Archistori

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...

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.

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...

Built: c.1959 Architect: Unidentified Status: Extant Artist's impression by unidentified artist. Locality map Google Maps Street View, 2010. Description "A new catering depot for the South African Railways, in the form of an eight storey building, is taking shape on a site just west of the Queen Elizabeth bridge, near Johannesburg station. It will cost about £245,000 and will house the administrative offices of the catering department and the catering warehouses. The main feature of the new depot is that the Departmental headquarters and Johannesburg stores of the catering department will be housed in one building. At present they occupy several buildings in various parts of the Braamfontein yard. The design of the new composite block is unusual, since the two separate blocks, one for the warehouses and the other for the administrative staff, will be linked by through passages. The warehouse side will be five storeys high with provision for one more, and the adminis...

Date built: 1958 Engineer: Unidentified Photo during construction in 1958. Source: South African Railway News. "A reinforced open-spandrel arch bridge consisting of six 60 ft. spans is being built immediately south of Standerton across the Vaal River. The bridge deck which was designed to carry double tracks, is approximately 70 ft. above water level. The rail level on the new bridge will be 14 ft. higher than that on the old bridge. It is being built by contract at a total cost of approximately £80 000." (1958) Source: Neville_C on angloboerwar.com Map location Sources South African Railway News. Sept, 1958.

Aka:  Wits Sport Conference Centre Built: 1958-59 (opened 2 May 1959) Architect: Unidentified Location: Enoch Sontonga Ave, Sturrock Park, Milner Park, Johannesburg Photo during construction in 1958. ( South African Railway News) "The new building, which is being built on contract at a cost of £90,000 [final cost £127,000], will be the most central sporting venue in Johannesburg. It is being erected at Elizabeth Sturrock Park near the show grounds, on the site of the old Milner Park Municipal swimming bath. Johannesburg provides well for its sporting public, including railwaymen, with the result that the need for special facilities for the latter has not been as great as in other centres. In the Railway Recreation Club building, however, the old premises has become increasingly inadequate. The new building will be two storeys high and it will house all the usual club facilities including an entertainment hall, with stage, which will be able to accommodate about 500 people, ...