The Blue Train was inaugurated in 1923 as the Union Limited and the Union Express. These trains conveyed passengers from the gold fields of Johannesburg southward to the mail ships departing Cape Town to England. The two Union trains traveled the 1,600 km in 30 hours and introduced a new standard of transportation luxury.

During the Second World War passenger service was converted to troop transportation. In 1946, regular service was restored and formally renamed the Blue Train. In 1997, a team of engineers, technicians and specialist consultants, completed a restyling of this magnificent “hotel on wheels” that is now arguably the world's most luxurious train. In 1998, a second Blue Train was introduced consisting of all steel articulated coaches. Subsequently, the traditional Pretoria—Cape Town route was extended northward to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and also north east toward Kruger National Park. There is now also an eastward route from Cape Town along South Africa's “garden route” to Port Elizabeth.

For our group of six eager friends, the journey began following check in at the well appointed art deco lounge of the Pretoria station. Before departure we had time to survey the sleek Royal Blue train with its two diesel-electric locomotives positioned on the metre gauge (1065 mm) track.. During our journey, the maximum speed reached was 100 km/h.

The 18 car train consists mainly of ten sleepers that accommodate 76 passengers, and a club and a lounge car for smokers and non-smokers respectively. There is also a 42 seat dining car and a beautifully designed observation car that can be quickly converted to a conference centre on wheels for 24 people.

The interior décor of our African wood paneled suite was dazzling. We sat on an ample sofa bed along a wall from which there was an unobstructed view through the large picture window opposite us. A writing table, two blue and honey coloured footstools that matched a lounge chair completed our stylish furnishings. Then there was the en-suite bathroom with Italian marble floor and wash basin, of which the latter plus the enclosed bath-shower were enhanced with gold plated fittings. (photo, page 34) A stroll towards the observation car leads us through the club car with its card tables, reading chairs, small library and well equipped bar. Here was replicated the atmosphere of an English gentleman's club mixed with the pulse of Africa. Further along we stopped in the lounge car for morning coffee and were quickly surrounded by the many foreign languages of our fellow travelers. On the far wall, a television screen relayed the ever changing scenery via a camera mounted on the lead locomotive.

Moving through the next car we passed the closed compartment from which the on-board gem merchant displayed alluring wares. Through a glassed portion of the compartment were exhibited rings, brooches and necklaces beset with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Admission was by appointment only with one or two people at a time, and business was brisk!

Finally we reached the observation car in which the rear portion consisted of a large picture window. Here, comfort was personified. We sank into inviting arm chairs surrounded by deep carpets, art deco furniture and vases filled with colourful African flowers. Everywhere, a controlled temperature of 20—22 degrees C. made us forget that outside, it could be 45 degrees! (photo below) The rapidly shifting scenery through the rear picture window was absolutely hypnotizing. Time oozed away as the high hills of gold mine tailings and scattered mine head frames of the Johannesburg area gave way to farmlands of dark red soil. They, in turn, gradually blended into the sparsely populated vast semi desert plains and rugged mountains known as the Great Karoo, which occupies a third of South Africa.

In 1871, three miles northwest of Kimberley, diamonds were discovered in a small hill of mixed soils subsequently known as kimberlite. The hillhock was leveled, almost by hand, in the frantic search for diamonds. Then digging began as miners clawed the earth. The leveled hillhock became a pit, the pit became a shaft, the shaft became a mine that created the DeBeers Diamond Company. When the mine closed in 1914, the man made big hole was one km deep, 1.6 km in circumference, and had yielded more than 14 million carats in diamonds. It remains the largest man made hole in the world.

Before leaving the big hole, we saw a display illustrating the life of Cecil Rhodes who developed South Africa's gold fields, diamond mines and secured the southern part of Africa for the then British Empire. His final legacy was the creation of Rhodes Scholarships to Oxford University, an honour granted annually to many—including many from Canada. As the sun was going down we returned to the Blue Train in anticipation of an evening meal in the elegantly appointed dining car. The soft glow of table lamps, dew fresh flowers, crisp linen, fine bone china and classic silverware prepared us for the smartly served “mouth watering” dishes that followed. After coffee and liqueurs, with our friends in the warm hospitality of the observation car, we returned to our suite converted in our absence to a sleep-inviting bedroom.

Just before we dozed off, the train stopped at De Aar, the midway station between Pretoria and Cape Town. IN 1951, the southern half of the line was electrified, and at De Aar our pair of diesel-electrics was swapped for electric motive power.

Early next morning, after passing through a long series of tunnels that pierce the Swartberg Mountains, we emerged into the fertile Hex River Valley. It was one of the highlights of our journey. Suddenly, everywhere were endless symmetrical lush green vineyards rolling in from the surrounding mountains. In addition, there were fruit orchards as well as flower and vegetable farms that complemented the endless fields of chenin blanc, riesling, shiraz and other types of wine producing grapes. Scattered in the occasional fallow piece of ground were ostriches strutting among the unconcerned sheep and horses. Here and there at the edge of a field or on a low hill in stark silhouette were white gabled stolid Dutch styled farm houses. The contrast from the previous day's travel through the semi-arid Great Karoo was amazing.

Closer to Cape Town and paralleling the railway were numerous shanty towns consisting of hovels made from pieces of corrugated iron, plastic sheets, and bits of wood and cardboard. It is in such towns that many of South Africa's 40% unemployed people live out a hopeless and futureless existence.

As we continued south, the eye pleasing agricultural scenes merged with the industrial suburbs of Cape Town, the details of which were gradually obscured by towering piles of shipping containers along the way. As we rounded a bend, sharply before us loomed fabled Table Mountain, the eternal backdrop of Africa's southern tip. The sandstone and granite peak had a table cloth of cloud across its flat top, reminding us that it was winter—albeit at 20 degrees C.

Our exhilaration sparked by the view of the mountain rapidly faded as we slipped into Cape Town's railway station, and realized that this “trip of a lifetime” was about to end. Even the presentation of an official diploma certifying that we had traveled the Blue Train was but a small consolation. However, we were most privileged to have had the 28 hour odyssey through the heart of South Africa. Walking away from the smooth glossy “hotel on wheels” was comparable to leaving behind a new and wonderful friend. The memories and photos will remain with us forever.