Most Luxurious Train in the World - Rovos Rail

It was also a station for British troops during the Boer War and now the beautiful buildings have been restored to allow visitors overnight stays in garden suites, cottages and large creaking rooms in the grand Lord Milner Hotel.

Dress for dinner

The train departed Matjiesfontein on the sound of the dinner gong, the attraction of which ensured nobody was left behind. Ties are available to those gentlemen that had forgotten and a jacket is expected. This ceremonial dressing for dinner is what makes the whole experience feel special and the chef, creating masterpieces in the cramped kitchen, rises to the occasion with edible works of art.

Travelling on Rovos Rail is like stepping in and out of a time warp with an ambience of an early twentieth century Englishman’s club, with modern comforts and current topics of conversation.

Rohan Vos (thus the name Rovos) made his fortune in the motor spares industry and in 1988 bought and restored a few vintage railway carriages and a steam locomotive with the idea of running a private little train around the countryside for his family holidays.

When he discovered the costs involved in towing his hotel on wheels he complained to South African Railways who suggested that he sell tickets. With no experience in trains or tourism he did just that but found that it cost him more in the long run.

He now has a private station in Pretoria with room for his 60 carriages (split into 3 trains) and numerous diesel and steam locomotives all of which have a full and fascinating history. ‘Tiffany’ No 349 Class 6 locomotive, was built in 1893 and is now the oldest operating steam locomotive in the world.

I began to realise that Rohan Vos is passionate about accumulating bits of old trains. He is just a bigger boy with bigger toys than most and as he pointed out, they are much more expensive to play with. He guided me around the wooden skeleton of what was once and will again be a carriage, and I trod on rotting floorboards and shattered glass as I followed him through an old dining car.

Amongst his 170 staff are a team of workmen that can transform a hopeless old wreck into a classic Mahogany-panelled sleeping car in just 6 weeks. With meticulous restoration they are outfitted in thirties-style with dark woods and heavy rich fabrics evoking pre-war colonial glamour.