The Trans-Karoo Express. Leitz Summaron 35mm

Today it's above freezing for the first time in weeks but that doesn't make it nice or pretty out there.  I patrolled all around the house looking for Blip material.  It's gotten so bad that my family is laughing when they recognize bits of our house showing up on these pages.  I'm going back to the archives! 
My point of departure for this long journey back to May 1979 is that 1957 Leitz lens which I have used in the last few days.  This is the same lens in its uncleaned state.   It exhibits what Leitz aficionados refer to as the “Leica Glow”, aka good old-fashioned lens flare.  I chose this old photograph taken on high speed Ektachrome at one of my favorite spots in all the world.  As a teenager I spent many hours sitting on that masonry fence post watching the trains come and go through this tiny station on the Cape Mainline in South Africa.  The place is called Matjiesfontein and owes its existence to an enterprising Scot by the name of James Logan.  When diamonds were discovered at Kimberley in 1867 a mad rush of prospectors descended on South Africa.  They needed to get from Cape Town to Kimberley and the only way at that time was by ox wagon.  A railway was needed and so its construction commenced.  Logan worked for the Cape Government Railway and knew where the train would be just about the time that passengers would be wanting a meal…  He bought land at this spot on the railway line about 180 miles from Cape Town on the edge of the Karoo and built a “refreshment place” there.  Over time he developed Matjiesfontein into a village of one street with his hotel directly across from the railway station.  It’s still there, a national monument, and is called The Lord Milner Hotel.  When I took this photograph back in 1979, the Trans-Karoo Express used to leave Cape Town on its 1100 mile trip to Johannesburg at 10:00AM sharp.  A fabulous 3-course lunch with crisp white linens was served in the dining car once the long  journey was under way.  The train reached Matjiesfontein at about 4:00PM having ascended from the coastal belt around Cape Town, through the great barrier of the Hex River Pass to the level of the Karoo plateau several thousand feet above sea level.  At some later point, when there is nothing current to Blip, I will visit this beautiful and impressive natural barrier to the railway’s progress.  By this means it was possible to leave the city on a Friday morning (if one could sneak out of work), spend the whole of Saturday eating and drinking well and strolling in the Karoo, or watching the trains come and go on the very busy main line, and catch the return Trans-Karoo after an early breakfast on Sunday morning.  Those were the days…  The photograph shows the north-bound train just about to leave Matjiesfontein as the sun is setting over the Karoo.  The driver’s assistant is leaning out of the locomotive looking back for the guard’s green flag and the go ahead.  I alluded here to the  experience of standing on the platform watching and listening to the trains come and go.  It was wonderful!