The Paton Narrow Gauge Railway, starting in Ixopo and ending at
Ncalu siding, about 30km away, is unique in that one of the Garrett
steam locomotives is purported to be the oldest operating one in
the world. There is also the Avonside 2038, a 1929 sugar cane loco,
and UVE2, a larger loco built in England in 1935.
The narrow gauge format was used because of the steep valleys
and sharp turns the route is required to negotiate through these
valleys, making it impossible for the standard gauge.
The line has another claim to fame in that it is described in
Alan Paton’s world famous book “Cry the Beloved
Country”. In that book Alan Paton described the surrounding
country as “…there are hills, grass covered and
rolling and beautiful beyond the singing of it.” Regrettably
most of the hills are now covered in forest, but they are
nevertheless still beautiful.
Ixopo, or more correctly iXobho, derives its name from the
sucking sound made by the hooves of cattle being withdrawn from the
mud.
