'Pride of Africa': A Dream

His name is Rohan Voss, a Dutch-South African businessman who has always loved train travel. In the summer of 1986, he and his family took a train trip to Kruger National Park. On the way, he suddenly thought, can you sit on the carriage of their design, and even have their own train company to travel? How happy and romantic that should be!

Soon, at an auction, Rohan Worth won an old train car, and he was happy to carry it home. Rohan Worth's original idea was to have his carriages hung on the back of government trains, but as soon as he proposed the idea, he was met with stiff opposition from the transport authorities, who said that his carriages simply did not have the qualifications and conditions. Rohan Voss knew that the only way to get his cars on the tracks was to own his own train company.

So, Rohan Worth had a bold idea: to build the world's top luxury train and let people go back to the Victorian era of the 19th century, to experience the world's most romantic, most luxurious way to travel. To put his plan into practice, he sold his thriving auto parts business and devoted all his energy to building his train empire.

Soon, Rohan Worth in an auction market bought back a valuable steam locomotive. It was built in 1893 and worked so well that he named it after his beloved eldest daughter. It was the first locomotive he owned and is now the oldest working steam locomotive in the world.

In his quest to collect antique trains, Rohan Wass has been aided by Les Pivnic's book, "The South African Railway Dining Car", which he recounts as he searches the country obsessively for carriages of all ages. From recycling centers, private companies, and clubs, he has amassed a collection of historic carriages and dining cars.

In the days that followed, Rohan Worth hired professional designers and installers to build luxury trains in the Victorian style and successfully obtained a license from the government to operate them. He joined his names together to form a simple catchy name, Rovos Rail, for his first train.

Rohan Wirth's train can carry no more than 72 passengers. Each suite is named after an African place, person or animal, or plant, and each room contains a bronze plaque with the origin of the name. There is a special viewing deck at the back of the carriage, which was converted from a classical carriage with floor-to-ceiling glass windows. It is a warm and elegant environment with Edwardian sofas and old-fashioned lamps.

In 1989, Rohan Vos's Rovos Rail slowly pulled out of the station to reach Cape Town in 48 hours. The train's departure station is located in Pretoria's Capital Park, a park covering more than 56 hectares with a total length of 12 kilometers of 15 tracks, 100 meters of which are covered by a roof, and 40 loaders are standing by on the coal-filling platform. In the railway station of Rohan · Worth, there is also a small zoo, which is the zoo into the home of the animals, especially adopted a lot of injured or weak herbivores, including antelope, peacock, guinea fowl...

Anyone who came to visit, Rohan Wass would regard them as his friends, and he would hang up their flags for visitors from different countries as a sign of friendship and welcome. Each departure from the main station, Rohan Worth would personally stand in the waiting room, greeting guests kindly, and read out the notes and itinerary, his humorous and kind words from time to time to make the tourists laugh.

When Rohan Voss reads out the passenger list, the guests whose names are read walk up the red carpet and follow the conductor one by one onto the train. On the way out of Pretoria, the landscape of green fields, woods, farms, and residential courtyards in bloom changes. Occasionally, there may be groups of children on both sides of the railway, playing happily on the roadside. When they see the train coming, they will wave to the passengers desperately. Some naughty children will run along with the train. During the trip, Rohan Wass arranges for visitors to drop off and take them to private reserves to hunt, see wildlife, and experience dreamy scenes.

At seven o 'clock in the evening, a "ding ding dong" music will be sounded, this is the conductor in a special way to remind tourists to prepare for dinner. At this point, visitors can change into evening clothes and walk through the soft green carpeted aisles to the dining car. As soon as visitors step into the dining car, a waiter will guide them to their reserved seats. The old ceiling fans whirled slowly in the dining car, the candlelight from the sconces and tables made the car feel romantic, and the white tablecloths, crystal glasses, and flowers made the night seem like a dream.

For more than 20 years, Rohan Vos's Rovos Rail has attracted tourists from all over the world. His train has won the Pride of Africa award for its outstanding performance in the world of luxury train tour, National Geographic magazine named it one of the top 10 luxury trains in the world, and tourists have hailed it as a "cruise ship on the tracks" and a "floating five-star hotel".