Touwsrivier (C 15)

Name: Touwsrivier

In 1877 a railway station was built here and named Montagu Road. In 1883 the name was changed to Touwsriver. It became a municipality in 1962.

The expanding Kimberley Diamond Boom in the early 1870's made it essential for the Cape government to secure a rail link to the north. An obstacle to achieving this was the lack of a suitable route folded belt mountains of the Cape.

After an earlier failed attempt to locate a route, the Hex River Pass route was re-examined in 1874. The appointed engineer, Wells Hood, under the instruction of the railway engineer Thomas Brounger, found a potential route which snaked up 2,353ft (735m) from Worcester to the top of the Karoo mountains east of the Hex River Valley, with gradients no more than 1:40 (which is very steep by modern standards). In addition, he proposed that a short tunnel would be required.

Thomas Brounger's route through the Hex River Pass was selected by 1876 with the line to follow the route from Worcester through De Doorns, Touws River, Matjiesfontein and on to Beaufort West.

As with most early railway lines in the country, the route served an important role in the development of these Karoo towns.

The then standard wide gauge track of 4'8" could not be accommodated economically on the tight bends of the Hex River Pass. A decision was thus made by the Cape Government to install the track at 3'6". Subsequently a decision was taken to convert all tracks to the Cape Gauge of 3'6". In further efforts to construct the pass cheaply and quickly, sleepers were laid on the ground without ballast in certain areas and had to be corrected later. The maximum possible gradient and tightest curves were used to avoid extra work and expense. Between 600 and 1000 English "Navies" were brought out to work on the construction of the line under Brounger and his railway contractor, Pauling. High wages has to be paid to these English labourers who specialised in road and rail construction. Construction of the pass went extremely smoothly. The route was prepared, cut and filled well in advance of rail being laid. Permanent way materials were transported on a construction locomotive. Empty trucks, returning to Worcester, were used by locals as a convenient means to transport produce from the more remote mountain farms into town.

Despite its quick and cheap construction the pass served for over 100 years. It was the starting point of the country's first railway line to the Rand and opened the way for Rhodes' colonization thrust into central Southern Africa.


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