announced the purchase of all existing lines and the founding of the Cape Government Railways. The announced expansion was to see the construction of a network over ten times more extensive than the length of railway that existed in the whole of southern Africa at the time. This gauge went on to become the standard for all railways in southern, the government planned for lines to strike northwards, from the three ports of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London, towards Kimberley and the developing hinterland. These three lines became known as the Cape Western, Cape Midland and Cape Eastern lines respectively, the Cape Western Line was charted by the Prime Minister himself. The Cape Midland Line only began when the Cape Government took over the rudimentary and incomplete line of the Port Elizabeth, however building accelerated massively over the next few years, with twin lines reaching northwards to Graaff-Reinet, and eastwards to Grahamstown. These connected with the Cape Western Line at De Aar and thus to Kimberley, the Cape Eastern Line was built partially to serve the frontier, and its network of military forts. The port of East London was likewise chosen partly for strategic reasons, the line was begun in 1873, when the Prime Minister turning the first spades for both the East London harbour and the Eastern Railway Line on 20 August 1873. Though frontier wars disrupted construction from time to time, the line reached Queenstown in 1880, from an initial total of 92 kilometres in 1872, the Cape was now criss-crossed with over 2,000 kilometres of railway. In 1886 gold was discovered in the South African Republic, setting off the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and this line reached Bloemfontein in 1890, and the first trains operated from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 1892. In 1897 the OFS government took control of its portion of the line. The Cape railway network played a significant role in supporting and supplying the British forces during the Second Boer War, Cape Gauge Rail transport in South Africa Kleingeld, Christo. Locomotives of the South African Railways, ISBN 0-86977-211-2 Burman, Jose, Early Railways at the Cape, Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, ISBN 0-7981-1760-5
2.
North British Locomotive Company
–
Its main factories were located at the neighbouring Atlas and Hyde Park Works in central Springburn, as well as the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. The two other Railway works in Springburn were St. Rollox railway works, owned by the Caledonian Railway and Cowlairs railway works, latterly both works were operated by British Rail Engineering Limited after rail nationalisation in 1948. In 1918 NBL produced the first prototype of the Anglo-American Mark VIII battlefield tank for the Allied armies, NBL built steam locomotives for countries all over the world. This included North America, South America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Asia, the New South Wales Government Railways purchased numerous North British locomotives, as did the Victorian Railways as late as 1951. The Western Australian Government Railways also purchased many North British Locomotives, between 1903 and 1959 NB supplied many locomotives of various classes to Egyptian State Railways. They included 40 of the 545 class 2-6-0 in 1928, between 1921 and 1925, NBL supplied New Zealand Government Railways with 85 NZR AB class locomotives. The whole fleet of AB class engines numbered 143, as built, in 1935 NB supplied six Palestine Railways P class 4-6-0 locomotives to haul main line trains between Haifa and the Suez Canal. In 1939 NB supplied 40 4-8-2 locomotives to the New Zealand Railways Department, in 1951 NB supplied another 16 JA class, though these did not have the American-style streamlining of the J class. Together with the NB predecessor firms, North British supplied about a quarter of the locomotives used by the NZR. In 1949 South African Railways bought more than 100 2-8-4 locomotives from NBL, additionally South Africa also purchased some of its Class 25, 4-8-4 engines from the company between 1953–55. These successful engines with various in-service modifications survived until the end of steam in South Africa in 1992, NB also introduced the Modified Fairlie locomotive in 1924. In total South Africa purchased over 2,000 locomotives from the North British Locomotive Company. As of January 2010, Umgeni Steam Railway operates SAR Class 3BR engine 1486 and she hauls vintage sightseeing trains some coaches of which date back to 1908. In 1953, RENFE in Spain acquired 25 2-8-2 locomotives from the North British Locomotive Company, one example, 141F2111 is preserved in working order. After 1923, customers included the Great Western Railway, London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London and North Eastern Railway, Northern Counties Committee, Southern Railway, War Department. In 1922 the New Zealand Railways Department ordered a batch of its very successful AB class Pacifics from NBL, to be built, the trio 22878,22879 and 22880 were built amidst this batch. 22878 and 22879 were loaded aboard SS Wiltshire and she sailed for Auckland, New Zealand, remnants of both locomotives, and the Wiltshire can be seen on the sea floor. 22880 was dispatched on a subsequent sailing and was put into service in New Zealand as AB class number 745 and this locomotive was in service for more than 30 years but then hit a washout near Hawera
3.
4-8-0
–
In North America and in some other countries the type was usually known as the Mastodon and sometimes as the Twelve-wheeler. It appears to have delivered in a cab-forward type of configuration that was modified to a Camel configuration in 1864. On a Camel locomotive the cab was mounted atop the boiler, unlike the later Camelback locomotive whose cab straddled the boiler and that first appeared around 1877. The name Mastodon for the 4-8-0 wheel arrangement was derived from the name of the first 4-8-0 locomotive of the Central Pacific Railroad in the United States. 229, which was designed and built in 1882 by the master mechanic, Andrew Jackson Stevens. The 4-8-0 wheel arrangement saw service in Australia from 1900, in Tasmania, the privately owned Emu Bay Railway ordered four 4-8-0 tender locomotives for their 3 ft 6 in gauge system. In 1911, another locomotive was delivered from the North British Locomotive Company, two of these locomotives are preserved. A new class of 4-8-0 locomotive, the T class, designed in South Australia for use on the narrow gauge 3 ft 6 in gauge system of the South Australian Railways, was introduced in 1903. It proved to be a workhorse and by 1917 there were 78 locomotives in the class. These were converted back to narrow gauge in 1949, during the Second World War, the Commonwealth Railways obtained four of these South Australian narrow gauge locomotives on loan. Several of these locomotives are preserved, the Queensland Government Railways introduced its C16 class of 4-8-0 locomotives in 1903, built at its Ipswich workshops. Altogether 152 of these locomotives were in service by 1917, during the Second World War, the Commonwealth Government also acquired eleven C16 class locomotives on loan. Only one example of class was preserved. The QGR’s superheated C17 class entered service from 1920, the Commonwealth Railways also ordered 22 locomotives of the same design for their narrow gauge rail system, designated the NM class. In total, the C17 class eventually numbered 227 locomotives, of twenty are preserved. In 1922, the QGR ordered 22 new 4-8-0 locomotives and designated them the C19 class and they were the largest conventional type locomotives to operate on the QGR. In Austria, the 4-8-0 wheel arrangement was used for express locomotives, the Class 570 locomotive was introduced in 1915 and the class 113 locomotive of the Austrian Federal Railways was introduced in 1923. From 1938, both classes were re-designated as Class 33 on the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the line through Bechuanaland Protectorate was still under construction and was operated by the CGR on behalf of the BR at the time
4.
Track gauge
–
In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
5.
3 ft 6 in gauge railways
–
Railways with a track gauge of 3 ft 6 in/1,067 mm were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. From the mid-nineteenth century, the 3 ft 6 in gauge became widespread in the British Empire, there are approximately 112,000 kilometres of 1,067 mm gauge track in the world. 1795 One of the first railways to use 3 ft 6 in gauge was the Little Eaton Gangway in England, other 3 ft 6 in gauge wagonways in England and Wales were also built in the early nineteenth century. 1862 In 1862 the Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl constructed the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Norway,1865 In 1865 the Queensland Railways were constructed. Its 3 ft 6 in gauge was promoted by the Irish engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon,1868 In 1868 Charles Fox asks civil engineer Edmund Wragge to survey a 3 ft 6 in railway in Costa Rica. 1871 In 1871 the Canadian Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway,1872 In January 1872 Robert Fairlie advocated the use of 3 ft 6 in gauge in his book Railways Or No Railways, Narrow Gauge, Economy with Efficiency v. Broad Gauge, Costliness with Extravagance. 1872 also saw the opening of the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway in Japan,1873 On 1 January 1873, the first 3 ft 6 in gauge railway was opened in New Zealand, constructed by the British firm John Brogden and Sons. Earlier built 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in and broad gauge railways were converted to the narrower gauge. Also in 1873 the Cape Colony adopted the 3 ft 6 in gauge, after conducting several studies in southern Europe, the Molteno Government selected the gauge as being the most economically suited for traversing steep mountain ranges. Beginning in 1873, under supervision of Railway engineer of the Colony William Brounger, the Cape Government Railways rapidly expanded and the gauge became the standard for southern Africa. 1876 Natal also converted its short 10 kilometres long Durban network from 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in broad gauge prior to commencing with construction of a network across the colony in 1876. Other new railways in Southern Africa, notably Mozambique, Bechuanaland, after 1876 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century numerous 3 ft 6 in gauge tram systems were built in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge. An alternate name for this gauge, Cape gauge, is named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, the term Cape Gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as 1065 mm instead of 1067 mm, the gauge is sometimes referred to as CAP gauge, after C. A. The gauge name Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand, in Australia the imperial term 3 foot 6 inch is used. In some Australian publications the term medium gauge is also used, in Japan 1,067 mm gauge is referred to as kyōki, which directly translates as narrow gauge. It is defined in metric units, Cape Government Railways Heritage railway List of track gauges Norwegian gauge controversy South African Trains – A Pictorial Encyclopaedia Why Did Japan Choose the 36 Narrow Gauge
6.
Coal
–
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon, along with quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen. A fossil fuel, coal forms when plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, after that bituminous coal. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over time, throughout history, coal has been used as an energy resource, primarily burned for the production of electricity and heat, and is also used for industrial purposes, such as refining metals. Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, the extraction of coal, its use in energy production and its byproducts are all associated with environmental and health effects including climate change. Coal is extracted from the ground by coal mining, since 1983, the worlds top coal producer has been China. In 2015 China produced 3,747 million tonnes of coal –47. 7% of 7,861 million tonnes world coal production, in 2015 other large producers were United States, India, European Union and Australia. The word originally took the col in Old English, from Proto-Germanic *kula. In Old Turkic languages, kül is ash, cinders, öčür is quench, the compound charcoal in Turkic is öčür kül, literally quenched ashes, cinders, coals with elided anlaut ö- and inflection affixes -ülmüş. At various times in the geologic past, the Earth had dense forests in low-lying wetland areas, due to natural processes such as flooding, these forests were buried underneath soil. As more and more soil deposited over them, they were compressed, the temperature also rose as they sank deeper and deeper. As the process continued the plant matter was protected from biodegradation and oxidation and this trapped the carbon in immense peat bogs that were eventually covered and deeply buried by sediments. Under high pressure and high temperature, dead vegetation was slowly converted to coal, as coal contains mainly carbon, the conversion of dead vegetation into coal is called carbonization. The wide, shallow seas of the Carboniferous Period provided ideal conditions for coal formation, the exception is the coal gap in the Permian–Triassic extinction event, where coal is rare. Coal is known from Precambrian strata, which predate land plants — this coal is presumed to have originated from residues of algae, in its dehydrated form, peat is a highly effective absorbent for fuel and oil spills on land and water. It is also used as a conditioner for soil to make it able to retain. Lignite, or brown coal, is the lowest rank of coal, jet, a compact form of lignite, is sometimes polished and has been used as an ornamental stone since the Upper Palaeolithic
7.
Safety valve
–
A safety valve is a valve that acts as a fail-safe in a thermal-hydraulics plant. Pilot-operated relief valves are a type of pressure safety valve. Safety valves were first developed for use on steam boilers during the Industrial Revolution, early boilers operating without them were prone to explosion. Vacuum safety valves are used to prevent a tank from collapsing while it is being emptied, when sizing a vacuum safety valve, the calculation method is not defined in any norm, particularly in the hot CIP / cold water scenario, but some manufacturers have developed sizing simulations. The earliest and simplest safety valve was used on a 1679 steam digester and utilized a weight to retain the steam pressure, however, on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the safety valve tended to go off when the engine hit a bump in the track. A valve less sensitive to sudden accelerations used a spring to contain the steam pressure and this dangerous practice was sometimes used to marginally increase the performance of a steam engine. In 1856, John Ramsbottom invented a tamper-proof spring safety valve that became universal on railways, Safety valves also evolved to protect equipment such as pressure vessels and heat exchangers. The term safety valve should be limited to compressible fluid applications, the two general types of protection encountered in industry are thermal protection and flow protection. Flow protection is characterized by safety valves that are larger than those mounted for thermal protection. They are generally sized for use in situations where significant quantities of gas or high volumes of liquid must be discharged in order to protect the integrity of the vessel or pipeline. This protection can alternatively be achieved by installing a high integrity pressure protection system, Relief valve, an automatic system that is actuated by the static pressure in a liquid-filled vessel. It specifically opens proportionally with increasing pressure, Safety valve, an automatic system that relieves the static pressure on a gas. It usually opens completely, accompanied by a popping sound, Safety relief valve, an automatic system that relieves by static pressure on both gas and liquid. Pilot-operated safety relief valve, a system that relieves on remote command from a pilot. Low pressure safety valve, a system that relieves static pressure on a gas. Used when the difference between the pressure and the ambient atmospheric pressure is small. Vacuum pressure safety valve, a system that relieves static pressure on a gas. Used when the difference between the vessel pressure and the ambient pressure is small, negative and near to atmospheric pressure
8.
Valve gear
–
It can also serve as a reversing gear. It is sometimes referred to as the motion, in the simple case, this can be a relatively simple task as in the internal combustion engine in which the valves always open and close at the same points. A further benefit may be obtained by admitting the steam to the cylinder slightly before front or back dead centre and this advanced admission assists in cushioning the inertia of the motion at high speed. Instead, a system of eccentrics, cranks and levers is used to control a D slide valve or piston valve from the motion. Generally, two simple harmonic motions with different fixed phase angles are added in varying proportions to provide a motion that is variable in phase. A variety of mechanisms have been devised over the years. Both slide and piston valves have the limitation that intake and exhaust events are fixed in relation to each other, lap is provided on steam edges of the valve, so that although the valve stroke reduces as cutoff is advanced, the valve is always fully opened to exhaust. However, as cutoff is shortened, the exhaust events also advance, the exhaust release point occurs earlier in the power stroke and compression earlier in the exhaust stroke. Early release wastes some energy in the steam, and early closure also wastes energy in compressing an otherwise unnecessarily large quantity of steam and these inefficiencies drove the widespread experimentation in poppet valve gears for locomotives. Intake and exhaust poppet valves could be moved and controlled independently of each other, a very late British design, the SR Leader class, used sleeve valves adapted from internal combustion engines, but this class was not a success. In stationary steam engines, traction engines and marine engine practice, in stationary engines trip valves were also extensively used. Valve gear was a field of invention, with probably several hundred variations devised over the years. However, only a number of these saw any widespread use. They can be divided into those that drove the standard reciprocating valves, those used with poppet valves, slip-eccentric - This gear is now confined to model steam engines, and low power hobby applications such as steam launch engines, ranging to a few horsepower. The eccentric is loose on the crankshaft but there are stops to limit its rotation relative to the crankshaft, the engine is pushed forwards to put the eccentric in the forward gear position and backwards to put it in the backward gear position. There is no control of cutoff. These included the Teutonic, Greater Britain and John Hick classes, gab or hook gear - used on earliest locomotives. Allowed reversing but no control of cutoff, one component of the motion comes from a crank or eccentric
9.
Railway coupling
–
A coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the gauge, since flexibility. The equipment that connects the couplings to the stock is known as the draft gear. The different types of coupling do not always have formal or official names and these couplings followed earlier tramway practice but were made more regular. The vehicles are coupled by hand using a hook and links with a turnbuckle that draws the vehicles together, in Britain, this is called a screw coupling. Vehicles have buffers, one at each corner on the ends and this arrangement limits the slack in trains and lessens shocks. The earliest buffers were fixed extensions of the frames. This coupling is still the standard in European countries, the link-and-pin coupling was the original style of coupling used on North American railways. After most railroads converted to semi-automatic Janney couplers, the link-and-pin survived on forestry railways, while simple in principle, the system suffered from a lack of standardisation regarding size and height of the links, and the size and height of the pockets. The link-and-pin coupler consisted of a body that received an oblong link. During coupling, a worker had to stand between the cars as they came together and guide the link into the coupler pocket. Once the cars were joined, the employee inserted a pin into a hole a few inches from the end of the tube to hold the link in place. This procedure was exceptionally dangerous and many brakemen lost fingers or entire hands when they did not get out of the way of the coupler pockets in time. Many more were killed as a result of being crushed between cars or dragged under cars that were coupled too quickly, brakemen were issued with heavy clubs that could be used to hold the link in position, but many brakemen would not use the club, and risked injury. The link-and-pin coupler proved unsatisfactory because, It made a connection between the cars, with too much slack action. There was no design, and train crews often spent hours trying to match pins. Crew members had to go between moving cars during coupling, and were injured and sometimes killed. The links and pins were often pilfered due to their value as scrap metal, john H. White suggests that the railroads considered this to be more important than the safety issue at the time
10.
Janney coupler
–
The Janney Coupler is a semi-automatic railway coupler. The earliest commercially successful version of the coupler, it was patented by Eli H. Janney in 1873. The AAR/APTA Type E, Type F, and Type H tightlock couplers are all compatible knuckle couplers, prior to the formation of the AAR these were known as MCB Couplers. After 1910 the MCB reconstituted itself into the AAR, in 1913 the American Steel Foundries had developed the new Type D coupler that was accepted as the standard coupler for the United States, and no new equipment could be built using any other coupler. It was and is still the most used knuckle coupler in the world, the modern Alliance coupler still uses the modern AAR-10 and/or -10A contour, as well as others, but cannot be used in the US on an interchanging railway. Brand names of the now standard AAR Type E, F and Tightlock couplers are ASF, Buckeye, the Interlocking contour of knuckle couplers was the first aspect to be standardized. In about 1910 the producers were all using the then standardized MCB-10 contour, in the 1930s the AAR Type D was improved and became the Type E, the contour, however, stayed the same. A few years later the 10 contour was modified into an optional standard called the 10A contour. The most modern contour, for a plain Type E knuckle coupler, is still the AAR-10 and -10A, the same MCB-10 contour has been an approved standard for interchange service for over 100 years, with only the slightest dimensional changes. The Type H Tightlock couplers, which are used on passenger-carrying rolling stock, the purpose of couplers is to join rail cars or locomotives to each other so they all are securely linked together. Major Eli Janney, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, Janney couplers are usually attached to draw gear, but sometimes, in the case of locomotives, the Type E is bolted directly on the headstock. The Janney coupler is used in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Chile, Brazil, China and elsewhere. Among its features, Maximum tonnage as high as 32,000 metric tons such as on the Fortescue Railway, minimum ultimate tensile strength, Grade E knuckles,650,000 pounds-force Grade C or Grade E knuckles are required for interchange service. Such as Victorian narrow gauge lines, Janney couplers are always right-handed, i. e. their shape resembles the human right hand with fingers curled, as viewed from above. Required coupler heights, in North AmericaEmpty cars,33.5 inches ± 1-inch Loaded cars,32.5 inches in ± 1-inch Janney couplers are uncoupled by lifting the pin with a lever at the corner of the car. This pin is locked when the coupler is under tension, so the usual uncoupling steps are to compress the coupling with a locomotive, lift and hold up the pin, side operated variants are called the Sharon or Buckeye coupler. Most Janney couplers are now bottom operated, trains fitted with Janney couplers can accommodate heavier loads than any other type of coupler. Thus, the heaviest coal trains in New Zealand use Janney couplings, also, long-distance freight trains in North America are commonly more than 1-mile long, whereas this is not seen in Europe, where most freight trains still use English buffers and chain couplers
11.
Worcester, Western Cape
–
Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 kilometres north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg, the town also serves as the hub of the Western Capes interior commercial, distribution and retail activity with a shopping mall, well developed central business district and infrastructure. Worcester is located at an elevation of 220 metres and can be reached by road either travelling on the N1 highway through the Huguenot Tunnel or by driving through spectacular Mountain passes. Geographically, the district is delimited mainly by mountains, to the southwest lies the massive Stettyns mountain range with an annual rainfall in excess of 2000 mm, to the west lie the Du Toitskloof mountains and northwest lies the Slanghoek, Little Drakenstein, Elandskloof and Lemiet mountain ranges. To the north rises the Hex River Mountains which include the peaks of Chavonness, Brandwacht. Northeast of the town the colourful Keerom Mountain runs into the Langeberg range, Worcester and its surroundings form part of the Breede River catchment area, which is fed by a number of smaller rivers supplemented by the run-off from the winter snows in the mountains. The district also includes the Hex River Valley, from here the road gave access in the south-east to the original great rift valley of Africa as Jan Smuts once described the Breede River Valley. Worcester district is as old as hunting grounds and cattle runs go in the Cape, before 1700, the area now known as the Breede River Valley was a hunters paradise, teeming with game and wild birds. The main source of income, especially the sale of elephant tusks came from hunting licenses issued by the Dutch East India Company, by 1709 European farmers were given grazing rights in the area over de Breede Rivier. In 1714 the first quitrent farms were released, settlement in most cases was not on a permanent basis and Hartebees huisies were erected. When European settlers first arrived at the later Cape Colony, the Breede River Valley was inhabited by San hunter/gatherers, the Gainou, Korannas and Afrkaner tribes traded livestock with the settlers. With the European settlers came the smallpox virus, that would turn into an epidemic for the Khoi people, European settlement took place at Waay Hoek, Bossiesveld, Kleinbosch, Slanghoek, Brandvalley, Vendutiekraal, Rooye Wal and Doornrivier. The first farms in the Hex River Valley were Kloppersbosch and De Buffelskraal, with the European settlers came their slaves and eventually so-called free Khoi, who would settle on the farms as labourers. Fischer duly reported that the two quitrent farms, De Lange Rug and Roodedraai, be bought for this purpose. On 9 January 1819 the Colonial surveyors, Tulleken and Hertzog cartographed the two farms and on 4 November, the first official advertisement for the sale of plots was issued. On 28 February 1820, the date of the establishment of Worcester,89 of the proclaimed 144 plots were sold. Fischer also reported that this becomes more important when the new road over the Franschhoek Mountains will be completed. The African Rifles Regiment started construction of road in 1819
_ex_NCCR_10.jpg)
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}