Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Port Elizabeth-Avontuur Narrow Gauge Rail-line - Apple Express Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) district, Eastern Cape Harold Bayldon SMITH: Architect Surveyor

Date: 1902-1906 : 1914 Status: Unknown   Click to view map Coordinates: 33°53'21.57" S 25°12'28.16" E Alt: 205m

The Port Elizabeth-Avontuur Narrow Gauge line was authorised in 1899, with construction starting in 1902. In late 1906, it reached the end point at Avontuur and officially opened early in 1907. A main line track covers a length of 284kms from Port Elizabeth to Avontuur – this is the longest narrow gauge railway line in the world, crossing Van Staden's Gorge Railway Bridge, the highest narrow gauge railway bridge in the world. In 1914, the 30km Branch Line, from Gamtoos Station to Hankey and Patensie was opened to serve this rich irrigation farming area. Both freight and heritage operations successfully once operated on this line. In 2009 the Apple Express was selected as one of the top six narrow gauge rail operations worldwide. When the Apple Express stopped running, on 29 December 2010, Nelson Bay and the region lost a lot more than a train - they lost a unique tourism icon.