ran from Elandsfontein (Johannesburg) - Heidelberg - Standerton - Charleston - Volksrust (border with the Colony of Natal). The total line from Pretoria to Durban was 812 kilometres (ca. 505 miles), of which 256 kilometres (ca. 160 miles) were part of the Zuid-Oosterlijn. Zuid-Westerlijn (Southwest Line), intended to connect to the Orange Free State, ran from Krugersdorp - Potchefstroom - Klerksdorp (border with the Orange Free State) with a length of 156 kilometres (ca. 97 miles). A 1 kilometre track at Elandsfontein near Johannesburg provided a connection between the Zuiderlijn, the Zuid-Oosterlijn, and the Zuid-Westerlijn. Barberton branch line In 1882, George Pigot Moodie, Surveyor General of the ZAR, suggested that the Oosterlijn needed to reach Ermelo through the Cape River Valley rather than through Nelspruit. This was all later rendered moot, as the discovery of gold in 1884 in the Cape Valley near Barberton required the building of a branch line to the mines. The cost of construction was so significant, given the mountainous terrain, that the ZAR government objected. The local business Lewis, Marks & Watkins formed a syndicate to build the line and the work was contracted to Pettegrew & Co. After heavy rain damaged the bridge, the contractor went bankrupt and the syndicate was dissolved. NZASM took over construction and completed the line in 1896. Zuiderlijn The Zuiderlijn was the NZASM's shortest line leaving the ZAR, but was the also the furthest distance inland. In 1888, the Cape Colony and Orange Free State governments agreed to build a railway between Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. The Cape government paid for the line and it was built by the Cape Government Railways (CGR). The section from Port Elizabeth to Colesberg was already complete, and the line from Colesberg to Bloemfontein opened on 17 December 1890. The building of the Oosterlijn progressed slowly by comparison. In May 1890, the rapid population growth of Johannesburg and the need to ship in heavy mining equipment required a railway to reach the city. In June 1890, the ZAR assented to the building of a line between Pretoria and the Vaal River bridge. Construction began two months later, but the NZASM had financial problems and the project stalled. Through an agreement made by James Silverwright, a member of the Afrikaner Bond and of Cecil Rhodes's cabinet, the Cape Colony's own CGR built its own line to Pretoria. The CGR would operate the ZAR portion