Selati Train Station and Locomotive Engine
Records show that the Selati railway line and bridge are one of the most iconic structures associated with railways. In 1890 while the eastern Railway line was being built, a member of the Volksraad introduced a petition requesting a branch line from Komatipoort to the rich farmland of the North-eastern Transvaal. The railway was to run along the Selati River. The first plans for the railway were approved by the railway commissioner Mr. JS Smit in May 1893. The concession to build the line was awarded to Eugene Oppenheim. By July 1893 40 kilometers of track had been laid.
When Stevenson-Hamilton arrived in 1902, the line extended only as far as the present Skukuza, abruptly ending on the southern bank of the Sabie River. For next 15 years, no further work construction took place on the line. The line was used during the Anglo Boer War in 1899 by Baron Ludwig Steinecker who was defending borders between Mozambique and the Transvaal. He used the railway line to bring in supplies from Komatipoort. James Stevenson used the railway line as his private means of transport to get to Komatipoort. He mounted trolley and propelled by manpower. The line was not used until 1909. The railway line was extended to Tzaneen and in 1912, to Soekmekaar (Hopkins, 2014).
The ensuing decades of the raucous whistles of thundering steam engines shattered the bushveld quiet throughout the Kruger National Park; repeatedly wild animals which had wandered onto the tracks were killed as the metal monsters roared their relentless way through the surrounding bush. Finally, in 1973, the steam trains came to a permanent halt at the Selati Train station with the railway lines were pulled up. The magnificently photogenic bridge across the Sabie River, in plain view from much of Skukuza camp, remains a silent memorial to those rowdy and opportunistic days of the early 20th century. Had it not been for the Selati line the development of the Sabie Reserve may not have been possible (Hopkins, 2014).
GPS Waypoints: 24°59'26.3"S 31°35'48.21"E
