During 1898, the year in which Sir Antonie Viljoen purchased Oak Valley, plans were underway to build a pioneering railway from Sir Lowry's Pass to Caledon. Elgin existed in isolation until the track opened in 1902. The line was chiselled out of solid rock to conquer Sir Lowry's Pass, the steepest gradient in the country. And so this solid steel on quarried stone would inspire an era of prosperity in Elgin. The era of Stone & Steel.