Thornville (L 13)

Name: Thornville
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Pentrich-Thornville-Richmond Branch Line
This branch formerly began at Thornville on the old main line between Pietermaritzburg and Umlaas Road. The main line section from Thornville and Umlaas Road has now been closed and uplifted, and the branch line now officially begins at Pentrich. Formerly 28 km in length, it is now 42 km in length.

The branch has a 1 in 24 ruling gradient. The maximum permissible wagon axle-load is 18.5 tons. The sharpest curve has a radius of 90 metres. Train loads are 350 tons for a single Class 35 diesel loco and, in normal circumstances, up to two are used on trains.

Opened in 1897, the branch was the first of many agricultural development lines at the time. During 1925 the branch moved over 35,000 tons of traffic, consisting mainly of milk and butter, livestock, bacon and other general traffic. Today, over 95% of traffic is timber, but this traffic has dropped from over 40,000 tons in 2002/2003 to just 28,000 tons in 2005/2006. Part of the reason for this decline has to do with harvesting patterns in the timber industry.

If plantations being felled are near to the railway then it is an economic option. If, however, the plantations are further away, road transport becomes the preferred option. Since the road haul to the coast is relatively short and road freight vehicles are not adequately tolled for road use, the use of road transport is in the short-term interests of the industry but not necessarily in the country’s interest.

http://www.kzntransport.gov.za/public_trans/freight_databank/kzn/rail/freight_lines/branch_lines/9/index_xml.html



Patons Country Railway will take you with the Eshayamoya coaches and steam train ... SATURDAY - Depart from Creighton Station at 10-00 am and travel through ... are simple: >From Durban or Pmb. take the Thornville, Richmond, Ixopo road. ...
www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D... - Cached
Historic fact:
In its climb up from the coast, the line to Pietermaritzburg had the characteristics of a mountain railway with its ruling gradient of 1-in-30 and curves of 91 m radius. Although there were no great mountain passes to overcome, the topographical difficulties were nonetheless formidable. After an initial level start, the line gained 73 m in elevation in 45 km and reached its highest point between the Bay of Natal and Pietermaritzburg, 931 m above sea level, near Thornville Junction. It then descended 275 m in 17 km to the bridge over the Msunduze River. It is not surprising that in the 1880s the journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban took 61 hours! The 453 m climb from Pietermaritzburg station to the top of the Town Hill was the most tortuous stretch of railway alignment on the entire Natal Main Line. For the most part this 18 km stretch was benched out of the hillsides on a 1-in-30 grade and abounded with so much curvature that it averaged 250 degrees per kilometre. It follows that trains negotiated this curving alignment at a snail's pace. The maximum safe speed on the best portions of the line was limited to 24 kilometres an hour with severe restrictions for crossing the Inchanga bridges.

http://www.pmbhistory.co.za/?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=24
Other interesting info:

Showing quite clearly the age of the Thornville line - 1965 was the last time the rail was laid

www.umgenisteamrailway.co.za/SLST_12.php

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