CAST IRON MAKERS PLATE THE METROPOLITAN AMALGAMATED RAILWAY CARRIAGE & WAGON Co

A cast iron carriage makers plate for South African Railways from 1903

THE METROPOLITAN AMALGAMATED RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND WAGON Co Ld

SALTLEY WORKS ENGLAND 1903

Size of plate is 240mm x 150mm

The early history of our railways (from 1860) hardly suggests anything in the way of luxury travel as it was generally the case of providing a means of basic transportation superior to the ox-wagon rather than fast comfortable trains, however a watershed was to occur shortly after the Second Anglo Boer War, when Britain had consolidated control of all four colonies. The Imperial Military Railways had given way to the Central South African Railways (CSAR) which ran the railway services of the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony until 1910. In 1903 the CSAR took delivery of some magnificent wooden bodied (mahogany panelled) bogie coaches, built in Britain by the Metropolitan Amalgamated Carriage & Wagon Co. that were the most luxurious to be found anywhere in the world at that time. A premier through service between Pretoria and Cape Town was inaugurated with these coaches to serve the high end of the travel market.

Postage with tracking number R80

Postnet to Postnet R100

Courier door to door R200