Launching in 2018, Ceres Rail Company introduce to you the annual Red Devil Run – With four different dates to choose from, this will be a 4 day/3 night train trip from Cape Town to Robertson. Ceres Rail Company, partnering with different accommodation establishments from the Robertson area, will have various packages available to suit your specific needs, style and budget.

Because the Red Devil locomotive is a coal burner and a high veld-fire risk, this trip will only be taking place during the winter months of May to August.

This track will be the only available track in South Africa to host and carry the famous and one of its kind locomotive, the Red Devil #3450 (originally named L.D Porta after the late Livio Dante Porta, an Argentinian Mechanical Engineer who is considered one of the pioneers of modern steam design).

The Red Devil is a main line locomotive, therefore not of much use on branch lines or twisting and turning tracks. She was designed to run on the wide-open stretches of the Karoo. However, by bringing her back into service as a beacon of Steam Heritage in South Africa, she will be used in a way that she can earn her keep.

She has to be seen by the public and therefore should regularly be run near a metropolitan area. The run from Cape Town to Robertson would allow her to be used in just such an environment – where both the departure point and destination are reasonably reachable and where there would be facilities specifically tailored for steam locomotives on both ends. She would regularly be exchanged with other steam locomotives to present a complete steam experience, with mainline and branch line locomotives.

Ceres Rail Company undertakes her restoration and her maintenance with the help of the Transnet Heritage, but she will always belong to the people of South Africa as a TRANSNET asset.

Please note, although the Red Devil is currently undergoing extensive and expensive refurbishments, current updates have informed us that this process will be taking a lot longer than initially expected. We apologise in advance, but we promise this wait will be worth it!

Because we do not have an exact Red Devil launch date, a substitute locomotive will be doing her trips in the meantime. We will however keep everyone informed and updated well in advance.

Click here for more information.

Available dates:

• 24 – 27 May 2018
• 7 – 10 June 2018
• 26 – 29 July 2018
• 30 August - 2 September 2018

Participating accommodation establishments include:

• Ballinderry, The Robertson Guest House
• Excelsior Wine Estate
• GuBas de Hoek meet eat sleep
• Jan Harmsgat JHG
• MO & ROSE at Soekershof
• The Robertson Small Hotel
• Zandvliet Wines