The butchers of Germiston in the video are the scrap cutters who were just doing their job. The real BUTCHER was Transnet who approved the carnage and got money from the locomotive-to-scrap sales.
Transnet has — to the dismay of the Heritage Railway Association of South Africa — decided to scrap prized heritage steam locomotives from 2008. In a letter, Transnet gave the heritage association until today to select the locomotives and coaches it wished to keep, either for preservation and restoration or for spare parts.
Reefsteamers Association, which champions rail tourism and steam locomotive preservation, said Transnet told them the trains were beyond repair and an “eyesore”, and should be scrapped. Some trains marked for restoration had ended up at the Millsite train depot in Krugersdorp and were being hacked to pieces.
