The Outeniqua Powervan

Outeniqua Powervan

For any­one trav­el­ling through the scenic George / Knysna area, one of the attrac­tions is, or always has been, the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, one of the last remain­ing steam trains in Africa. However, many will be as dis­ap­poin­ted as we were to learn that the “Choo-Tjoe”, as she is affec­tion­ately known, has not run since June 2009.

So what does a fam­ily with two train-mad young boys do, to stem the dis­ap­point­ment? We were lucky to learn from the Transport Museum that some­thing called the Outeniqua Powervan was run­ning in its stead.

Now steam, it is not, but train it is, with only two cars or car­riages,  seat­ing only 12 people each, and powered up the rail­way pass by a ‘motor­ised trol­ley’. So we made our book­ing, which you need to do, and pre­pared for our depar­ture at 11h00. (A second run had been added at 14h00, since it was hol­i­day season.)

The rail­way pass travels par­al­lel at times, to the old Montague Pass, and the train powers its way up to the highest point. The jour­ney is accom­pan­ied by a know­ledge­able guide, who nar­rates details from the res­id­ent flora, to the his­tory of ox wag­ons tra­vers­ing the haz­ard­ous pass. At points on the upward jour­ney you can view all three passes; the old dirt road, the rail­way pass and the majestic new road. The upward route ends at the point at which the rail­way pass and old Montagu Pass meet — the old road is worth a leis­urely drive on an altern­ate day.

On the upward jour­ney one passes through six little tun­nels, which were a sheer delight for our two young boys! At times the pass is so nar­row that you think you are going to brush the rock face on either side! The rail­way passes through areas of forest and fyn­bos, includ­ing an abund­ance of king pro­teas, cul­min­at­ing in spec­tac­u­lar views at the summit.

The return leg brings you back through the six tun­nels, with the cars trav­el­ling in reverse order, offer­ing pas­sen­gers an altern­ate view. About halfway down the pass we stopped at a pic­nic site, to enjoy our packed lunches and take in the sur­round­ing scenery. The Powervan des­cends back into the Outeniqua Transport Museum in George, which houses an array of steam loco­mot­ives and car­riages from days gone by. Save some time either before or after the jour­ney, to explore the amaz­ing his­tory of travel in South Africa, includ­ing a fas­cin­at­ing photo gal­lery of steam trains.

The two hour exper­i­ence, with an addi­tional half-hour for lunch, costs R95 for adults and R75 for chil­dren; a worth­while way to spend a morn­ing. An altern­at­ive for the act­ive at heart, is to take a moun­tain bike with you on the up jour­ney, and cycle the 15km back down the Montague Pass into George and to the rail­way museum.

The rail­way line between George and Knysna was declared an offi­cially pre­served line in 1992. With the Southern Cape storms of 2006, the line was extens­ively dam­aged and closed for recon­struc­tion. The Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe has at vari­ous times resumed oper­a­tions along the scenic route between George and Hartenbos, and then exten­ded onto Mossel Bay, but a lack of fund­ing and main­ten­ance to the line has again res­ul­ted in its clos­ure. The Powervan how­ever is an inter­est­ing and worth­while alternative.

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