The tracks are now replaced by roads, and the highly popular Round in Nine tour was sorely missed.
A new initiative by the Thebe Tourism Group hopes to recreate some of the magic of the lost tour.
A luxurious hotel, set inside a stationary train, is set to open later this year.
The history of the Selati railway line is intricately linked with that of the Kruger National Park.
The Selati Railway line in 1898.
But corruption, falsification of books, and profiteering eventually caused the project to derail.
The line had reached only as far as Sabie Bridge in Skukuza.
During this period, tens of thousands of animals were shot to feed the workers.
At that time, there was no Kruger National Park, only a game reserve.
It was James Stevenson-Hamilton who pressed for a sanctuary for the protection of its wildlife.
The Sabi Game Reserve became Kruger National Park, South Africa’s first, in 1926.
The Selati railway operated until 1973 after which it was abandoned.
The bridge over Sabie River in Kruger National Park.
Rendering of the interior of the Kruger Shalatis hotel room.
