Page 44 - Bulletin 8 2004

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received the heartfelt thanks of the Blue-ribbon members especially and of all present.
Canon Baker gratefully acknowledged the valuable assistance of his reverend brother
and his family. He also thanked in warmest terms the workmen who had made such
meetings practicable, who had been of very great benefit to the village, and who would
be followed by the best wishes of all present, wherever they might go. The Wednesday
evening meetings are continued; but we miss the Bests, the Howards, and the Pennicots
of the Kalk Bay Extension. – Yours, &c
JAS. BAKER.

In April 1883, Mr. A. Difford, Traffic Manager for the CGR Western System,

announced that the line to Kalk Bay would be opened on 5 May 1883 for passengers,
parcels and light goods. The timetables indicate that only three trains daily - early

morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon - arrived at and departed from Kalk Bay.

(Figs. 2.9 – 2.14). Inevitably, there were teething problems when the line was first used
but these were soon sorted out.

The Cape Times: Tuesday, 8 May, 1883.

On the Kalk Bay line about a week ago, there was a narrow escape from an
accident. The train ran off the rails at Kalk Bay, where there is a sharp curve between
Sir John Molteno’s and Mr. H. Jones’s properties. It was going at a slow rate, and so no
damage was occasioned. No one was in fault, but it seems an awkward contrivance to
make a curve of a number of straight bars of considerable length and of material most
rigid. At every joint there is a slight jerk. One has heard of curved rails. The metal
might be bent to any radius. When the line has all settled down the train will run more
smoothly, but these many curves demand a reduction in speed.

The Line continues to Simon’s Town

Six years later, on Thursday 7 November 1889, the Minister of Public Works, Col.
Schermbrucker turned the first sod for the construction of the line to Simon’s Town. A

lengthy account of the sod-turning ceremony, and the speech-making that followed at
King’s Hotel, appeared in the press the following day. The content of the speeches is

interesting for their emphasis on the line’s military-strategic significance, as compared

to the Cape Times editor’s view of it as a “health and pleasure” line. Kalk Bay is also
viewed more favourably.