1926 in South Africa

	1926 in South Africa
1923 1924 1925 « 1926 » 1927 1928 1929
List of years in South Africa

Events

March

• 13 – The first commercial air route from South Africa is established when Alan Cobham does a return flight between London and Cape Town.

October

• 10 – The South African National War Memorial next to Delville Wood outside Longueval, France is opened.
• 10 – The Sabie Game Reserve is renamed to Kruger National Park.

Births

• 23 May – Yossel Mashel Slovo, politician, is born in Obeliai, Lithuania. (d.1995)
• 15 October – Rexon Mathebula, artist, is born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg.

Railways

Railway lines opened

• 18 January – Transvaal – Villiers, Free State to Grootvlei, 19 miles 39 chains (31.4 kilometres).^[1]
• 7 June – Free State – Harrismith to Warden, 35 miles 33 chains (57.0 kilometres).^[1]
• 18 August – Cape – Upington to Kakamas (Narrow gauge), 54 miles 63 chains (88.2 kilometres).^[1]
• 1 September – Cape – Addo to Sunland, 6 miles 1 chain (9.7 kilometres).^[1]
• 15 September – Natal – Mtubatuba to Candover, 110 miles 70 chains (178.4 kilometres).^[1]
• 19 November – Cape – Katberg to Seymour (Narrow gauge), 9 miles 30 chains (15.1 kilometres).^[1]
• 22 November – Transvaal – Citrus to Plaston, 17 miles 48 chains (28.3 kilometres).^[1]
• 8 December – Cape – Klawer to Landplaas, 50 miles 37 chains (81.2 kilometres).^[1]

Locomotives

Three Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

• The first twenty-three Class 15CA 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.^{[2]:61–62[3]:46, 49–50}
• Four Class FD 2-6-2+2-6-2 Modified Fairlie articulated steam locomotives.^{[2]:97[3]:50–51}
• To address a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives, the first of twenty-one ex Natal Government Railways Class D1 4-8-2 tank locomotives are rebuilt to Class 17 4-8-0 tank-and-tender locomotives.^{[2]:26–27, 68[4]}

References

1. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 189, ref. no. 200954-13
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.
3. Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
4. South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2’0” & 3’6” Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended