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Full name: Thomas William Fannin Lifespan:  c.1830 Ireland - 1865 Heidelberg (died aged 36) Occupation: Land surveyor Thomas Fannin was a British settler in Natal who worked as a government land surveyor and is best remembered for laying out the town of Heidelberg (Transvaal) shortly before his death. He was the eldest son of Thomas Fannin, Esq. (c. 1793-1852), who arrived in Natal from the Cape in 1847 and purchased a large farm called "Buffels" (or similar) in the Dargle area near Pietermaritzburg. His brother  John Eustace Fannin became a government surveyor. Fannin was active as a surveyor in Natal and ventured into the northern Transvaal for work. In the early 1860s, while returning from surveying expeditions further north (where he had contracted malaria), he passed through the area near the farm Langlaagte on the Blesbokspruit. Heinrich Ueckermann, who had purchased land there and wanted to establish a formal town, contracted Fannin to survey and lay out the township...

Lifespan:  1856 SA Scotland - 1938 Heidelberg Occupation: Medical doctor Family: He married Catherine Elizabeth "Cassie" Marrable (1861 Scotland - 1930 Heidelberg). They had three children. Cassie and James O'Reilly. Source: Von Geusau Album via The Citizen. Biography The O'Reilleys moved from Scotland to Heidelberg in the 1880s.³ O'Reilly served as district surgeon in Heidelberg, with records noting him in the post as early as 1888 (he held it for at least 11 years before the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899). During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), O'Reilly and his wife served on an ambulance train to Elandslaagte after consulting the Red Cross in Pretoria. Cassie O'Reilly worked as an (unqualified) nurse, including in the context of concentration camps or related relief efforts. She was voted onto the hospital committee and given the nursing portfolio. Due to local Afrikaner politics, Cassie was forced to resign from the hospital committee...

Full name:  Heinrich Julius Friedrich Christiaan Ernest Ueckermann Lifespan:  1827 Germany - July 1883 Heidelberg (Gauteng) Occupation: Trader, cooper, politician Wife: Married Elizabeth Mason (1831 England - 1910 Pretoria) in 1850 in Pietermaritzburg. They had 13 children. Heinrich Ueckermann Timeline Biography Ueckermann arrived in South Africa in 1849. He disembarked in Durban and set up business in Pietermaritzburg , where he initially worked as a cooper and later ran a store. After the birth of their first son (1852), the family began extensive ox-wagon treks into the interior (as far as the Soutpansberg), during which at least one daughter was born (1854). The inland did not meet their expectations, so they returned to Pietermaritzburg. After the birth of their second son (in 1856) , they moved inland again.³ Ueckermann met Jacob Maré on the farm Eendracht (on the northern slope of the Suikerbosrand). While staying there, he walked the Suikerbosrand hills hun...

Built: 1946-1965 Architect: Kennedy, Furner, Irvine-Smith & Joubert Aerial photo with legend. (Source: SARN, 1959) Earlier history Park Station (First) Park Station (Second) Park Station Third " Prior to 1946 alternative station sites were investigated by both local and overseas experts but it was clear that by far the most satisfactory solution was to take over the old Wanderers Ground situated immediately north of the station and to build facilities on a bold scale over the increased area thus made available. "³ By the late 1940s Johannesburg’s railway station had already been rebuilt twice on the exact same site in less than seventy years.Work had begun in 1946 with the goal of turning Park Station into one of the most modern terminals in the world. When finished, the complex would rival New York’s Grand Central in scale. By 1959 it was handling 450 passenger trains, 178 goods trains and roughly 180,000 travellers per day. The final construction cost was expected to ...

Built: 1961-1963 (planned in 1959-1960) Architect: Kennedy, Furner, Irvine-Smith & Joubert Location: Leyds St, Johannesburg Status: Extant Rotunda and Admin Building, c.1976. (Source: Frans Erasmus II on FB) The building was SAA’s Johannesburg city terminal for check-in, reservations, waiting, and transfers to Jan Smuts Airport (now OR Tambo). It was an integrated transport hub - passengers could move seamlessly between rail concourses, the Rotunda, buses, taxis, and parking. The circular layout made one-way passenger flow very efficient. It accommodated all the passenger facilities required in a city terminal - enquiry office, reservations, tourist office, luggage areas, waiting rooms, tea room, shops, bookstall - built next to the taller office block on the new deck slab between Rissik and Harrison Streets / Leyds Street, west of the Rissik Bridge. It formed a striking architectural trio with the main station concourses and the adjacent tall SAA Administration Headquarters b...

Aka: Old Park Station Built: 1896-1897 Architect:  Jacob Klinkhamer Contractor: A. van der Ruit Photo c.1906. (Source: Praagh) Unidentified photographer, early 1900s. Timeline Notes Rand Tram (see here) The Rand Tram, also known as the Rand railway line, was the first railway in the Transvaal Republic (now part of South Africa) and played a pivotal role in Johannesburg's explosive growth during the Witwatersrand gold rush. Following the discovery of gold in 1886, the mining boom created an urgent need for reliable coal supplies to power the mines, as ox-wagon transport proved far too slow and expensive. In 1888, the ZAR Volksraad granted a concession to the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM), a Dutch-backed firm, to build a light steam-powered line primarily to haul coal from the Boksburg collieries westward to Johannesburg. Despite its "tram" nickname - reflecting its initial modest scale and tram-like character - it was a proper Cape-gauge (1,067 mm) ra...

Date: 1889-1890 The Rand Tram, also known as the Rand railway line, was the first railway in the Transvaal Republic (now part of South Africa) and played a pivotal role in Johannesburg's explosive growth during the Witwatersrand gold rush. Following the discovery of gold in 1886, the mining boom created an urgent need for reliable coal supplies to power the mines, as ox-wagon transport proved far too slow and expensive. In 1888, the ZAR Volksraad granted a concession to the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM), a Dutch-backed firm, to build a light steam-powered line primarily to haul coal from the Boksburg collieries westward to Johannesburg. Despite its "tram" nickname - reflecting its initial modest scale and tram-like character - it was a proper Cape-gauge (1,067 mm) railway using lightweight rails and small locomotives. Construction began in January 1889, and the initial 27 km section from Boksburg to Braamfontein (Johannesburg) opened on 17 March 1890,...

Aka:  Rissik Street Bridge Built: 1952 Engineer: South African Railways & Harbours The stairs in the foreground provide pedestrian access to the western entrance to the station (SARN, 1959) "...a gracefully curved viaduct that swept over the main station parking deck, and constituted a major design component in the overall complex." (Chipkin, 1993) Locality map Sources South African Railway News. May 1959. Johannesburg Style. 1993. Chipkin, C.

Aka: Protea Court Built: 1935 Architect: Kallenbach, Kennedy & Furner Location:  48-50 Wanderers St, Johannesburg Photo c.1959: "Gardens laid out by the S.A. Railways Horticultural Department." Google Street View of entrance, 2017. Corner window. (Photo: Agent Gedeon Mwanza) Entrance to an apartment. (Photo: Agent Gedeon Mwanza) Lobby. (Photo: Agent Gedeon Mwanza) Locality map Google Street View, 2025 Sources South African Railway News. MArch 1959. The Heritage Register

Aka: Claridges Apartments Built: pre-1958  Architect: Unknown Location: Clarence St, Ramsgate / Margate, KZN Status: Extant Advertisement in the South African Railway News, Dec 1958. Locality map Google Street View, 2010. Sources South African Railway News. Dec 1958.

Full name:  Arthur Higdon Tatlow Lifespan:  c.1870 England - 1934 Cape Town Spouse: Married Emily Warburton (1868 England - ?) in 1898. Occupation: Journalist, railway clerk A.H. Tatlow (unidentified photographer) Born in England, Tatlow worked as a railway clerk and journalist - a 1901 census shows him in Scotland working in that dual role. He moved to South Africa in the early 1900s (he was already active in Natal railways by 1905). He was the editor of the Natal Government Railways (NGR) Magazine from 1905-1907 - from its very first issue. He personally handled all 18 monthly editions, proposed the whole concept, and got it approved by the NGR General Manager. In the final NGR issue he wrote a proud “literary parent” farewell. Tatlow trout fishing.³ Tatlow became editor (then controlling editor) of the amalgamated South African Railway Magazine from 1907-1910, after the railways started uniting. When the Union of South Africa formed and the railways were centralised ...

Artist working on a travel poster. The Publicity Department was founded in 1910 under A.H. Tatlow . By the 1950s it had offices in London and New York, produced colour postcards, calendars, maps, and even sponsored documentary films. A.H. Tatlow (unidentified photographer) In December 1958, the South African Railway News celebrated a spectacular year for the Publicity and Travel Department of the South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H). Gross earnings hit a new record: £2,766,239 - up £142,296 from the previous year. The star performer? The Travel Bureaux, which alone brought in £1,846,722 (the highest figure in their history). The department’s mission was simple but ambitious: sell South Africa to the world through rail, road, air, and sheer glamour. The Travel Bureaux - The Largest Travel Organisation in Southern Africa With branches across the Union, South-West Africa, Lourenço Marques, Bulawayo, London, and New York, they handled: Rail, road, sea, and air reservations (incl...

Completed: 1960 Engineer: SA Railways & Harbours Top of lighthouse. (Source: City of Cape Town) Photo after a storm in July 2018. (Source: Le Roux, M. et al) (Photo: Bruce Sutherland, CCT) Photo, 2012. (Source: A3alb on Wikimedia Commons) "On 16 January 1647, a fleet of three ships, the 500 tonne Haarlem, the 1000 tonne Witte Olifant and the 800 tonne Schiedam, under the command of Vice-Commander Reinier van ‘t Zuim (aboard the Witte Olifant) left Batavia, for the return journey to the Netherlands Republic.13 On 25 March 1647, the ships called and anchored at Table Bay, between Robben Island and the mainland, when a strong south-easterly gale sprang up and the Haarlem, with 120 people aboard, was driven ashore and stranded near the present Milnerton Beach ." (Master, 2012) "When provision was made in the Railways & Harbours Estimates for 1956 for a new, automatically-operated installation on the beach, Milnerton Estates protested that this would interfere with ...