Sandstone Estates, Railway museum and agricultural estate near Ficksburg, South Africa

Sandstone Estates is a railway museum and working farm near Ficksburg along the Lesotho border. The property spans approximately 7,000 hectares where wheat, soya beans, maize, and sunflowers are grown using organic methods, while over 20 operational narrow gauge locomotives and more than 300 restored tractors are preserved on the grounds.

The farm was established in the 1830s by the Wille family, German missionaries who transformed the land into an agricultural operation. Over generations, the property evolved into a major preservation center for historic railways and farm machinery.

The locomotives and tractors on display reflect how transportation and farming shaped South African development over time. Visitors can observe these machines in their working context across the working estate.

The ten-day Stars of Sandstone event is held in March, April or May, with daily displays and convoys of military vehicles run by the School of Armour. The 610 mm line runs from Hoekfontein south to a loop at Grootdraai and north past Mooihoek and Pandora to Vailima, with 12.7 km of track and an 18.8 km full route. Locomotives take water at three points along the line.

The collection includes a Beira Railway F2 locomotive from Mozambique, one of the few foreign engines at Sandstone. The estate also keeps two small three-axle diesel-hydraulic locomotives from the Alfred County Railway, previously used at Pongola Sugar Estate near Eswatini.