All language subtitles for Mighty Trains Series 3 2of6 Rovos Railway 1080p

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy)
exotic vistas.

There's thousands
of flamingoes up there.

(Teddy)
wild animals.

Look at that

This is a life highlight.

(Teddy)
star service.

We like
to call ourselves

The most luxurious
train in the world.

This is incredible!

(Teddy)
and sheer
determination.

We're travelling
through south africa,

Aboard rovos rail!

(Teddy)
this family operated train

Confronts everything
from extreme weather.

Look at
that lightening!

To stolen power lines.

That's a tremendous
problem for us.

(Teddy)
with utmost poise.

We never dress this
well to receive a locomotive.

It's an epic coast
to coast adventure!

Durban, on the shores
of the indian ocean,

It's the busiest port
city in all of south africa.

(Teddy)
a melting pot of indian

Influence and zulu tradition,
famous for its tropical beaches.

It's also where
my journey begins,

Just down the road
at durban station.

This is where south
africa's first rail line

Officially opened
back in 1860.

(Teddy)
this is the first locomotive

That ever operated
here in the country,

Over a hundred
and fifty year ago,

That's the engine
that started it all.

(Teddy)
pulling into the underground

Platform is rovos rail's
'the pride of africa'.

A luxury train made up
of vintage coaches that

Transport passengers
back in time.

From durban, on the first
leg of our trip, we'll be

Travelling almost 800
kilometers north to pretoria.

From there we'll set off
on the second leg,

Sixteen hundred kilometers
south through the legendary

Karoo desert to the oldest
city in south africa, cape town.

(Teddy)
passengers who've just

Disembarked gave their
journey rave reviews.

Just to quickly run
through the comment sheets.

"the food was excellent."

"and the service
standard always perfect".

(applause)

Hard work.

(Teddy)
but the staff's
under extra pressure

Because they arrived late.

Is it good?

(Teddy)
now train manager eric

And his team have to work harder
and faster to prep the train for
our departure.

And this is where the
big work has to start,

Where all the rooms have to
be redone for our passengers.

(Teddy)
the five star
kitchen needs replenishing.

We still have
to do the shopping.

(Teddy)
maintenance inspector ronnie

Has been working on
trains for over two decades.

It's his job to make sure
nothing's acting up

Before another
long, hot journey.

We always check the springs
to see if there's no cracks

(Teddy)
nobody's going anywhere

Until ronnie's signs off.

Fingers crossed
we leave on time.

This is
the shock absorber.

It's little bit oily.

(Teddy)
the crew's feeling the heat

But they
can't cut corners.

It needs
to be replaced.

(Teddy)
by the time we board
a few hours from now,

Everything's gotta
be one hundred percent.

Perfect.

Thank you, mr. Vos, bye.

(Teddy)
for eric, perfection
is par for the course.

His boss back at the rovos
yard in pretoria expects it!

Alright see you chaps later.

(Teddy)
rohan vos is
the owner of rovos rail.

With 180 carriages
it's the world's largest

Collection of
privately owned trains.

It's like a big
toy train set you know.

(Teddy)
after making his fortune

In auto parts in the 80's,
rohan decided to take his wife

And four kids on an
extraordinary family adventure.

Built a four carriage
caravan for the family

And we were just going to go
on jaunts around the country

During school
holidays and so on.

(Teddy)
that meant having to pay

The government
to use its' tracks.

And then I complained to
the railways about the tariff

They were going to charge me
which is per kilometer, per
carriage.

(Teddy)
to recoup his costs,

Rohan started selling
tickets to the public.

He turned his little
hobby into big business.

It's not the little family
business it once was with

One little train doing
one little overnight trip.

(Teddy)
it's a big operation

Do you need help?

(Teddy)
today, rovos employs

450 full time staff.

All of rohan's children
help run the business.

That includes brenda,
who doesn't get any reprieve

From her father's
exacting standards.

Okay,
I'll have a look.

You have to give it
50 mill from the bottom.

Very fastidious when it
comes to things looking

A certain way and service
being a certain way

And the experience he
wants to deliver to his guests.

Thank you
have a good one.

(Teddy)
back at durban station

Guests are now checking in
and eager to board for
our trip to pretoria.

We'll see you
in a little bit.

Thank you so much.

Thank you

It's all go today.

We're busy,
busy, busy here.

On the the pride of africa,
the crew's dedication

Makes all the difference.

Well, we help each
other as a family.

That's very
important to us.

We like to keep
the family close.

So we help each
other where we can.

(Teddy)
chef aubrey has just put in

An urgent call for help.

Ronnie's on his way.

The fridge is warm inside.

It's not cold enough.

A broken fridge
in searing african weather

Is a recipe for disaster.

Guests on this train
expect 5 star dining,
not spoiled food.

We still have to do lunch now

So we only have that
limited of time.

I'm going to check how
much gas that has here ya

There's a leak somewhere of gas

You're mr?

Wilson.

Wilson.

From canada?

That's right.

Sparkling wine and orange
juice and apple for you.

I'll do a
sparkling wine.

Okay,
enjoy yourself.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There you go so everybody
has arrived wonderful.

(Teddy)
everything's cool
in the kitchen too.

Ronnie has patched the leaky
hose and filled up the gas.

It's going down
a little bit.

Everything
is ready to go.

(Teddy)
powering our journey, a pair
of 18e electric locomotives.

They each measure 14.6
meters long, 3.9 meters high

And 2.8 meters wide.

They're supplied by transnet
who own and operate

South africa's
national rail network.

Transnet's locos are fully
inspected at their depot.

Then they send the locos
out to companies like rovos,

Who have to use them when
travelling on transnet owned
tracks.

They're checking
if the weight,

The going down and going
up of the pantograph is okay.

Portia, who's worked
at transnet for 6 years,

Makes sure the pantograph alone
goes through a 5 point
inspection.

It's important because
the pantograph is the one

That collects the electricity
from the overhead to the
locomotive.

No locomotive
gets out of here

Without this checklist
being completed.

(Teddy)
behind the wheel
are transnet drivers.

Train manager,
what you say,

What you say,
everything fine on your side?

(eric)
everything perfect.

Thank you.

Your full names and surnames
will be at the door.

(Teddy)
it's finally
time for passengers to

Step aboard
the pride of africa

There'll be 37
of us altogether.

Come with me please.

(Teddy)
16 staff are on
board to ensure we travel

In the lap of luxury
south african style.

(horn sounds)

Every detail on
these carriages has been

Custom made to transport us
back to the glory days
of rail travel.

Today our train is
made up of a generator car,

A staff carriage,
then a kitchen car

Right next to
the dining car.

After that, 8 guest carriages
with 24 suites and two lounges.

One, with an open
air observation deck.

We're just
pulling out of durban,

Our trip's started.

I'm so excited
to be on this train.

I've wanted to ride
it my whole life.

I've never been to
south africa and it's going

To be an amazing way
to see the country.

Good day so far?

Good day
yes, awesome.

(Teddy)
the price tag
for passengers runs from

Two thousand to four
thousand canadian dollars

Depending on the suite.

They all come with a
dedicated host like tshepo.

And welcome to
your royal suite, sir.

The royal suite.

This is incredible.

I've never seen a suite
this big this on a train.

Is this the biggest
one on board?

This is the biggest one
that we have on board, sir.

I do not deserve it,
thank you very much.

So we've got this
living room area,

There's a whole living room.

This is the lounge area,
you have a living room area.

Straight through this
door is your king sized bed.

A king size bed
that it's own room,

That's a first for me.

And then the bathroom does
it have it's own bathroom?

Yes it does sir.

Want me to show
you through?

Yes please.

Thank you

Whoa!
This is

This is not like a
normal bathroom on a train.

Even in a private suite.

There's a claw foot tub.

Wow,
thank you very much.

On this 3 day trip,
I'm heading north from durban

Into the stunning valley
of a thousand hills

Then it's onto ladysmith,
before crossing into

The majestic
drakensberg mountain range.

We'll make our way
through the farmland of

The highveld plains
before arriving at

The rovos rail yard in pretoria.

(Teddy)
every leg will
have its challenges.

Good thing our driver gary
had 40 years experience
under his belt.

There are lots of things
that we have to watch out

Faulty signals
stealing the overhead cables

We have no overhead power.

Right.

You know he train
never runs on time,

This is africa.

Looks like we're
in for a wild ride.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

I'm on a once
in a lifetime journey

Through south africa
on rovos rail's

The pride of africa.

Do you like it?

Stirred?

Or do you want it shaken?

I'm going to go shaken.

Shaken.

Bartender eddie,
from soweto,

Is known for making
a mean martini.

And with style

Yes sir,
just like that.

Alright.

I'll put olives
over there.

Thank you.

Less than an hour out of durban
we're heading into the kingdom
of zulu,

Surrounded by
incredible scenery.

This is the valley
of a thousand hills.

It tracks the umgeni river
and of course it's named

For the countless hills
and mountains all around here.

It's one of the key features
on this part of the trip.

The terrain
here is punishing.

To scale the mountains,
our train travels

Higher and higher through
4 tunnels and sharp curves.

And it's always
quite interesting

Oh, a little bumpy ride.

That'll happen.

It will definitely.

(Teddy)
climbing 700 meters in just

70 kilometers, puts severe
wear and tear on the wheels.

And that's just the start...

How does the natural landscapes
and the elements here kinda

Challenge the train
and challenge the tracks?

With extreme
temperatures and rain

You'll see that the train
obviously gets stopped.

So the train's slowing down,

We're stopping.

What's going on right now?

It could be um, us waiting
for a signal authority.

Can we run it
on number two line?

(Teddy)
south africa boasts

The 11th largest rail
network in the world.

Transnet manages all
32 thousand kilometers of

Track out of its' national
command center in johannesburg.

But I'll but,
I'll phone the technician

To come
and fix that for us.

(Teddy)
every day,
operators like elden matala

Do their best
to keep fifteen hundred trains

From 14 different
train companies,

Moving and on time.

Everything is shown
here on the schedule.

(Teddy)
elden is monitoring

A maintenance crew
on the line ahead of us.

Okay, okay.

(Teddy)
transnet technicians are

Adjusting the tension
on the overhead wires.

Go ahead.

(Teddy)
this has shut down

One of the tracks,
creating a bottleneck.

In order for the contact wire
to stay at the same height,

I have to square
all these droppers.

(Teddy)
keeping the overhead cable at

A precise, consistent height
is critical, ensuring a steady

Flow of power to
the locomotive's pantograph.

But once you've done a section
it should last for approximately

Four to five years.

(Teddy)
lucky for us this stoppage

Is just for routine maintenance.

Quite often this crew has
to tackle a more serious crisis.

Criminals, who
steal the cables.

That's a
tremendous problem for us.

(Teddy)
a problem that every year

Costs south africa five
billion rand or just over

Four hundred and fifty
million canadian dollars.

Brazen thieves steal cable
from the country's power

System for the
valuable copper inside.

They're off to
the scrap metal dealer

And they'll get quite
a lot of money for it.

(Teddy)
whenever thieves strike

On a rail line, trains
are forced to a standstill

Until crews can replace
the stolen cable.

That causes
massive delays.

Which happened to us
about a month ago

Just south of johannesburg
and that held us up for
25 hours.

We couldn't move.

We couldn't move.

And everyone was stuck and
so that's a real problem
in south africa.

And you brief people in advance
that you're rarely on time,
right?

Yes.

Folks know that
they can expect it.

It's trying to just manage
passengers' expectations.

Right.

I mean for the passengers,
a slight delay means

More time on this train.

Absolutely.

Which is
pretty good.

Absolutely.

An extra glass
of sparkling wine.

(Teddy chuckling)

(Teddy)
the line ahead is cleared

And we're on our way.

But the rovos crew will have to
figure out how to make up time.

I think you've seen
the real south africa

When you travel
by this train.

It's so perfect.

(Teddy)
high praise considering

All the lavish carriages
started out as junk.

To build and
maintain his fleet.

So that will be your mirror.

(Teddy)
rohan vos and his team,
scour the globe for cast offs

From other rail lines.

Well we don't buy new stuff
because it's very expensive

And at the same time,
you'd have to

Wait for somebody
to build it.

(Teddy)
at the rovos yard
there are always 6 or 7

Carriages waiting to be
finished inside and out.

Coach fitter, ace, puts
his heart and soul into

Replicating victorian
and edwardian coaches.

This is
one of my babies.

My latest
acquisition right now.

And now it looks like
wreck but in two, three weeks

Time, it's going to be
brand new and refurbished.

Over here you can see
we have stripped all the coach

So that we can put new panels
for the windows and the window
rails.

And then as we go in this
room, this is a deluxe coach.

This one is the bedroom
for two people sharing.

This one we're going to
make a dining so that they

Can have time to read
their books and then in

Here we're going to have
a shower for bathroom so

They can enjoy themselves.

The love I have for
this job is the second

Love of my life,
after my wife.

(Teddy)
the passion and care that
is put into the finished coaches

Is all a part of
the magic of riding rovos rail.

We're coming up lions river.

It'll be the first
stop on our journey.

We were actually supposed
to stop a little while back

At a place called
pietermaritzburg

But because we were running
behind schedule we went

Right through it in
order to make up time.

Here passengers head off
for a bit of sightseeing

While I visit the
nelson mandela memorial.

He was captured here on
the 5th of August 1962,

(Teddy)
meanwhile staff utilize
every minute of the stop to

Refresh cabins, prepare dinner
and run maintenance checks.

I'm testing the wheels,
if it's hot like this one,

It's hot, what I'm going to do,
I'm gonna pull the string.

When I pull the string
I'm dropping the piston there.

(Teddy)
releasing the piston will reduce

The friction placed on the
wheels when we're rolling again.

That, in turn will lower
the amount of heat generated.

Everything okay now.

(Teddy)
near the front of the train

Is a one of a kind laundry room.

Christina turns out a steady
supply of fresh linens and
bedding.

She also takes care of
the passengers' laundry!

The guests go out and come back.

They come back with
their clothes dirty.

They must bring us, and
then we wash it and iron it.

(Teddy)
christina's worked on
rovos trains for 21 years

6 in the kitchen before
moving over to laundry.

I like this job.

I don't want
to go anywhere.

(Teddy)
passengers enjoy

Cocktail hour outside.

This is a
beautiful area.

But overhead
storm clouds are moving in.

You're just beating the weather,

Absolutely.

It's starting to rain.

We're very, very lucky.

Everyone made it back just
on time to make it back.

(Teddy)
our new driver nicky,

Comes on board for
this section of the trip.

Off we go.

(Teddy)
darkness falls
soon after lion's river.

I head to the observation deck
to watch the storm moving in.

We're getting
some weather right now.

Look at that lightning.

It's absolutely
incredible.

We're near ladysmith,
toward the end of day one

And we've got rain
and more lightning than

I've ever seen in my life.

(Teddy)
for passengers,

The storm is
a stunning spectacle.

Look at that!

(Teddy)
for drivers,
it's nerve-wracking.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy)
it's the first night of my

Train trek through south africa.

Pretoria is still
400 kilometers away.

The weather is really volatile

A massive storm
is crippling the line.

What is the cause
of the signals out?

Signals from the weather,
the signals are out.

(Teddy)
our driver nicky halts the train

And calls into
transnet's command center.

638 a danger,
I'm ready for authority.

6 signals ahead are down.

So it will take for
couple of days to fix,

To solve the problems out.

(Teddy)
for now, each train has to wait

For permission to
proceed one at a time.

And depart here
thank you very much.

(Teddy)
after every stand-still nicky

Pushes the speed to the max of
sixty kilometers an hour,

Trying to make up time.

Come again?

(Teddy)
finally, we reach

Ladysmith station where
we'll stop for the night.

As turn down
service starts

Nicky secures the loco.

So I safeguard my locomotive,
so the train doesn't move.

I'm going now,
knock off and take a nice rest

And stay with my family
until tomorrow morning,

Four o'clock
and then on duty again.

(Teddy)
after an overnight sleep
stop at ladysmith station,

We wake up to clear
south african skies.

Ah, good morning
ladies and gentlemen.

We all ready to go?

If you can
please follow me.

(Teddy)
this morning, a sobering

Excursion to site of south
africa's most brutal and bloody
war.

It was a war
that was glanced over.

It was not britain's
proudest moment.

(Teddy)
the boer war
raged from 1899 to 1902

Pitting the british empire
against two afrikaner
or boer republics.

The railway was a major
player in conflict,

Moving 27 thousand troops
to the area and all the arms.

Cannons and whatever
you needed, your big guns

All had to come
up on the train.

I don't think they would have
been able to manage it without
the train.

(Teddy)
as we ponder the past

A transnet crew is trying
to keep us moving forward.

They're racing to repair
a fibre optic cable vital to

The signals on the
line ahead of us.

We had a big problem last night
with the storms in the area.

One of the big trees next
to the route fell over

The fibre optic route.

So we haven't
got any train control.

(Teddy)
during this work stoppage

Or 'occupation' all freight
and passenger trains are

Being halted in their tracks.

So there is
a lot of train delays.

(Teddy)
if they can't get
the cable fixed before

Our train starts up again,

We'll be added
to the back log.

One down,
35 fibers to go.

(Teddy)
simon has to expose,

Clean, cut and fuse
every fibre back together.

Good thing he's one of
the most skillful fibreoptic

Splicers in all
of south africa!

Time is of the essence
because we have to restore

The service
back to normal.

(Teddy)
as each fiber is re-connected,

A different part of transnet's
communication system fires up.

As soon as the
fibre gets spliced,

The train will run again.

(Teddy)
that's good news for us.

Because 25 kilometers
down the line, it's the

Excursion we've all
been waiting for!

Alright this
is going to be cool.

Bye.

Enjoy!

Thank you!

Are you
guys excited?

Very much so.

Yes.

We're on route to
the nambiti game reserve.

It's huge.

Nine and half thousand
hectares and its home to

Dozens of species of
exotic animals including

The big five.

Lions, leopards, elephants,
buffalo and rhinoceros.

Hopefully we
see them, right?

Ya.

Fingers crossed.

Nambiti is a privately
owned reserve made up of

What used to be six
different cattle farms.

If you could
remain seated at all times

And then also, please don't jump
off the vehicle when I stop.

No selfies with buffalo
or anything like that.

That has happened.
(laughs)

Look at that
wildebeast over there, wow!

(Teddy)
the reserve is teeming
with over 40 different

Animal species
protected from poachers.

Look right here
we've gotten right up

Close to the buffalo
with the big horns.

It's awesome!

So it rained last night
which is nice because it means

The tracks are fairly fresh.

And if we have a look here
there's a lion track over here.

There's another
one over there.

(Teddy)
the king of the
jungle makes an appearance.

Look at
this right here.

We have a young
male and female lion.

They're right
beside our vehicle.

Look at that.

They're so close.

The male actually
looked directly over at us

For a good ten seconds.

It was amazing
but actually a bit

Disconcerting when he was
staring at us like that.

This is incredible.

I gotta
get a photo.

Wow!

So just off there
in the distance there is

A number of giraffes,
my friend here spotted them.

Good eye, good eye!

What are you
most excited to see?

What type of animal?

Elephant.

Yeah?

We have missed them
so far so we hope so.

(Teddy)
90 percent of african elephants

Have been killed
in the past century.

Seeing one up close
is truly spectacular.

It is just incredible seeing
this animal in the wild, wow!

And now he's taking
a drink in that pond.

You can actually hear him
pulling the grass out
of the ground.

And I've got to say, out
of all the animals that

We had the possibility of
seeing today, I was most

Excited about hopefully
seeing an elephant.

So this is incredible,
this is a life highlight.

(Teddy)
the animals here are protected

But the ones outside the reserve
are a real challenge for
rovos rail.

We have a huge problem in
african countries where there's

No fencing on the lines
and all the animals,

Even big elephants and stuff
is walking on the tracks.

(Teddy)
depending on speed and
load, trains can take up to

One and a half kilometers
to come to a full stop.

Luckily most of the drivers,
they know the tracks and the
way,

But if you round a corner
and an elephant is there,

What can you do?

(Teddy)
on one occasion,

The journey turned
into a nightmare.

We hit an elephant,

Which was really just
one of the worst days here.

The driver pulled the horn
for a full kilometer and it

Just didn't move and
we hit it and it was

Just very sad for everyone.

(Teddy)
rovos is doing its
part to prevent more tragedies

By retrofitting its own
small fleet of locomotives.

When they bought this
loco, the small windows

Meant drivers had
a limited view.

So they cut off the top of nose
that housed the braking system.

Moved it to the back.

And added windows that
span the front of the train.

This new and improved
point of view helps drivers

Spot elephants sooner, giving
them more time to stop the train

And that's awesome at the end of
the day you say look what we've
done.

(Teddy)
but today, there's a more

Immediate problem to solve.

And I just got word that we
have four burst water tanks.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy)
it's been two days
since we left durban

On our south african adventure,
and we're coming into germiston
station.

From here, rovos has
permission from transnet

To use its' own
locomos and drivers

To get to their
private rail yard.

That's sixty kilometers
away in pretoria.

We're just changing
locomotives now.

(Teddy)
the transnet locomotive

Decouples from
the pride of africa

While guests enjoy
lunch in the dining car.

The rovos loco
is attached.

(over radio)
ronnie, come in ronnie.

(Teddy)
then eric gets word this
last stretch might get tricky.

They've switched off
the overhead power to work on

The railway line but hopefully
by the time we arrive there

The occupation
will be cleared.

(Teddy)
the pride of africa
leaves germiston not knowing

When or even if
we'll reach pretoria.

I have some passengers actually
flying out this evening so we

Actually really need to get into
that station as soon as
possible.

(Teddy)
down the line,

A transnet tamping crew
is racing against time

And the scorching summer sun.

They're adjusting the tracks
and the gravel ballast beneath.

We have a target of
six thousand-six hundred

Sleepers that
we have to do in a day.

(Teddy)
uneven tracks can cause

Costly and even
fatal derailments.

But they'll have to shut
down this critical work

The second the temperature
hits 40 degrees celsius.

So if it is hot then
the rail it becomes soft.

Breaking the rail
and breaking the sleepers

(Teddy)
f.P. Keeps a close
eye on the thermometer,

Safety his
number one priority.

If anything goes wrong,
I'm the one that's

Going to be
held accountable.

So I have to make
sure that the safety

Measurement are taken
into consideration.

(Teddy)
for now the temperature is

Hovering in the high 30's
so the crew keeps working.

Meanwhile, the pride of africa
patiently works its way

Through
the slow down.

So fingers crossed the train
arrives into our private station
on time.

(Teddy)
we arrive at rovos headquarters

Just 30 minutes late.

In south africa,
that's a success.

Thanks very much.

Thanks
for traveling.

Here we are.

My trip from durban
to pretoria is complete.

The rovos team
has a massive undertaking

Ahead before our second leg,
from pretoria to cape town.

It's a much bigger trip which
means adding another six
coaches.

So we just started
to re-prep this train as

We have new
passengers on it.

A few more extra cars.

That's where all the magic
starts all over again.

Cleaning,
maintenance.

As you see the guys
are checking the trains.

(Teddy)
guest preferences.

Their request
is jameson in the suite

And soda water.

(Teddy)
and stocking a three day supply

Of fresh ingredients including
87 dozen eggs, a hundred

And fifty loaves of bread
and 44 bottles of whiskey.

No detail is overlooked.

Might end up having to take the
carriage back to the paint shop

So how many bags have you
packed for cape town today?

Ahh, it's
twenty-one cars.

(Teddy)
everything is running

Like clockwork,
that is until...

I just got word that we
have four burst water tanks.

(Teddy)
the pressure was set at 4 bars

Instead of two,
rupturing the tanks.

Without water bartenders
can't serve drinks,

Cooks can't prep meals,
and passengers can't

Use their bathrooms.

Our welder just told me
it's going to take about

3 hours to repair.

(Teddy)
I'll spend my stop over at

Transnet's school of rail
in nearby johannesburg.

12 thousand students
attend their campuses each year.

As you can see the signal
has turned to the red.

(Teddy)
today I'll get
to experience first hand,

Part of the intensive training
drivers have to go through.

Hi there
how are you?

Is an instructor at the school

And a certified
driver herself.

This are your automatic brakes,
you start with a minimum up to
full brake.

(Teddy)
she's been training
drivers for 4 years.

So I'm in good hands on
this simulator, the only

One of its kind
in all of africa.

Where do I see what my maximum
speed it and what I should not
exceed.

As a driver you
know because you've got

Knowledge for this line.

But I don't know.

(chuckling)

You must know,
you're supposed to know.

This road the maximum
speed must not exceed 60.

60, okay.

Okay driver Teddy.

What?

(Teddy)
my progress is being monitored

By an examiner in the next room.

I need a mark of
80 percent or better to pass.

When you are
ready you can depart.

Okay,
we're moving.

I make my way on an exact
simulation of the line

We took from
durban to pretoria.

Okay we're
in business.

Driver increase your speed.

We're accelerating
at a good clip.

I feel like I'm
doing pretty well so far.

As long as
visibility holds up.

Doing well.

(Teddy)
but a sudden patch of fog

Throws me off my game.

Ahhh!
There's a cow.

There's a cow!

What the?

Driver Teddy
what has just happened?

There was a cow and I
didn't stop the train in time.

(Teddy)
my mistake has been noted...

I can go again?

Yes.

I gotta watch my speed.

Okay,
brake is disengaged.

We're on the right track.

There's a lot of different
things to look at.

Including lights and signals
that alert drivers to switch
tracks.

Headlights are on.

Okay I see the light at
the end of the tunnel

There's a lot
to think about.

Go towards the light.

We're out of the tunnel
and there's another train.

Decelerate,
decelerate, decelerate.

Put on brakes.

Put on brakes!

There's a train
on the tracks.

Stop! Stop!

Oohhhhh ho.

Driver Teddy,
what just happened?

You just had a head on head
collision with another train.

I came out of the
tunnel and there was a

Freight train on our same
tracks that obviously
shouldn't be there.

Were the signals
correct for you?

Ah, I forgot to
look at the signal.

It might be a red signal.

Ahhhh, I missed
the red signal, yes.

For that reason you are
found not yet competent.

I should not be
driving a train.

(Teddy)
back in pretoria,

An hour before departure,
my fellow passengers

63 in total, have arrived.

But water tanks
are still a problem.

We fixed three
but we've got one to go.

We're down to the wire.

What I've done as
a contingency plan

Is I've spoke to my father
and I've told him just to

Add another 15 minutes
onto the tour just to

Give us a little
bit more time.

(Teddy)
the stall tactics work
out great for passengers.

We get to see a 1948 steam
loco that rovos restored.

There's nothing
like a steam locomotive.

Awesome!

Okay, here's the cable.

This is for the horn.

Pull the horn, ya?

Pull it
nice and hard.

More power.

Harder?

Harder.

Oh hooo!

All aboard.

Brenda finally gets the
news she's been waiting for.

The water
tanks are fixed.

Guests are about to
board so we just made it.

Have a good time.

Thank you.

It's a packed train.

Exactly.

It's going to be fun.

It'll be a good one.

Well thanks a lot.

Okay.

Ah, laki come in,
laki we're movin'

Let's jump back on please.

Are we moving?

We're moving.

Perfect, thank you.

(Teddy)
the pride of africa

Departs on time.

(Teddy)
this three day leg of

My journey is over
sixteen hundred kilometers.

We'll stop at a historic
diamond mine in kimberley,

Before heading into the
forbidding great karoo desert.

Then it's onto
breathtaking cape town,

Otherwise known as
the mother city.

As we pull into our first
stop at germiston station,

All is not well.

This is where we're
need to switch to
a transnet locomotive.

But that loco
is nowhere in sight.

On board, everyone's
focused on the five-star dinner.

Here we go ma'am.

(Teddy)
eric's had to
abandon his guests.

We never dress this well
to receive a locomotive.

(Teddy)
he's doing his
best to track it down

But until then...

This has really caused a
big delay for us this evening.

(Teddy)
eric's all dressed up

With nowhere to go.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy)
we're stopped
just outside pretoria

On my luxury train trek
across south africa.

We're running
three hours behind schedule.

There's no
locomotive to power

And pull our train.

Ah, is the rovos
rail on the platform?

(Teddy)
transnet's command center

Has tracked it down.

No, it's fine.

So there was a
freight train stuck in

Front of our locomotive.

They're just busy clearing
it now, so our locomotive

Will approach shortly.

(Teddy)
the loco finally appears.

Yaaaaaaaaay!

(Teddy)
but it still needs to
be coupled to the carriages.

It's just
causing major delays.

But the guests are
all still very happy.

Cheers, cheers.

Hey guys, as soon
as you are ready,

We are ready for departure.

Thank you.

(Teddy)
four hours behind schedule,

Eric has to improvise.

So the train is rolling again
and we were supposed to be

Stopping soon for the night
but because of the four hour

Delay we had I've been told that
we're going to keep rolling

Potentially all through
the night so it's quite

A change of plans but it's
in order to get us back
on schedule.

(Teddy)
eric's decision to
keep going has paid off.

We're managed to
make up all the time

And we're only four minutes
behind schedule now which
is great.

(Teddy)
and so is the scenery

As we travel over the incredible
14 streams bridge that crosses
the vaal river.

South africa has spectacle
after breathtaking spectacle

And there's still
more to come.

Look at that.

There's thousands
of flamingos up there

That is really cool.

(Teddy)
from lush river landscapes,

We're nearing the karoo and more
than 400 thousand square
kilometers of desert.

Extreme desert heat can cause
real problems for train travel.

Rails are
made from steel.

They can get up to 20°
degrees hotter than

The air around them.

In punishing temperatures,
tracks start to expand.

Add in pressure from
the wheels and the weight

Of the entire train bearing
down and there's a chance

The tracks will buckle.

To lower that risk,
trains slow down to

Reduce stress placed on
and absorbed into the tracks.

It's just one more challenge
rovos rail faces in this region.

We've arrived at
kimberly station and we'll

Be heading to see the
kimberley diamond mine

Also known as
the big hole.

It's the largest man-made
excavation in the world.

The first diamond was
discovered here in 1866.

It weighed 21 point 5 carats.

Thousands of prospectors
rushed to the area.

For over a hundred years
it was the biggest diamond

Mining operation in
all of south africa.

This is sort
of the birthplace of

South africa's
economy if you like.

(Teddy) to get miners in and
diamonds out as quickly as
possible,

Construction started in 1872
on a railway that would

Connect cape town to kimberly.

And eventually kimberley became
the nucleus of the southern
african railway system.

(Teddy)
back at the station,
rovos mechanics

Sindiso and steve are
checking how the train is

Handling the ride through
the scorching desert.

(Teddy)
damaged wheels
could derail the train.

This crew makes sure
that won't happen.

Every wheel is okay.

No damaged wheel.
No damaged block.

(Teddy)
transnet conducts more detailed

Inspections at its massive
koedoespoort site.

This 94 hectare workshop
is the biggest railway

Facility on the continent.

When the wheel comes
we put it in the acid,

We wash it we take it
to spraying it we spray it,

After spraying it,
we bring it over here

Into this booth, where we're
going to do the magnetic
particle inspection.

(Teddy)
magnetic particle tests reveal

Potentially fatal imperfections
undetected by the naked eye.

The uv light shows that
"hey, there's a flaw there."

Where the flaw is,
is where your cracks are

Going to happen and you
can have a derailment.

(Teddy)
the rigorous
inspections and repair

Work keeps trains
and passengers safe.

And that makes
simon happy.

This is me, my life,

I love this job, yeah.

Hello,
how are you?

(Teddy)
we've left kimberley station

And are ready to enjoy our final
evening before reaching
cape town.

Thank you.

So everybody has just been
seated for our last dinner on
the train.

It's my last night on board
and there's a bit of

A celebratory
vibe in the air.

A lot of the guests have
gotten to know each other

Well over the last few days
so it kind of feels festive.

Cheers everybody.

Cheers!

(Teddy)
manning the pass and making sure

Presentation's perfect
is our train manager.

Last night you were out on

The platforms dealing with
locomotives and tonight

You're overseeing
the plates.

You really do
it all right?

We always
try and multitask.

We all work every single
position so it doesn't

Really matter what
position you are or what

Position you've
been placed in.

To wipe a plate is just
as easy as making sure

There's a locomotive.

And it's got
your eye on it, right?

Ya, absolutely.

Guys, you
having a fun night?

A springbok.

What?
This is for me?

This is for you.

Cheers to no more delays.

(Teddy chuckling)

(glasses clinking)

Good night.

♪ ♪ ♪

Good morning
ladies and gentlemen.

This is a
disembarkation announcement.

(Teddy)
it's the last day of
my south african adventure.

We would ask you
please to make your way

Through to the center
lounge car for disembarkation.

Good morning.

How are you?

Good.

It's early morning and
we're getting this awesome

Opportunity to do an hour
walk through the desert,

Through the karoo.

Thank you.

Temperatures in the
summer can soar over

40 degrees celsius here,
so we're heading out in

Early morning to beat the heat.

(Teddy)
our train will meet us
5 kilometers down the line.

It travels ahead
without any problem.

But behind us, cable
thieves have been busy.

So this was reported early this
morning on the group that there

Is cable theft between pretoria
station, our station, and they

Might only clear it at
8 o'clock this evening.

Good luck to that train
manager, we missed it.

(chuckling)

(Teddy)
walking through the desert it's

Not hard to imagine the
desolation felt by the trekboers

Who first travelled through
this area in the mid
17 hundreds.

Luckily for us,
we're only out in

The heat and isolation
for a short time.

At the victorian village
of majiesfontein,

We get rolling again.

We're in the middle of an
impressive tunnel system

That takes us out of the karoo
and into the beautiful western
cape.

The hex river mountain
range is the second

Highest in the
western cape.

Instead of traveling the
2 thousand meters it would

Take to climb up the mountains,
the railway was built to

Run right through them.

There are four
tunnels in total.

The longest measures a whopping
13 and a half kilometers.

How do you feel
when this train pulls into

The station in cape town?

Well it's always in
the back of your mind

If all of your passengers
has actually enjoyed the
journey with you.

And if we might see
them again one day.

Because repeat business
is very important.

(Teddy)
from our start
in durban on the east coast

All the way through
pretoria to the cape

Riding this train has
been an incredible experience.

Well we're pulling into
cape town and this is

The end of my south
africa adventure.

You know I'd always wanted
to visit this country

And I've been blown away
by its epic natural beauty.

And taking it all in from
this phenomenal train

Has been the trip
of a lifetime.

And you're a great leader.

It was great to watch
you work too man.

Thank you.

You're a busy guy.

(Teddy)
and to think this luxury

Experience all began with
a father wanting to do something

Special for a family trip.

So you know it's got quite big
now and it's the best thing I
ever did.

That's it,
thank you.

Thanks guys, woo!
It was really great.

Thanks a lot,
bye bye.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪