Desert Steam (1998)FRA 03
The Union Limited is a restored vintage train dating from the Golden Age of rail travel. In "Desert Steam", she takes us on 5000-kilometre steam odyssey through the deserts of Southern Africa.
The Karoo, the Kalahari and the Namib are the great thirst lands of the subcontinent. With steam locomotives drawn from South Africa's Heritage Collection, we journey back to the colonial past - the age of pith helmets and polished teak, clerestory coaches and wooden dining saloons.
South African Railways 19D locomotives were the workhorses of the tour. They boast a long-range water capacity, they are light-footed on the track, and they have a wheel base short enough to tackle the sharp curves of certain sections of the line. But 25NC and 15F locomotives also played their part - powerful, brawny machines well suited to the dry western half of Southern Africa.
On this epic journey, you will meet the aboriginal Khoikhoi people and encounter the German colonialism that held sway in Namibia up until World War I. You will pass rivers that disappear underground and landscapes so surreal they could be on the moon. And with every passing kilometre, the desert will draw you more firmly into its grip as the land gets drier, harsher and ever more desolate.
The Union Limited was the first steam train in forty years to reach Namibia's Skeleton Coast, and in this DVD she will take you on the rail journey of a lifetime.
DURATION 58 min.