TSOMO DRIFT. It’s the usual problem on a single-track railway—waiting for traffic coming the other way. A great horseshoe curve links Tsomo Drift with Orange River, although, as the crow flies, they are very close, so the driver of the Baldwin 2-8-0, Nº 724, can see the reason for this long delay. Over at Orange River the up line is blocked by Nº 12 switching a train for the Roaring Canyon branch, and the habitually late-running passenger is due on the down line. The driver is beginning to wish he had brought his fishing rod.
Nick Trudgian
The railway at a glance
Name: Southern Cross Railway
Theme: Present-day industrial railway of the Stormberg Reef Gold Mines
Fictitious location: Somewhere in the southern hemisphere
Size: 110′ x 80′
Track plan: Loop to loop
Length of mainline: 960′
One complete circuit: 1700′
Gauge: Nº 1 (45mm)
Scale: 1:24 and 1:20.3
Power: Radio-controlled live steam and manual battery electric
Maximum gradient: 1 in 70 (1.4%)
Minimum radius on mainline: 10′
Track: Peco G45 on concrete roadbed
Structures: Scratchbuilt and modified kits
Age: 12 years
