South Western Railway (South Africa)

In the late 19th Century, during the Second Boer War the timber transport with the help of mules and oxen reached its capacity limit, as many mules and their drivers had been drafted into military service. The

1898 replacing attempt using a steam tractor failed because the machine sank in the muddy roads. For this reason it was decided to build a railway.

The Government and the Cape Government Railways supported the project because the wood of the region was used, among other things, for the production of railway sleepers. Also a connection to Avontuur, the terminus of the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Avontuur Railway to Port Elizabeth was considered, and although only 31 km apart, no money was provided for it at this time. The project was also not pursued because the Tsitsikamma Mountains would have made a connection very time-consuming.

The construction of the line lasted from 1904 to 1907. It was completed 20 years before the Cape gauge route from George reached Knysna, until then it was completely isolated from the rest of South Africa's rail network.