Friends Of The Rail

4 Dayne Robins - 6 years ago

Great day out with the family. From Pretoria to Cullinan and back again. Trip can take longer than expected as the train has to wait for metro to pass in different sections. Still an amazing trip and beautiful train.

3 Theressa L - 5 years ago

Its a lovely experience, the staff were all very friendly and knowledgeable. Don't plan on having a picnic at the station before the train departs; there is very little seating (old train benches and a few wooden benches) under a temporary shade cloth and it is very dusty. Some drinks can be bought at one of the locomotives. There were issues with one of the coaches brakes so we were delayed for just over an hour however the actual train ride was really enjoyable. They allocate sufficient space for a family which was great so the kids can move around.

2 Kyara Mapley - 4 years ago

The whole trip was delayed, whether it was leaving late or getting to the destination late due to poor planning.

Warning to be careful when getting off the train.

4 Harry Mole - 5 years ago

Authentic steam train experience, nice seating, snack cart and toilets. Expect the whole day if you headed to cullinan

5 Allistair Burgess - 4 years ago

Epic adventure, steam train trip that is run by volunteers.

2 Panda Mellor - 3 years ago

The rating may be a bit harsh, as there were some excellent aspects to the trip. For some of the following observations, it must be borne in mind that the organisation is run by hard working and well intentioned volunteers. That being said, the "commercial service offering" could benefit from being tightened up. From the top: we booked family tickets for the Hermansted to Cullinan "Santa's Diamond express". The online booking was straightforward, but then they cancelled travel dates a few days beforehand, in order to combine trips. Understandable from an organisational perspective, but they vacillated as to which date would be cancelled. Arrival - parking and ticket collection was efficient, for what was a busy and well attended event. The initial offering of coffee, rusks and some train related merchandise to purchase - all good. We departed on time, but the initial exit from Pretoria was astonishingly slow, punctuated by innumerable stops. Here I think, the train was at mercy of the controllers of SA railways, and we were clearly a low priority train. It took us over 5 hours to reach Cullinan. If the delays are not uncommon, I would suggest you remove "Express" from the title description of these events! A lot of that time was spent stationary in the now sweltering carriages.

Thence to the Santa part - Santa whisked through the carriages with a little too much haste, given we weren't going anywhere quickly. Father Christmas ran out of presents for the kids (!) half way thru our carriage - and so the children of the last 3.5 carriages didn't receive a gift. If you're going to give them, it''s the one thing you really shouldn't get wrong on a Santa event!! The organisation had accurate estimates of children numbers from the ticket purchases. Personally, I don't think you need to do gifts - just the gift of time with Santa. There's more than enough time during a standard 3 hour travel trip to Cullinan, for Santa to stop and chat with the kids....ask what they would like for Christmas, without actually having to give a gift. That avoids additional costs for the organisation, and the disappointment faced yesterday, of the children who saw Santa passing by with a full sack of gifts and returning in haste, empty handed without so much as a ho ho ho. If precedence is a concern, I'm sure you could adjust that expectation for next year and future years by prior email to all parents at the time of ticket booking.

There were a couple of rounds of free "strawberry lips alcoholic shots" for the adults - a nice sentiment, but I personally don't need a "shot" at 11am on a Sunday morning, and bringing something 'pink' in a glass, that looks like a kiddies drink is further dissatisfaction for the kids when they can't partake.

To the positives: the volunteers/staff were all thoroughly good humoured and helpful throughout. Immaculately kept steam engine, and my sincere thanks to the driving crew for allowing the children to visit the engine cabin.

1 Craig Barnes - 5 years ago

I wasn't particularly happy with my experience on this train. The delay from Cullinan was incredibly long. The carriage was so loud with drunk people and loud crying babies, it was just horrid. The return from Cullinan was almost 2 hours late. Only 10 minutes before we left was there an announcement on the broken intercom that we will be late (after staying on the bus for over an hour.) There were no tables on the train for one to eat on, no cupholders, the windows could barely open, finding my seat and carriage number was a long mission. It was also extremely cold on the train, and it was very very slow. We got back to Pretoria at night time... the lights on the train was so dim and old I couldn't see where I should walk. the seats were also so dusty. A very unpleasant experience sorry...