3-011-870 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Opening of the Cape Town and Wellington Railway: arrival of the first train at Wellington Station, 1864. 'This is the only considerable railway undertaking begun in South Africa, and the first that has been finished in Cape Colony. The line, which is single, and about fifty-eight miles in length, including the extension into the city at Cape Town, crosses the Cape Flats, and ascends the Eerste River valley, passing through Stellenbosch and the Paarl, and terminates at the town of Wellington, situated at the foot of Bain's Kloof Pass...The railway was opened on the 4th of November last by Sir Philip Wodehouse, Governor of Cape Colony...On the arrival of the train the volunteers, under the command of Colonel Hill, presented arms, the band played "God Save the Queen," the cannon of the artillery thundered a Royal salute, and the immense crowd...cheered until they were hoarse. Amid the clamour his Excellency the Governor descended from his carriage and formally declared the line to be open. The numerous guests found ample accommodation in the goods' shed, tastefully decorated, where an elegant repast was prepared...During the day twelve hundred persons travelled over the line without the slightest accident'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.